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38TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE PRAIRIE DIVISION

OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF GEOGRAPHERS

Department of Geography, Brandon University

Elkhorn Resort outside of Riding Mountain National Park, MB

September 26-28, 2014

PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS

PCAG 2014 Conference 2

SPONSORS


ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Co-Chairs: Johannes Koch, Geography, Brandon University

Christopher Malcolm, Geography, Brandon University

Members: Derrek Eberts, Geography, Brandon University Kim Lemky, Geography, Brandon University

Doug Ramsey, Rural Development, Brandon University Wenonah VanHeyst, Geography, Brandon University

Pete Whittington, Geography, Brandon University Dion Wiseman, Geography, Brandon University

Student volunteers, Brandon University Geographical Society


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Schedule of Events .......................................................................................................................... 7 Session Schedules ........................................................................................................................... 8 Poster Session ............................................................................................................................... 10 Field Trips ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Keynote Address ........................................................................................................................... 12 Abstracts ....................................................................................................................................... 13


SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Time Event Location

Friday, September 26

18:00-20:00 Elk bugling field trip into Riding Mountain National Park meet outside Elkhorn Resort

18:30-23:00 Welcome Reception/Ice Breaker Salon ABC

TBA PCAG Executive meeting Private Dining Room

Saturday, September 27

08:15-10:00 Paper Sessions 1-3 Salon ABC 10:00-10:30 Coffee Break/Poster session* Lobby 10:30-12:15 Paper Sessions 4-6 Salon ABC 12:15-13:30 Lunch (bagged lunches provided in Lobby) 13:30-17:00 Field trips meet outside Elkhorn Resort 18:00-23:00 Banquet (incl. keynote address and slide competition) Salon ABC

Sunday, September 28

09:30-11:00 Annual Business Meeting Salon BC * If you are presenting your research as a poster, you can hang your poster in Salon ABC next to the Lobby of the Elkhorn Resort starting Friday evening at 18:30.


SESSION SCHEDULES

Time Event Location Session 1: Environmental Salon A (Pine) Chair: Joni Storie, University of Winnipeg

08:15-08:35 Razak Abu Coping and adapting to long-term ecological change in the Saskatchewan River Delta.

08:35-08:55 Patricia Fitzpatrick and Alan P. Diduck Promoting adaptive management in follow-up: the case of two Manitoba Hydro Environmental Assessments.

08:55-09:15 Victoria Jonatanson, Andrew Curtis, and Joni Storie Field methods for mapping coastal vegetation using object-based classification of Landsat data near Churchill, Manitoba.

09:15-09:35 Julia Lawler and Ryan Bullock What can bibliometrics tell us about community forestry research trends in Canada?

09:35-09:55 Christopher Malcolm, Tim Sallows, Tim Town, Kendelle Fawcett, and Randi Thomas Habitat connectivity as a measure of ecological integrity in northern pike populations in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba.

Session 2: Food Salon B (Aspen) Chair: Dion Wiseman, Brandon University

08:15-08:35 Gina Sylvestre and Georgia MacDonald Aging and food insecurity: Re-evaluating the urban context of food access.

08:35-08:55 Marc Vachon A research and methodological survey of food desert and accessibility in Canada.

08:55-09:15 Dylan McNaughton, Dion J. Wiseman, Derrek Eberts, Erin May, and Nancy McPherson Determining food deserts in Brandon, Manitoba using GIS.

09:15-09:35 Jordan Steingass Food desert mapping: A preliminary study of food security in Thunder Bay, 2006.

09:35-09:55 Douglas C. Munski and Laura B. Munski Reflecting upon the Victory Gardens of World War I and World War II as symbolic vernacular landscapes in North Dakota.

Session 3: Tourism and Resources Salon C (Spruce) Chair: Kim Lemky, Brandon University

08:15-08:35 Jordan Poitras and Ian Mauro Fractured perspectives: The wicked problem of hydraulic fracturing and its implications for people and place.

08:35-08:55 Kaela-Mae Hlushko and Jonathan Peyton Bakken North: Framing fracking perspectives in southwestern Manitoba.

08:55-09:15 Alec Paul Bakken oil trains on the Northern Plains.

09:15-09:35 Hillary Beattie “How to live to be 100 with Manitoba’s help”: Tourism and anti-modernism in post-war

Manitoba. 09:35-09:55 Kim Lemky

International perspectives on measuring economic indicators and assessing the economic impact of Geoparks.


SESSION SCHEDULES

Time Event Location Session 4: Water Salon A (Pine) Chair: Bob Patrick, University of Saskatchewan

10:30-10:50 Jacqueline Binyamin and R. Yerubandi Modelling surface temperature and mixing layer depth for Lake Winnipeg.

10:50-11:10 Rebecca Wilks and Bill Buhay Sourcing the origin of excess sulphate (SO42-) concentrations in Dead Horse Creek, Manitoba, Canada.

11:10-11:30 Stephanie C. Kane Time and Socio-Topography of Flood Response in Winnipeg.

11:30-11:50 Robert J. Patrick Source water protection planning at Muskowekwan First Nation, Saskatchewan.

11:50-12:10 Karlee M. McLaughlin and Lalita Bharadwaj The risks of potable water trucked to cisterns in Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation, Saskatchewan.

Session 5: Physical Salon B (Aspen) Chair: Joe Piwowar, University of Regina

10:30-10:50 R.A. McGinn Ice-shoved hills and related glaciotectonic features in the Glacial Lake Proven basin, Riding Mountain Uplands, Manitoba.

10:50-11:10 Seth Dueck Improving Canada's contribution to the remote sensing of atmospheric species related to climate change.

11:10-11:30 Janelle Laing and Jacqueline Binyamin Climate change effect on winter temperature and precipitation of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada from 1943 to 2011.

11:30-11:50 Ryan Smith and Danny Blair The Climate Atlas of Manitoba Project.

11:50-12:10 Johannes Koch Alpine treeline fluctuations in Garibaldi Provincial Park, southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia, since AD 1553.

Session 6: Human Salon C (Spruce) Chair: Derrek Eberts, Brandon University

10:30-10:50 Joel Outtes and Thiago Mauer From Garden-Cities to the city as a provider of social welfare: The Geography of the International Federation for Housing and Planning (1913-1968).

10:50-11:10 Jaime Orr The Manitoba Museum: A public educator and producer of heritage discourses.

11:10-11:30 Leslie Sarapu and Christopher D. Storie Urban green space and society: A remote sensing and GIS analysis of major cities in Western Canada.

11:30-11:50 Andrew Kaufman The divided Prairie City: exploring neighbourhood types in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

11:50-12:10 Mya Wheeler Wiens Place-based inquiry using modified focus groups to create opportunities for participation in Kenora, Ontario.


