A Trip to the Co-op: The Production, Consumption and Salvation of CanadianWilderness

In this paper, I analyze Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) catalogues from1987-2007, in order to examine how they produce wilderness, invite consumption andoffer up their products as a means of salvation for wilderness and for MEC members.My analysis of the MEC catalogues draws connections between how wilderness, andindeed the nation, is understood through the production of a conscientiouseco-consumer. Wilderness is understood as pivotal to Canadian national identity and has beenused to demarcate those imagined within and outside of the nation. I draw attentionto shifts in wilderness discourse in order to see how wilderness has been employedfor economic, political and social uses. I show that images and texts in the MECcatalogues call on familiar wilderness tropes thus making a consumer subject appearboth logical and desirable for its members and for the nation.Dans cet article, nous analysons les catalogues de 1987-2007 de la MountainEquipment Co-op (MEC) afin d’examiner la façon dont elle exalte le milieusauvage, invite à la consommation et offre ses produits comme un moyen de sauver lanature ainsi que ses membres. Nous visons à établir des liens entre, d’unepart, la compréhension de la nature et, par conséquent, de la nation et,d’autre part, la production d’une conscience d’écoconsommateur. La nature qui est considérée comme étant le pivot de l’identité nationalecanadienne est utilisée pour distinguer l’image identitaire véhiculée au seinde la nation de celle véhiculée à l’étranger. Nous prêtons une attentionparticulière à l’évolution du discours sur la nature afin d’étudierl’exploitation de la nature à des fins économiques, politiques et sociales.Nous montrons que les images et les textes dans les catalogues de la MECtransmettent un milieu sauvage familier et rendent, par conséquent, la consommationtant logique que souhaitable pour ses membres et pour la nation

Listen Up! Be Responsible! What Graduate Students Hear About University Teaching, Graduate Education and Employment

What we hear at universities and in public conversations is that there is a crisis in graduate student education and employment. We are interested here in the (re)circulation of the discourses of crisis and responsibility. What do graduate students hear about their education, their career prospects, and their responsibilities? How does work in educational development contribute to these conversations? We explore these questions through an analysis of two data sets: the course outlines for multidiscipline graduate courses on university teaching, and popular and academic press articles on graduate education and employment. Through this discursive analysis, we first examine what graduate students hear through these two archives of writing. We then unpack two key discourses that emerge across the archives: the privileging of practice over theory, and the desire to assign responsibility for how the crisis of graduate education and employment should be resolved and by whom.  Ce que l’on entend dans les universités et en public, c’est que l’emploi et la formation universitaire aux cycles supérieurs sont en pleine crise. Nous nous intéressons à la (re)circulation des discours sur la crise et la responsabilité. Qu’est-ce que les étudiants des cycles supérieurs entendent au sujet de leur formation, de leurs perspectives de carrière et de leurs responsabilités? Comment est-ce que le travail en développement éducationnel contribue à ces conversations? Nous explorons ces questions par le truchement d’une analyse de deux groupes de données : des plans des cours multidisciplinaires de cycles supérieurs portant sur l’enseignement universitaire et des articles de presse populaires et universitaires portant sur la formation aux cycles supérieurs et sur l’emploi. Dans cette analyse discursive, nous examinons d’abord ce que les étudiants des cycles supérieurs saisissent en lisant ces deux types d’archives écrites. Nous déconstruisons par la suite deux discours essentiels qui ressortent de ces archives, soit de privilégier la pratique plutôt que la théorie, et d’attribuer à quelqu’un la tâche de résoudre la crise de l’emploi et de la formation universitaire aux cycles supérieurs

An Analysis of the Vascular Flora of Annapolis Heathlands, Nova Scotia

A description and analysis of the vascular plant composition of heathlands in the Annapolis valley were undertaken to provide a basis for biodiversity preservation within a system of protected sites. Species presence and abundance were recorded at 23 remnant sites identified using topographic maps, air photos, and Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources records. A total of 126 species was recorded, of which 94 were native and 31 introduced. The Annapolis heathland remnants are strongly dominated by Corema conradii with Comptonia peregrina, Vaccinium angustifolium and Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum. A number of species, including Solidago bicolor, Carex tonsa var. rugosperma, Dichanthelium depauperatum, Lechea intermedia, Melampyrum lineare, and Rubus hispidus, were characteristic of heathland remnants, although they usually contributed little to the total cover. The most frequent alien species were Hieracium pilosella and Festuca filiformis, but Pinus sylvestris, present at 7 of 18 sites, appeared to have the greatest impact in displacing native species. Species listed as at risk and sensitive in Nova Scotia, including Helianthemun canadense, Hudsonia ericoides and Viola sagittata var. ovata, occur in open disturbed sand in the Corema heathlands. Distinctive patterns of variation occur in several species and variation in crop relatives is noted with particular reference to the genera Rubus (blackberries), Amelanchier (Juneberries, Saskatoon) and Vaccinium (Blueberries). The available evidence suggests that the heathlands and sandy barrens in the Annapolis valley differ from those further west in Canada and from anthropogenic and coastal heathlands of Nova Scotia in their species composition including particularly the presence of Corema conradii, Hudsonia ericoides and Amelanchier lucida. The need to protect representative examples is supported

