The following faculty members were identified through a university search for key terms related to sustainable gastronomy. If you are a faculty member and feel you have been missed please contact stephanie.sadownik@uleth.ca with your name, department and research area to be included in this listing.
Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee at the University of Lethbridge provides leadership, coordination and guidance to the University for the integration of environmental sustainability principles and practices throughout the University’s teaching, research and operational activities.
https://www.ulethbridge.ca/research/environmental-sustainability-advisory-committee-esac
Biological Sciences
Dr. Shelley Hoover – Biological sciences and agriculture research associate, Dr. Shelley Hoover is a dedicated beekeeper of over 20 years. She sits as the current president of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists
“The entire shape of the ecosystem is dependent on the interactions between pollinators and plants that allow plants to set seed and then exist across our landscape”
explains Hoover. She describes honey bees as nano-livestock, an introduced species akin to pigs or cattle; they would not survive in Alberta without the dedicated help of beekeepers. Beekeeping is an essential agricultural activity in Canada, with 70 per cent of honey bee colonies in Canada located on the prairies. Farmers in Alberta produce almost a third of all Canadian honey, and the value of pollinating activities is far greater.
https://stories.ulethbridge.ca/dr-hoover-bees/
Bee Videos from My Backyard Farm Project
Consumer Behaviours, Environmental, Social and Cultural Psychology
Dr. Kenichi Ito – Associate Professor, Dr. Kenichi Ito researches consumer behaviours, environmental, social and cultural psychology, at the University of Lethbridge. Dr. Ito’s current research aim is to develop the climate change adaptation scale (CCAS), a reliable, validated questionnaire to quantify individuals’ tendency to engage in climate change adaptation. The CCAS will help increase the research focus on an emerging area of climate change adaptation and provide a useful tool for not only researchers but also practitioners and policymakers to avoid harm and exploit beneficial opportunities.
https://www.ulethbridge.ca/artsci/psychology/meet-our-faculty-staff
Agricultural Studies
As a multidisciplinary major, agricultural studies take full advantage of resources and course offerings in the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Geography & Environment and Economics. This broad range of perspectives helps expand the understanding of issues such as policy development, the farm as a production unit and the environmental implications of land use.
https://www.ulethbridge.ca/artsci/agricultural-studies
- Environmentally sustainable methods (including biological, microbial and integrated control) of crop protection,
- Effects of climate variability and economic development on organisms and social systems in semi-arid ecosystems,
- Food relationships, biodiversity, ecological integrity, ecotoxicology, system linkages, resilience, impacts,
- Forecasting abundance, movement, phenology, range changes and invasions of arthropods and plants,
- Aquatic and terrestrial arthropod communities (including soil fauna), diversity, activities, ecotoxicology, and land-water linkages,
- Post-glacial grassland, foothills, montane and alpine ecology and biodiversity,
- Ecological methods and logical frameworks,
- Applications to terrestrial, riparian, aquatic and edaphic systems,
- Grassland microbe-insect-plant-bird interactions, including impacts of disturbance (toxins, weather, invasion, fire),
- Watershed ecosystems,
- Terrestrial-aquatic linkages,
- Pollination study,
- Soil biology,
- Insect outbreaks,
- Support for environmental economics,
- Application of ecological knowledge to management and policy.