POSTER SESSION

Time Event Location 10:00-10:30 Poster session* Salon ABC * If you are presenting your research as a poster, you can hang your poster in Salon ABC next to the Lobby of the Elkhorn Resort starting Friday evening at 18:30.

Morgan Burke, Lisa Pimentel, Danielle Prelip, Andrew Larson, and Douglas C. Munski A preliminary investigation of using repeat photography as a technique of landscape interpretation for heritage tourism in the Red River Valley of the North. U. Hardenbicker, M. Watanabe, and R. Kotowitch Product index as an indicator of weathering within an alluvial fan profile.

Cenwei Liu, David A. Lobb, Sheng Li, Philip N. Owens, and ZouZou A. Kuzyk Spatial and temporal variation in particle size of sediment in the Tobacco Creek Watershed. Laura B. Munski and Douglas C. Munski Using heritage tourism to remember and celebrate the Victory Garden as a vernacular landscape.

J. Suchan and K.R. Hodder Varved sediments, spatial variability and the single core challenge! R.J. Thalacker and G.S. Vandeberg Mapping techniques for soil erosion: modeling of stream power index in eastern North Dakota using LiDAR data. Pete Whittington The hydrology of a “spontaneously” re-vegetated vacuum harvested peatland, eastern Manitoba.


FIELD TRIPS

Time Event Location Friday, 18:00-20:00 Elk bugling Meet outside Elkhorn Resort We will leave from the venue before dusk to be in Riding Mountain National Park at the sites around dusk. Chance to see and hear wildlife in the Park, and hopefully enjoy the stars without light pollution. Cap for this trip is 25 and registration is on a first come, first served basis. The trip will be led by Jennifer Gustafson, head naturalist of the Park.

Time Event Location Saturday, 13:30-17:30 Afternoon field trips Meet outside Elkhorn Resort The two Saturday field trips are concurrent. Field Trip #1 - South-central Riding Mountain National Park including Lake Audy

Led by Jennifer Gustafson, Johannes Koch, and Chris Malcolm Spend the afternoon with Riding Mountain National Park Head Naturalist Jennifer Gustafson, along with Johannes Koch and Christopher Malcolm, exploring the west-central portion of the park. Highlights of the trip will include observation of bison in their native fescue grassland and the efforts to conserve the habitat, a prescribed burn site, Lake Audy, the site of some connectivity research between aquatic habitats, as well as some historical and socio-economic aspects of the area. The trip will end with some free time in the town of Wasagaming. Field Trip #2 - Ice-shoved hills and related glaciotectonic features in the Glacial Lake Proven basin

Led by Rod McGinn and Dion Wiseman This trip will be approximately 2 -3 hours long and includes a scenic tour of the physical geography between Elkhorn Ranch and Minnedosa, Manitoba with stops showcasing the unique ice-shoved glaciotectonic features, Minnedosa Museum and Heritage Village, and Chipperfield Coffee Company.


KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Time Location Saturday, following the banquet dinner Salon ABC The keynote speaker at this year’s banquet is Dr. Dave A. Duffus, Whale Research Lab, Department of Geography, University of Victoria. Black, White, and Grey Matter Over the past 18 months a documentary film, entitled Blackfish, exposed the dark side of keeping killer whales in captivity. The film focused on deaths and serious injuries caused by whales breaking through their training (taming) and killing people. It is, however, only the end point of a 20 year odyssey by a whale researcher from the geography department at the University of Victoria. In 1991 a junior apprentice trainer was killed in a small ocean pen killer whale display in Victoria, BC. The ensuing Coroner’s Inquest struck a jury which I chaired, to analyze the situation. Twenty years later another high profile death of a trainer in Seaworld, Orlando caused the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an American federal agency to end up in a federal courtroom in Florida, with their case pinned to the “expert” opinion and testimony of that very same geographer from the University of Victoria. In a milieu of corporate lawyers, news camera, and animals rights picket lines the clear and simple nature of the killer whale (Orcinus orca) became fodder for a Judge, and subsequently a documentary filmmaker, to bring the topic into the broader public eye. Herein, I will present how first principles of evolution, those very same axioms we teach in junior level biogeography (term after term), and reason fared against corporate profit and a permissive circus-like atmosphere that the aquaria have cultivated. Short biography Dave Duffus completed graduate work in geography at the Universities of Regina and Victoria and went on to establish the Whale Research Lab at Victoria in 1992. The cross disciplinary nature of the past decades of work have involved students with a wide range of backgrounds from animal rights activists to a Hereditary First Nation Chief. While maintaining his focus on whale ecosystem dynamics, the nature of being a whale geographer has drawn Dr. Duffus into some interesting corners; programming field marine biology education programs for blind and visually impaired students, training Russian scientists to monitor whale foraging dynamics on an Exxon exploration lease, and facing off with corporate lawyers as an expert witness in US federal courtrooms. For all of this Dr. Duffus lays the blame squarely at the feet of his cadre of excellent graduate students and the intellectually rigorous but topically permissive nature of modern Canadian geography.


ABSTRACTS

Abstracts of papers presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of PCAG

Elkhorn Resort, Manitoba

September 26-28, 2014

Abstracts are listed alphabetically.


“HOW TO LIVE TO BE 100 WITH MANITOBA’S HELP”: TOURISM AND ANTI-MODERNISM IN POST-WAR MANITOBA

HILLARY BEATTIE, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg

In 1945, the Manitoba Travel and Publicity Bureau was established with the aim of developing and promoting a local tourist industry. During the post-war period, both the province and the federal government believed the expansion of tourism would help secure economic growth and prosperity, and promoted the rustic countryside and Manitoba’s wilderness areas as tourist sites. In this paper I take a closer look at what influenced the early development of tourism in the province, particularly the role played by anti-modern sentiment - a belief that cites and technology had made life empty and meaningless. But as tourism promoters sought out farm and wilderness spaces where people could recuperate from modernity, they also constructed ’nature’ as a very modern tourist experience. This presentation will elaborate on these ideas and explore how anti-modern sentiments were incorporated into representations of Manitoba in materials produced by the bureau. In particular, the presentation will examine films, photographs, and pamphlets which were distributed across North America, including “How to Live to be 100 with Manitoba’s Help” and “Inside the Rim of Adventure,” offering a research prospectus for my honours thesis on tourism and anti-modernism in post-war Manitoba.