A Re-Examination of the Taxonomic Boundaries of \u3cem\u3eSymphysia\u3c/em\u3e (Ericaceae)

DNA sequence data were generated for the nuclear ITS region for Symphysia racemosa and for 26 additional Vaccinieae representing 12 sections in the genus Vaccinium plus one species from each of five additional segregate genera. Our focus is on the placement of S. racemosa relative to Vaccinium sensu scricto and Vaccinium sect. Oreades (represented by V. poasanum). Maximum parsimony analysis of 608 bp of nrITS region suggests that S. racemosa and V. poasanum form a well-supported clade in spite of substantial morphological divergence. Futhermore, this clade is a sister group to a clade consisting of all segregate genera examined. These molecular results led us to undertake a morphological cladistic analysis of all of the other Central American green-flowered taxa. We suggest that the genus Symphysia should be expanded to encompass these 15 taxa, despite the lack of phylogenetic resolution within this group. This will necessitate eight new combinations, via. Symphysia almedae (= V. almedae), Symphysia costaricensis (= V. costaricense), Symphysia jefensis (= V. jefense), Symphysia orosiensis (= V. orosiense), Symphysia ovata (= Lateropora ovata), Symphysia perardua (= V. santafeënsis), Symphysia poasana (= Vaccinium poasanum), Symphysia santafeënsis (= L. santafeënsis), and Symphysia tubulifera (= L. tubulifera)

Dear SSHRC, What Do You Want? An Epistolary Narrative of Expertise, Identity, and Time in Grant Writing

The current research climate has heightened expectations for social science researchers to secure research grant funding at the same time that such funding appears to be more competitive than ever. As a result, researchers experience anxiety, confusion, loss of confidence, second guessing, and a lack of trust in the system and themselves. This autoethnographic study provides an insider perspective on the intellectual, emotional, and physical experience of grant writing. A team of scholars document the production of a research grant for their major national funding agency, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The story is presented through epistolary narrative in the form of a series of unsent letters addressed to the funding agency. The letters foreground themes of expertise, identity, and time as they were shaped through the grant-writing process. The analysis draws attention to unnecessary complexities and challenges that could and should be eliminated from granting processes if the intention is to foster quality research and strengthen research capacity. Implications may prove instructive for other grant applicants, resource personnel employed to support applicants, and potential funders.This work was funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2017-0104)

The Effect of Consumers and Mutualists of Vaccinium membranaceum at Mount St. Helens: Dependence on Successional Context

In contrast to secondary succession, studies of terrestrial primary succession largely ignore the role of biotic interactions, other than plant facilitation and competition, despite the expectation that simplified interaction webs and propagule-dependent demographics may amplify the effects of consumers and mutualists. We investigated whether successional context determined the impact of consumers and mutualists by quantifying their effects on reproduction by the shrub Vaccinium membranaceum in primary and secondary successional sites at Mount St. Helens (Washington, USA), and used simulations to explore the effects of these interactions on colonization. Species interactions differed substantially between sites, and the combined effect of consumers and mutualists was much more strongly negative for primary successional plants. Because greater local control of propagule pressure is expected to increase successional rates, we evaluated the role of dispersal in the context of these interactions. Our simulations showed that even a small local seed source greatly increases population growth rates, thereby balancing strong consumer pressure. The prevalence of strong negative interactions in the primary successional site is a reminder that successional communities will not exhibit the distribution of interaction strengths characteristic of stable communities, and suggests the potential utility of modeling succession as the consequence of interaction strengths

Seed size variation: magnitude, distribution, and ecological correlates

We examined seed-mass variation in 39 species (46 populations) of plants in eastern-central Illinois, USA. The coefficient of variation of seed mass commonly exceeded 20%. Significant variation in mean seed mass occurred among conspecific plants in most species sampled (by hierarchical ANOVA), averaging 38% of total variance. For most species, within-plant variation was the larger component of total variance, averaging 62% of total variance. Variation in seed mass among fruits within crops was significant in most species tested.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42741/1/10682_2005_Article_BF02067274.pd

Biosystematic Studies of Vaccinium Section Macropelma (Ericaeae) in Hawaii

A survey of seed and seedling morphology of the three Hawaiian species of Vaccinium sect. Macropelma (V. calycinum Smith, V. den tatum Smith, and V. reticulatum Smith) revealed that seed shape, size, and seed coat sculpture showed little interspecific variation and that the primary shoots bore similar, thick, coarsely serrate, dorsally glandular green leaves. In certain populations of V. reticulatum subsequent eophylls may retain such leaves for the life of the plant. Selfing and crossing experiments demonstrated that each of the three species is self-compatible, especially V. calycinum, where selfing produces more seeds than outcrossing. Cleistogamous flowers have also been observed in V. calycinum. Interspecific hybrids are viable and resemble two taxa described by Skottsberg