MODELLING SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND MIXING LAYER DEPTH FOR LAKE WINNIPEG

J. BINYAMIN, University of Winnipeg, Department of Geography, Winnipeg MB R. YERUBANDI, National Water Research Institute, Burlington ON

Boundary layer measurements are used to calculate hourly and daily net radiation, sensible and latent heat exchanges, heat content, daily mean surface temperature and mixing layer depth for Lake Winnipeg. Surface net radiation is derived from the component fluxes of the radiation balance. Global, direct beam and diffuse irradiances are calculated using radiative transfer equations which accounts for absorption due to water vapor, transmission after ozone absorption, Rayleigh scattering, and aerosol and cloud extinction. Latent and sensible heat fluxes are calculated by the aerodynamic method, which uses experimentally derived drag coefficients and measurements of temperature, vapor pressure and wind speed at two levels. Lake heat storage is determined as a residual of the surface energy balance components. The daily mixing layer depth is determined from the surface energy balance and measured water temperature profiles by iteration. Input data include hourly cloud data, atmospheric pressure, air temperature and dew point temperature measured at the regional meteorological station. Comparisons of surface energy balance components are made both for daily totals and for monthly averaged at the three main sites: Lake Winnipeg South Basin, Lake Winnipeg Narrows, and Lake Winnipeg North Basin. The agreement between modelled and observed daily mean lake temperature is within 2°C on average.


A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF USING REPEAT PHOTOGRAPHY AS A TECHNIQUE OF LANDSCAPE INTERPRETATION FOR HERITAGE TOURISM IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY OF THE NORTH

MORGAN BURKE, LISA PIMENTEL, DANIELLE PRELIP, ANDREW LARSON, & DOUGLAS C. MUNSKI, Geography Department, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND

Repeat photography is an increasingly important technique of interpreting landscape change through time. Its value for providing the historical geography context of natural environments and built-environments is well-recognized in a variety of disciplines outside of geography, but it especially is a technique that is useful in heritage tourism. By showing the “before” (oldest photo) of a place as compared to, if possible, various stages of the “between” (newer but not latest image) for that location and then eventually to the “after” (the most current photo), tourists can gain insights into what was transformed through time for a particular location. As part of the overlap of several courses at the University of North Dakota’s Department of Geography, a team of graduate students and one faculty member started a research project to look at using repeat photography to help “tell the story” of different parts of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. The initial efforts focused upon the campus historic district using the institution’s archival photography collection. The results of this preliminary investigation and future elements of the larger study are presented in order to obtain constructive criticisms before moving into the next phase of the research project.

IMPROVING CANADA'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE REMOTE SENSING OF ATMOSPHERIC SPECIES RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE

SETH DUECK, Department of Physics, University of Saskatchewan

Understanding the mixing behaviour of atmospheric species such as ozone, aerosol, and nitrogen dioxide is critical to accurate prediction of the outcomes of anthropogenic climate change. High-altitude ozone depletion observed since the late twentieth century is attributed to ground-level anthropogenic emission of CFCs and other gases involved in ozone chemistry. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports the radiative forcing effect of atmospheric aerosol from ground-based sources as the largest unknown in the understanding of anthropogenic climate change. Yet understanding of complex vertical transport mechanisms in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere remains elusive.

Remote sensing of the vertical distribution of atmospheric species is possible using measurements of scattered sunlight. This allows atmospheric chemistry to be accurately monitored and the mechanisms governing transport to be inferred. Retrieval of vertical distributions from such radiance measurements is difficult, however, due to the complex multiple scattering interaction that couples outgoing radiance between different parts of the atmosphere.

This paper will give a brief overview of Canada's OSIRIS limb imager on-board satellite Odin. I will describe recent improvements to atmospheric radiative transfer simulation techniques that will improve the quality of atmospheric species profiles retrieved from measurements of scattered sunlight.


PROMOTING ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT IN FOLLOW-UP: THE CASE OF TWO MANITOBA HYDRO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS

PATRICIA FITZPATRICK, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB ALAN P. DIDUCK, Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

What are the best practice solutions to manage environmental uncertainties in large-scale resource development projects? This question was considered in the context of two recent hearings surrounding hydro-electric developments in Manitoba. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce a framework for evaluating the capacity of plans to implement adaptive management (AM) in project implementation and follow-up. Our experience shows that AM principles, while clear in the academic and practitioner literature, must be clearly articulated for the general public. Further, while follow-up programs submitted for review reflect AM principles in the planning stages, they become less clear during the subsequent stages (implementation- evaluation –learning). As a consequence, strong recommendations, implemented through conditions established in environmental licenses can serve to strengthen the implementation of AM in resource development in Manitoba.

PRODUCT INDEX AS AN INDICATOR OF WEATHERING WITHIN AN ALLUVIAL FAN PROFILE

U. HARDENBICKER, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK M. WATANABE, Department of Geography, Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan R. KOTOWITCH, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK

Alluvial fan sediments contain valuable information for reconstructing regional histories of watersheds. As such alluvial fan sediments act as an archive of landscape development. The fan sediments are deposited in layers through time so that a relative chronology of sediments can be determined. An alluvial fan chronology of depositional events within a fan was established by combining lithostratigraphy and radiometric data of soils and sediments from a borehole core of a Holocene alluvial fan located in the Qu’Appelle Valley.

In order to establish a more detailed relative chronology, three weathering indexes (the Parker Index, the CaO/ZrO2 molar ratio, the Product Index) were applied to detect weathering intensity in the sediments of this alluvial fan. As with soil development, weathering implies prolonged landscape stability within an alluvial fan. To quantify the degree of weathering within the sediment and soil samples the three indexes of weathering were calculated using the proportions of elements measure by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. First results show that CaO/ZrO2 molar ratio index is the best indicator of weathering within the profile.


BAKKEN NORTH: FRAMING FRACKING PERSPECTIVES IN SOUTHWESTERN MANITOBA

KAELA-MAE HLUSHKO & JONATHAN PEYTON, Department of Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has dramatically shifted the way contemporary fossil fuel extraction is conducted. New technologies combining hydraulic fracturing with horizontal drilling have opened up access to deep underground shale deposits, exponentially increasing the amount of available oil in southwestern Manitoba. While the industry refers to hydraulic fracturing as the technical act of high pressure drilling, I propose that the term fracking intertwines technical realities with social and political relationships of those living and working amid the oil boom. I examine fracking from three different epistemological viewpoints. I interrogate fracking as a technical experience, as an environmental experiment, and as a lived experience, to reveal that people living amidst the oil boom have a much more complicated understanding of fracking than the strictly economic terms used by fossil fuel authorities. Potential socioeconomic and environmental problems remain opaque and are not addressed through existing legal and regulatory frameworks designed to facilitate potential extraction. By drawing on two case studies- community complaints of air quality regarding the 8-8 oil battery in Tilston in the early 1990’s, and concerns over water use and contamination identified in the 2012 West Souris Integrated Watershed Management Plan- I will unravel the gaps in policy and regulation to showcase the current inadequacies and elisions in Manitoba’s oil and gas legislation.

FIELD METHODS FOR MAPPING COASTAL VEGETATION USING OBJECT-BASED CLASSIFICATION OF LANDSAT DATA NEAR CHURCHILL, MANITOBA

VICTORIA JONATANSON, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB ANDREW CURTIS, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB JONI STORIE, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Improving the classification accuracy of heterogeneous vegetation along coastal Hudson Bay is needed to monitor changes in vegetation, to identify habitat for polar bears and assist with shoreline mapping projects. Conventional pixel-based image classification techniques can classify homogeneous vegetation well but result in poor classification accuracy of heterogeneous features, including vegetation. This is because per-pixel classifiers rely solely on reflectance values to discriminate vegetation classes, values which are not unique or have overlap between classes. An alternative is object-based image analysis (OBIA) which incorporates spatial, spectral, and textural properties to improve classification of heterogeneous vegetation. The overall goal of this project is to improve the classification accuracy of coastal vegetation along the shores of Hudson Bay. The study site near Bird Cove just east of Churchill, Manitoba includes four transects with willows, shrubs, moss and lichens, and grasses and sedges. The first objective of this project, and the focus of this paper, was to collect spatial, spectral and textural in situ data that would improve vegetation mapping. This data will also be used to assess the accuracy of OBIA classification. Data collected in the summer of 2014 included plant area index (PAI), perimeters of vegetation feature to calculate area and length; and vegetation height as an indicator of texture. It is expected that results will show significant differences in these variables between vegetation classes. The statistical characteristics of these variables per vegetation class will also provide the rules for spatial, spectral and texture input into OBIA classification.


TIME AND THE SOCIO-TOPOGRAPHY OF FLOOD RESPONSE IN WINNIPEG

STEPHANIE C KANE., Richardson College of the Environment, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

From the perspective of contemporary city dwellers, floods are spatiotemporal events configured by rivers, rains, soil and winds moving in dynamic relation in and across specific topographies. One’s situation and knowledge key perceptions, interpretations of and responses to critical events that define personal and urban histories. Together, in time, city-dwellers enact the socio-topography of floods, living within nature’s changing form as it unfolds in multiple temporal dimensions: the eons between the Ice Age and the Anthropocene happen simultaneously with the digitized flow data being collected even now in the box at James Avenue. Arrayed around the Forks, Winnipeg is vulnerable to all the waters draining from the west, south and east towards Hudson Bay. But despite the perils of inundation, the city has a distinct temporal advantage over places like Calgary and Grand Forks: Winnipeg will learn of dramatic riverine rise in time to prepare. The measured gap between triggering event and local event is an opportunity for decision making and action. E.g., sandbagging, as a collaborative, anticipatory social response, can only happen in the time frame defined by the difference between elsewhere and home. This paper will explore the implications of socio-topography and time drawing from ongoing ethnographic research.

THE DIVIDED PRAIRIE CITY: EXPLORING NEIGHBOURHOOD TYPES IN WINNIPEG AND EDMONTON

ANDREW KAUFMAN, Graduate Student, Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Mb

Since the 1980s, income inequality and income polarization have intensified within and between Canadian cities. This growing income gap manifests in the places people live, creating distinct spatial orderings of countries, provinces, cities, and neighbourhoods. The Neighbourhood Change Research Partnership (NCRP) scrutinizes the socio-spatial polarization of incomes at the neighbourhood scale in six Canadian metropolitan areas. Using 2006 Census Data from Statistics Canada, one research piece to emerge out of the NCRP is a principal component analysis and cluster analysis of eight Canadian Cities’ neighbourhoods. This paper created a comparative typological classification of neighbourhoods in those cities. These research findings however, fall short in reflecting Winnipeg’s socio-spatial particularities while misclassifying a number of neighbourhoods. Two of Canada’s three lowest income postal codes are located in Winnipeg with similar patterning evident in Edmonton. There is a need for a greater specificity in understanding the distinct socio-demographic trends of central Canadian neighbourhoods. In this paper, I build on perceived research gaps to develop a typology of thirteen neighbourhoods in Winnipeg and Edmonton while applying substantive theory to describe shared trajectories. In fulfilling these objectives, this paper asks to what extent socio-spatial polarization can be understood through a neighbourhood cluster analysis while arguing for the importance in recognizing scale in a joint analysis.


ALPINE TREELINE FLUCTUATIONS IN GARIBALDI PROVINCIAL PARK, SOUTHERN COAST MOUNTAINS, BRITISH COLUMBIA, SINCE AD1553

JOHANNES KOCH, Department of Geography, Brandon University, Brandon, MB

Treeline fluctuations and meadow invasions in the subalpine region in Garibaldi Provincial Park in the southern Coast Mountains have been reconstructed using dendroecologic methods. Establishment of two subalpine species (Tsuga mertensiana and Abies lasiocarpa) was successful during distinct periods: 1590-1620, 1765-1805, 1850-1885, 1930-1950, and since 1980. Establishment outside of these periods was limited to a few individuals. This data is supplemented with detailed reconstructions of glacier fluctuations in the southern Coast Mountains, which indicate glaciers fluctuating around near-maxima until the early 20th century, and retreating significantly since then. The combined record shows synchronous albeit opposite behaviour of subalpine vegetation and glaciers: subalpine tree establishment ceases when glaciers advance, but tree establishment succeeds when glaciers retreat. While both records correspond with changes in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, they also are synchronous with global glacier and treeline fluctuations, suggesting important global forcing.

CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT ON WINTER TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OF YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA FROM 1943 TO 2011

JANELLE LAING & JACQUELINE BINYAMIN, University of Winnipeg, Department of Geography, Winnipeg MB

The correlation of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Pacific North American Oscillation (PNA), Arctic Oscillation (AO), and Scandinavia (SCAND) indices with winter (DJF) temperature and precipitation for the period of 1943 to 2011 was analyzed to study climate change and variability of Yellowknife, NWT. SOI correlated negatively with both temperature (r=-0.14) and precipitation (r=-0.06) causing colder, drier conditions during La Nina and warmer, wetter conditions during El Nino. PDO was shown to have a strong positive correlation with both temperature (r=0.60) and precipitation (r=0.33) causing warmer, wetter weather in the positive phase and colder, drier weather in the negative phase. PNA showed the strongest positive correlation for both temperature (r=0.69) and precipitation (r=0.37) causing very warm and wet conditions in the positive phase and very cold and dry conditions during the negative phase. AO correlated negatively with temperature (r=-0.04) and positively with precipitation (r=0.24) causing colder, wetter conditions in the positive phase and warmer, drier conditions in the negative phase. Finally SCAND was shown to have a weak negative correlation with both temperature (r=-0.10) and precipitation (r=-0.18). Yellowknife’s average annual temperature and precipitation has increased by 2.5°C and 120 mm, respectively throughout the past 69 years.


INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON MEASURING ECONOMIC INDICATORS AND ASSESSING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GEOPARKS

KIM LEMKY, Department of Geography, Brandon University, Brandon, MB

Geopark designations are expected to provide positive economic benefits to local businesses, communities and urban areas. In order for a region to retain its International Geopark designation, the coordinators for the geopark, must demonstrate that the geopark is promoting positive economic benefits to the region. Given, however, that geoparks are often ungated, with geographical boundaries on a map rather than on the ground, and the fact that unique geological sites are promoted rather than a location within a gated area, this leads to challenges on how to actually measure these forecasted benefits. Further to this, the geopark does not have site managers, instead businesses are encouraged to provide activities at various sites that geopark enthusiasts can pay to experience. This paper provides an over view of the current state of measurement for the geoparks based on a review of the literature and an international workshop on “Assessing Social and Economic Impacts of Geoparks” held in September 2014, in Saint John, New Brunswick.

SEDIMENT IN THE TOBACCO CREEK WATERSHED

CENWEI LIU, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB DAVID A. LOBB, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB SHENG LI, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, NB PHILIP N.OWENS, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC ZOUZOU A. KUZY, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

Particle size characteristics of suspended sediment are important in modeling and understanding the sediment transport and deposition processes. Particle size of sediment also plays a significant role in tracing sediment sources and conveyance. A better understanding of soil erosion and sedimentation processes is required for enhancing the knowledge of the dynamics of particle size of sediment. In this study, suspended sediment and channel bed sediment were collected two times per year in snowmelt event (May-June) and rainfall event (July-November) in the Tobacco Creek Watershed, Manitoba. Three potential sediment sources were identified according to the field observations, included the topsoil from cultivated field, topsoil from riparian area and streambank material. The spatial and temporal variations in particle size of these samples were analyzed using laser diffraction method and the correlation between the potential source materials and the suspended sediment was conducted. Across the spatial scales, the particle size of suspended sediment was generally coarser in the upper reaches (above the Manitoba Escarpment) than that in the lower reaches (below the Manitoba Escarpment). Across the temporal scales, particle size distribution of suspended sediment showed a significant seasonal variation between snowmelt and rainfall events. Compared the particle size of suspended sediment with that of potential source materials, the potential source materials were seen to be coarser than that of suspended sediment. At most of the sampling sites, over 60 % of the suspended sediment was predominant in fine particles (< 63 µm). These findings reflect the occurrence of practice size selectivity during the sediment transport and deposition.


HABITAT CONNECTIVITY AS A MEASURE OF ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY IN NORTHERN PIKE POPULATIONS IN RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, MANITOBA

CHRISTOPHER MALCOLM, KENDELLE FAWCETT, & RANDI THOMAS Department of Geography, Brandon University, Brandon, MB TIM SALLOWS & TIM TOWN, Parks Canada, Riding Mountain Field Unit, Wasagaming, MB

Parks Canada's official mandate is to manage for ecological integrity in its parks, which is defined as the ability of an ecological system to support and maintain a community of organisms that has species composition, diversity, and functional organization comparable to those natural habitats within a region (Parish et al. 2003). An important indicator of ecological integrity is the demographic integrity of the parks' constituent wildlife populations. In Riding Mountain National Park, we have monitored northern pike populations with respect to connectivity between habitats where anthropogenic activities may have created disjunct populations. We used VHF telemetry to examine movements of northern pike at three locations in the park to determine the level of connectivity between rivers and lakes where weirs have been built, as well as to establish whether northern pike move through a seasonally temporary corridor to access spawning habitat. This presentation provides a summary of these projects and their associated management recommendations for sustainable northern pike populations in the park.

ICE-SHOVED HILLS AND RELATED GLACIOTECTONIC FEATURES IN THE GLACIAL LAKE PROVEN BASIN, RIDING MOUNTAIN UPLANDS, MANITOBA

R.A. MCGINN, Department of Geography, Brandon University. Brandon MB

This paper examines and describes the physical characteristics, mode of origin and stratigraphic position of the glaciotectonic features mapped in the Glacial Lake Proven Basin. Five to six ice-shoved hills and a small composite linear ridge represent the suite of glaciotectonic features mapped. The ice-shoved hills appear to be associated with small depression lakes located approximately 2.0 km - 4.0 km upstream of a NE ice flow (40°-50°). The Odanah Shale member of the Pierre formation forms the core of each ice-shoved hill and approximately 1.0 m of Zelena till overlies the shale core. Pebble clast fabric analysis from the till supports the hill-hole hypothesis.

The small composite linear ridge is described as a broken series of hills 8 km long, 2 km wide and 15-20 m high. The ridge is relatively straight and has a NNW-SSE orientation (335°). The gaps appear to be generated by a combination of ice stagnation drainage and Holocene fluvial erosion. About 2.0 m of till overlies a deformation diamict or distorted sands and gravels Glacial Lake Proven sediments surround the constructional glaciotectonic landforms suggesting that they were formed during the Falconer Advance of the Lostwood Glaciation.


THE RISKS TO POTABLE WATER TRUCKED TO CISTERNS IN BEARDY’S OKEMASIS FIRST NATION, SASKATCHEWAN

KARLEE M. MCLAUGHLIN, University of Saskatchewan, Department of Geography and Planning, Saskatoon, SK LALITA BHARADWAJ, University of Saskatchewan, School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Saskatoon, SK

The provision of safe drinking water (SDW) is a key driver of public health, yet access to this valuable resource is a perennial problem in First Nations communities across Canada. Additionally, waterborne infections are an alarming 26 times higher in First Nations. Inequality in access to SDW is linked to historical discriminatory governmental policies that have disadvantaged Canada’s First Nations. As of June-2013, the Federal Government transferred SDW responsibility and legal liability to First Nation communities by passing of Bill-S-8 ─ The SDW for First Nations Act. The community of Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation is one community affected by this change, where half of the community is dependent on cistern infrastructure. Additionally, cisterns are known as the “prairie problem” due to frequent contamination issues and limited attention in terms of government initiatives and academic research. In partnership with this community, research will identify the potential risks to water quality through the supply chain of trucked water delivery to cistern. Water trucks and selected residential cisterns will be analyzed for potable water quality, deterioration and point source contamination from the period of July-October 2014. The data gathered will advance guidelines on management, monitoring, and strengthen governmental policy change for SDW for First Nations across Canada.

DETERMINING FOOD DESERTS IN BRANDON, MANITOBA USING GIS

DYLAN MCNAUGHTON, DION WISEMAN & DERREK EBERTS, Department of Geography, Brandon University, Brandon, MB ERIN MAY, Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, Brandon, MB NANCY MCPHERSON, Department of Health Studies, Brandon University, Brandon, MB

Food deserts are considered areas where a large proportion of people have a low income and are not within an acceptable walking or bus distance to major supermarkets. The objectives of this project were to conduct an analysis of Brandon, Manitoba to determine resident’s accessibility to healthy, affordable food. The project was done in cooperation with the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and Healthy Brandon, which are groups committed to promoting public health. The results showed high risk areas in the downtown core and adjacent to Brandon University, both of which are low income areas and are not within walking or busing distance to grocery stores. These areas are relatively small due to the fact that bus routes penetrate high risk areas and reduce risk. Future research should consider evaluating the healthiness and price of food available in the grocery stores studied, as these are considered important variables in the identification of food deserts.


REFLECTING UPON THE VICTORY GARDENS OF WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II AS SYMBOLIC VERNACULAR LANDSCAPES IN NORTH DAKOTA

DOUGLAS C. MUNSKI, Geography Department, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND LAURA B. MUNSKI, Dakota Science Center, Grand Forks, ND

Since Biblical times, food has been a weapon of war. Failure to keep troops well-fed on the war front and/or the inability to satisfy the hunger of people on the home front could have disastrous consequences for a government attempting to win a war. During World War I, civilians in North Dakota specifically grew gardens to supplement local food consumption and food self-sufficiency when general agricultural productivity was being directed toward feeding the American and Allied armed forces and providing food relief for European civilians. The symbolism of food as a weapon of war was well-portrayed in propaganda posters of that era. Even more attention was given to such supplemental gardens during World War II by North Dakotans as part of the national war effort to achieve victory over the Axis. Elaborate efforts were undertaken successfully between 1942-1945 for planning, planting, maintaining, harvesting, and canning the fruits and vegetables of these gardens to further the American war effort. Indeed, the theme of food as a weapon supporting the Americans and the Allies again is emphasized in propaganda posters. Thus, the home front became an integral partner to the war front which in turn was symbolized by North Dakota’s victory gardens.

USING HERITAGE TOURISM TO REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE THE VICTORY GARDEN AS A VERNACULAR LANDSCAPE

LAURA B. MUNSKI, Dakota Science Center, Grand Forks, ND DOUGLAS C. MUNSKI, Department of Geography, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND

Heritage tourism takes many forms as a component of recreational geography and historical geography. A longstanding element of such activity is the historic garden tour and visiting culturally significant horticultural places, e.g., a living history farm. Yet, some gardens and related tours can be developed along a thematic line to highlight a particular period of national, if not international, significance. Such is the case with the growing of a replica World War II Victory Garden at East Grand Forks (MN) Heritage Village. It specifically was included on the Grand Forks County (ND) Horticultural Society’s 2014 summer garden tour and being featured during the Heritage Days festival in that same summer. These two events resulted in an opportunity to provide visitors with insights into a unique aspect of the vernacular landscape which can be traced to the World War I-era war gardens, liberty gardens, and victory gardens. By blending academic-oriented information with non-academic accounts from the periods of World War I and World War II within a homespun approach to presenting the site to tourists, the visitors obtained a sense of this type of past cultural landscape’s importance to local contributions in handling food needs for the home front and the war front.


THE MANITOBA MUSEUM: A PUBLIC EDUCATOR AND PRODUCER OF HERITAGE DISCOURSES

JAIME ORR, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Museums and heritage sites operate for a variety of reasons, including the preservation, research and representation of the past. As one of the largest non-for-profit heritage sites in the province, the Manitoba Museum (formerly known as The Museum of Man and Nature) plays an important role in narrating history -- visitors to the site travel from 450 million years ago to present day Manitoba, through various galleries dedicated to particular regions and time periods. This presentation will explore the role of the Manitoba Museum as a public educator and producer of heritage discourses. I focus on the ‘material geography’ visitors encounter in object collections including artifacts, mobiles, wax figurines and re-creation scenery in a gallery setting, and also explore the way vision and sight operate inside the museum to construct narratives of the past. Offering a prospectus for future research, I will also touch on the history of museums as institutions, and the perceived role of museums as a site of enrichment for the public.

FROM GARDEN-CITIES TO THE CITY AS A PROVIDER OF SOCIAL WELFARE: THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR HOUSING AND PLANNING (1913-1968).

JOEL OUTTES & THIAGO MAUER, GEST- Group for the Study of Societies and Territories, UFRGS- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil.

The research investigates the historical process and the development of new ways of thinking about the city and territory by the IFHP - International Federation for Housing and Planning – from its foundation in 1913 to 1968. The IFHP was founded as International Garden-Cities Association and changed its name several times to adapt to new necessities of the institution and the abandonment of the garden-city ideal until its re-birth more recently. The focus of the IFHP changed from garden-cities in the 1910s, town and regional planning in the 1920s (when the name of the institution became International Federation for Town & Country Planning and Garden Cities in 1924, and International Federation for Housing and Town Planning in 1926), the reconstruction of cities devastated by the two world wars; and housing in general from the late 20s to 1960 (when the institution acquired its current name). Traffic begun to appear as a subject in 1925 and reappeared in 1962; the economic development of the third world and the city as a provider of social welfare in the 1960s and especially in 1968.


SOURCE WATER PROTECTION PLANNING AT MUSKOWEKWAN FIRST NATION, SASKATCHEWAN

ROBERT J. PATRICK, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK

Access to safe drinking water for First Nations remains a serious problem in Canada. For example, boil water advisories for First Nation communities are 2.5 times more frequent than for non-First Nation communities. As well, approximately 30% of First Nation community water systems are classified as high risk systems and the number of water borne infections in First Nation communities is an alarming 26 times higher than the Canadian national average. This paper explores the potential for source water protection as a means of improving drinking water quality for First Nations. Source water protection aims to eliminate, or reduce, risks to source water supply through land use planning and management practices. This paper reports the results of several source water protection pilot projects undertaken with First Nations in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The results show multiple benefits from source water protection planning that include local empowerment, collaboration between stakeholders, identification and prioritization of management actions to reduce risks, and opportunity to affirm water as central to traditional knowledge. Challenges include institutional support for source water protection, access to funding to support plan implementation as well as workload priorities and local capacity limitations facing many First Nations.

BAKKEN OIL TRAINS ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS

ALEC PAUL, Department of Geography, University of Regina, Regina, SK

The geography of Bakken oil trains on the prairies and U.S. Great Plains is changing a lot more rapidly than are the safety regulations for moving this commodity. In a few short years the field has been staked out by a number of shortline railways alongside the mega-companies BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and Canadian Pacific (CP)).But now the two ‘big guys’ appear to be jumping back in to collect a lion’s share of the business from areas that were originally seen as peripheral. Shortlines such as Yellowstone Valley Railroad and Dakota Missouri Valley & Western on the American side and Stewart Southern Railway and Long Creek Railway in Canada are totally dependent on either CP or BNSF to forward their trains to the major markets for oil in heartland or coastal refineries of North America, The future is also clouded by the impact of new regulations on the handling of the traffic, one likely consequence being the requirement for all hazmat trains to be crewed by at least two qualified workers – perhaps even with one of these to be placed in the reinstated caboose.


FRACTURED PERSPECTIVES: THE WICKED PROBLEM OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PEOPLE AND PLACE

JORDAN POITRAS & IAN MAURO, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a process increasingly used to extract unconventional oil and gas from shale deposits. While industry sees HF as a ‘game changer’, communities have expressed concerns about this technology and its social and ecological impacts. Using social science methodologies, this study documents public perspectives regarding risks associated with HF, and is linked to an expert panel in Nova Scotia and a larger North American research study on this topic. From the expert panel, 238 unique submissions from stakeholders were analyzed and risks identified in order of importance included: water, community and infrastructure, economy, waste and cleanup, human health, climate change, policy and regulation, other environmental issues, industry deception, and inadequacy of science. Ongoing research in Colorado and New Brunswick explores the scientific and indigenous ways of viewing HF and its potential impact on water, place and people. This research suggests the unique geographies – both human and physical – of a place must be considered in any assessment of HF given it is a “wicked problem” facing society.

COPING AND ADAPTING TO LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE SASKATCHEWAN RIVER DELTA

ABU RAZAK, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan

Changes in river flow and flood regimes caused by upstream developments have implications for downstream environments and resource users. Since the 1960s, the Saskatchewan River Delta has witnessed hydro-ecological changes resulting from upstream developments and varied climate regimes. Two major upstream dams, the E. B. Campbell dam (in 1963) and the Gardiner dam (in 1967), for instance, have had significant impacts on the hydrology of the delta. Consequently, the Cree and Métis people of Cumberland House, downstream of the delta, who have long lived and relied on local resources for their livelihood, continue to experience ecological changes to this day. This study explores the coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies of this community to deal with ecological system change. I draw on the idea of coping mechanisms as the bundle of short-term responses to changes in land-based activities, and adaptive strategies as the long-term culturally ingrained mechanisms. The study uses community-based approach to research inquiry, where the researcher and local people interacted to define important questions and identify relevant evidence through living in the community and participating in land-based activities. In all, 32 hunters, trappers, fishermen, and gatherers were interviewed over a period of six months. Eight Elders were also interviewed on long-term changes in the social-ecological system. Examples of coping mechanisms include switching among species, changing harvest locations and expending more effort in harvesting, buying from the store to compensate for less harvest, and seeking wage employment. Adaptations, on the other hand, include changes in seasonal harvest patterns, reduce networks and the ‘how’ of sharing food, and intercommunity trade.


URBAN GREEN SPACE AND SOCIETY: A REMOTE SENSING AND GIS ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CITIES IN WESTERN CANADA

LESLIE SARAPU & CHRISTOPHER D STORIE, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Urban green spaces provide a variety of benefits to the wider community. However, urban green space is not evenly distributed across the urban system. Additionally not all green space is created equally. Some are built such as Assiniboine Park, while others are more naturalized such as the Assiniboine Forest both of which are in Winnipeg. Focusing on the study areas of Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria, this research seeks to develop a remote sensing and GIS approach to detect and categorize urban green space. Secondarily, this research will examine each of the study cities policies with regards to urban green space development and distribution to gain a better understanding of why parks within each of the communities is where it is and why it is the type of park it is. Thirdly, this research seeks to examine whether or not there is a relationship between a neighborhood’s socio-economic status and the size, type, and variety of green space within it.

THE CLIMATE ATLAS OF MANITOBA PROJECT

RYAN SMITH & DANNY BLAIR, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

It’s a cliche ́, but it’s also true: a picture is worth a kilobyte of words. This is why atlases are so useful. Here we present preliminary results of a climate atlas for Manitoba being developed at the University of Winnipeg’s Richardson College for the Environment with funding provided by the Province of Manitoba’s Climate and Green Initiatives Branch. The Climate Atlas of Manitoba will be a digital storehouse containing thousands of climate maps depicting averages, trends and future conditions for a wide variety of variables, including max/min/mean temperatures, frost-free periods, degree-days, frequency of heavy precipitation and extreme temperature events, and corn heat units. The Atlas uses NRCan’s 10-km gridded daily meteorological data for 1950-2012. For future (2011-2100) conditions, the project has to date only used regional climate model output from the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, for the RCP8.5 ‘worst-case’ emissions scenario.

FOOD DESERT MAPPING: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF FOOD SECURITY IN THUNDER BAY, 2006

JORDAN STEINGASS, Geography and the Environment, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON

The purpose of this study is to map food deserts to assist in the exploration of the state of food security in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Food deserts are mapped in this study by first creating a food security indicator using socio-economic census data from 2006 to identify neighbourhoods that are at a greater risk of experiencing inequalities with access to food. Secondly, food retail locations are also mapped. Using 500- and 1000-metre walking-distance zone buffers from the food outlets it is possible to evaluate which, if any, of the impoverished areas are located outside of these limits, indicating a food desert. A comparison between walking distance zone buffers and straight-line distance buffers is also performed to evaluate the accuracy of each method. High-risk areas and food deserts are found to exist across the city at both the 500- and 1000-metre walking distance scales. It is determined that walking distance zone buffers are more accurate than straight-line distance buffers in areas where streets have a regular grid pattern. Straight-line distance buffers, on the other hand, may be more accurate in neighbourhoods with an irregular street pattern and they may take in to account walking paths and shortcuts.


“VARVED SEDIMENTS, SPATIAL VARIABILITY AND THE SINGLE CORE CHALLENGE”

J. SUCHAN & K.R. HODDER, Prairie Environmental Process Laboratory, University of Regina, Regina, SK

Varved sedimentary sequences from glacier-fed lakes in the Canadian Cordillera are rich archives of Holocene environmental change, and are known to record variability in climatic, hydrologic and geomorphic conditions. Geochronologies derived from varved sediments are particularly useful in alpine environments where sediment transfer can be episodic and hydroclimatic monitoring records are sparse and/or discontinuous. Environmental reconstructions based on varve chronologies are often based on one, or a small number, of sediment cores. Lateral variability in varve thickness is rarely assessed, and the extrapolation of sedimentation rates derived from one, or few, core samples can contribute to a potentially large source of error in estimations of lake-wide accumulation and catchment sediment yield. This study uses 81 collected cores to assess the spatial patterns in contemporary varve thickness throughout glacier-fed Mud Lake, British Columbia (since ~1940 AD). Interim results demonstrate:

Local events can cause “varve-like structures” to appear in varying strength throughout the lake, often times being easily mistakable for true varves;

Between two cores ~1.4 kilometers apart, varve thickness in the year 1985 showed 202.79% difference, while in the year 1983 there was only 10.43% variation in thickness.

Varve thickness thus varies not only (a) temporally, which is the basis for geochronologies, but also (b) spatially, as a result of variations in sediment deposition. The effect of spatial variations in varve thickness on hydroclimatic reconstruction, which are clearly lurking as consequences flowing from this research, remain to be explored.

AGING AND FOOD INSECURITY: RE-EVALUATING THE URBAN CONTEXT OF FOOD ACCESS

GINA SYLVESTRE & GEORGIA MACDONALD, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Food insecurity for the aging population is viewed primarily from the lens of nutritional risk with insufficient caloric intake attributed to a range of factors including physical, social, and economic decrements in the elder individual. Questions are now emerging about the salience of the community context for seniors; specifically research is focusing on the impact of spatial proximity to grocery stores. Studies identifying older adults’ physical access to food have emphasized a rural scope and there appears to be limited attention on pursuing understanding of urban food security issues for this critical age segment. This presentation seeks to explore those elements of neighbourhoods that impact food security and ultimately the quality of life of urban seniors. Using a sample of older movers (n=149) to subsidized senior housing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, binomial level analysis was developed to determine the association of wellbeing and access to food security. Though original interest focused on distance data to grocery stories, the results point to the importance of other community and individual resources including social and mobility supports, as well as access to meal programs. The findings highlight new definitions of food security for the elderly to more accurately inform both research and policy development.


MAPPING TECHNIQUES FOR SOIL EROSION: MODELING OF STREAM POWER INDEX IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA USING LIDAR DATA

R.J. THALACKER & G.S. VANDEBERG, Department of Geography, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota

Soil erosion is a worldwide problem that can negatively affect surface water through the introduction of sediment, nutrients (eg. nitrogen, phosphorus), pesticides, and other chemicals. Soil erosion is often exacerbated by agricultural and other types of land use. The objective of this study was to identify gully locations in agricultural fields adjacent to the Turtle and Forest rivers in eastern North Dakota that accumulate surface flow resulting in areas of critical surface erosion in a GIS using the Stream Power Index (SPI). A field survey was conducted to verify the accuracy of the terrain analysis at identifying 391 gully and inlet locations. Sediment samples were collected from 44 inlets/gully locations and analyzed for soil texture, pH and conductivity to characterize the material being eroded and transported. The pH levels for the soil samples ranged from neutral to moderately alkaline and the EC values represented soils that were either non-saline or slightly saline. Sand was the dominant separate for both study areas. This study found that SPI signatures at or above critical erosion levels can be used to target precision conservation in individual fields adjacent to the Turtle and Forest rivers.

A RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGICAL SURVEY OF FOOD DESERT AND ACCESSIBILITY IN CANADA.

MARC VACHON, Department of Geography, Principal Editor, Canadian Journal of Urban Research, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

The objective of this presentation is to survey the Canadian literature regarding food accessibility and desert. Specifically, the focus is on city planners and geographers research within the last ten (10) years. The objectives are threefold. First, the presentation consists of a critical overview of the result of various studies on food desert and accessibility. In other words, where was the studies conducted (cities and scale); what method was use (buffer or other); what concept guided the study, and what were the results. Second, we are examining the concept of food desert versus food accessibility. The analysis incorporates an overview of the origin of these concepts, their critical acceptance or rejection. Third, a critical overview of the methods used for the research, its advantages and disadvantages. Our conclusion will aim to posit possible research agenda and methodology.

PLACE-BASED INQUIRY USING MODIFIED FOCUS GROUPS TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION IN KENORA, ONTARIO

MYA WHEELER WIENS, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Participation in resources management decision-making process is considered an important aspect to fostering a person’s ability to care for place. Sense of place literature suggests that care of place encourages enhanced wellbeing and could further participation in shared place decision-making. The Rat Portage Common Ground Conservation Organization is a unique partnership attempting to improve cross-cultural relationships through co-ownership of a piece of land known as the Common Ground Land (CGL) in the northwestern Ontario municipality of Kenora. The CGL was the focus of a study in 2010, which drew on an Indigenous research paradigm and made use of sharing circle methodology by collecting data through modified focus groups (3) and semi-structured interviews (27). Data analysis suggested that these methods were useful in building relationships, hearing a diversity of perspectives on the CGL, and creating a safe avenue for participation.


THE HYDROLOGY OF A “SPONTANEOUSLY” RE-VEGETATED VACUUM HARVESTED PEATLAND, EASTERN MANITOBA

PETE WHITTINGTON, Department of Geography, Brandon University, Brandon, MB

Peatlands cover over 38% of Manitoba’s land area and represent an important component of the natural landscape such as flood mitigation and sinks for terrestrial runoff and anthropogenic nutrient loading. Nearly 13% of Canada’s horticultural peat is produced in Manitoba, mainly in the southeastern portion of the province, however, Manitoba horticultural peat producers are attempting to expand into the province’s Interlake region but because of the potential impacts on nutrient loading to Lake Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba has put a moratorium on new peat harvesting operations.

Vacuum harvesting requires the complete removal of all surficial vegetation and ditches to drain the peatland. A consequence of this method is that vacuumed harvested sites do not re-vegetate themselves naturally; active restoration efforts in eastern Quebec have been largely successful, though with considerable trial and error to get the ecological and hydrological processes correct.

The Moss Spur peatland is Manitoba’s oldest peat harvesting location and was abandoned in the early 1990s, however, with little intervention, the natural re-vegetation of the site has been remarkable. Understanding the hydrology of why the (mostly unassisted) Moss Spur regeneration worked so well is an important first step to restoring other Manitoba peatlands.

SOURCING THE ORIGIN OF EXCESS SULFATE (SO42-) CONCENTRATIONS IN DEAD HORSE CREEK, MANITOBA, CANADA

REBECCA WILKS & BILL BUHAY, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

Naturally occurring dissolved sulphate (SO42-) is a common component of surface waters that can degrade water quality at higher concentrations. Dissolved SO42- in freshwaters originates from both natural (groundwater input, atmospheric deposition, sulphide oxidation) and anthropogenic (artificial fertilizer runoff, sewage effluent discharge) sources. The average dissolved SO42- concentration in Dead Horse Creek (DHC), Manitoba, between 2011 and 2012 was 484 (mg/L) which is significantly higher than the 1988-2013 average for southern Manitoba rivers and streams (183 mg/L). Isotopic compositions (sulfur and oxygen) for all potential SO42- inputs to DHC have been determined through sampling and estimation of possible sources. In this study a dual-isotope approach was employed in combination with Bayesian probability analysis to estimate the contributions of all potential SO42- sources to DHC. The Winkler sewage lagoons were found to be the primary SO42- contributor, an outcome which is directly related to the disposal of concentrated SO42- waste from the Winkler water treatment plant (which provides potable water for the City of Winkler) into the sewage lagoons. In addition, runoff of sulphate-based fertilizers (through culverts) into DHC may also be a significant contributor to the excess sulphate found in DHC when lagoon effluent is not being released.


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rogram and bstracts - brandon universityover the past 18 months a documentary film, entitled...

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