UVicSpace | Institutional Repository
UVicSpace is the University of Victoria’s open access scholarship and learning repository. It preserves and provides access to the digital scholarly works of UVic faculty, students, staff, and partners. Items in UVicSpace are organized into collections, each belonging to a community.
For more information about depositing items, see the Submission Guidelines.
Recent Submissions
Participatory solid waste governance and the role of social and solidarity economy: Experiences from São Paulo, Brazil
(Detritus, 2020) Gutberlet, Jutta; Besen, Gina Rizpah; Morais, Leandro Pereira
Waste governance is emerging as transdisciplinary and inter-sectoral approach to waste management and policy, overcoming primarily prescriptive engineering perspectives of waste. The process of governing waste involves the articulation of different structures, institutions, policies, practices and actors. Paying attention to issues of power, scale, and equity are important in the search for more democratic practices. Innovative forms of governance are emerging as decentralized, participatory and inclusive, focused on waste reduction and resource recovery. Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) is an innovative alternative in generating work and income and a response in favor of social and labor inclusion. It can also be considered as a new, more humane and inclusive development model. With this article we aim to provide practical knowledge on the contributions of grassroots organizations and networks in waste management, supporting the discussion of waste governance in the context of the SSE. We present different experiences of waste picker organizations in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil to showcase their assets and to discuss prevailing challenges. Employing the SSE as a new development model allows us to address everyday issues of waste generation, management and governance in Brazilian cities and in other parts of the world; particularly from the perspective of organized waste pickers in associations, cooperatives and networks. This is a development paradigm which goes beyond just economic considerations, as highlighted with examples from waste management.
Grassroots eco-social innovations driving inclusive circular economy
(Detritus, 2023) Gutberlet, Jutta
The paper discusses research results on waste governance and circular economy, conducted with waste picker cooperatives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. Two cases have been selected, from a pool of 21 waste picker organizations, to video document their grassroots eco-social innovations that have improved local waste management and the lives of the cooperative members. The videos support knowledge sharing with key actors in waste governance and the circular economy. Social grassroots innovation theory focuses on livelihood opportunities beyond the formal labour market, pursuing social inclusion by creating meaningful work for individuals who were considered left out and in vulnerable situations. Transitioning to sustainability necessarily goes beyond socio-technical innovations but rather integrates eco-social perspectives. After first introducing grassroots innovation theory and the concept of eco-social innovations the paper describes the empirical frame and presents two cases where organized waste pickers were successful in operationalizing innovations that address the circular economy and contribute to sustainability transitions. Key findings highlighted are cooperative governance, long-term partnership building, improved productivity and increased income.
Decarbonization of gas transmission pipelines via hydrogen blending: A Techno-Environmental case study approach
(Energy Conversion and Management, 2025) Das, Pronob; Mohtasim, Md. Shahriar; Rowe, Andrew; Wild, Peter
This study presents a novel and validated optimization framework to evaluate the performance and techno-environmental and economic impacts of hydrogen blending in steady-state natural gas transmission pipelines. The model investigates hydrogen injection (0 %, 10 %, 20 % and 100 %) and its influence on key parameters, including flow behavior, compressor fuel consumption, pressure limits, emissions, and energy return on investment (EROI). Using a genetic algorithm (GA) implemented in MATLAB, the framework is applied to both generalized cases and a real commercial system, the Coastal GasLink pipeline in Canada. Hydrogen addition significantly alters system behavior, increasing maximum operating pressure from 6.9 to 8.2 MPa and raising compressor fuel use from 2.98 % (100 % NG) to 21.4 % (100 % H2) over an 800 km pipeline. Validation against multiple benchmark studies shows < 1.5 % deviation, confirming model reliability. The study introduces a cost and emission trade-off analysis using a marginal abatement cost curve to assess compressor station electrification strategies. Full electrification reduces emissions by 1.51 MtCO2/year but increases operating costs. However, under Canadian incentive structures, the cost of abatement decreases substantially, making large-scale emission reduction economically viable. The analysis also highlights a sharp decline in EROI from 33.56 (100 % NG) to 4.67 (100 % H2), underscoring the need for efficiency-focused infrastructure design. A forward-looking hybrid energy system is proposed, integrating renewables, battery storage, and electrolyzers to enable on-site green hydrogen production and electrified compression. This framework supports infrastructure planning aligned with national decarbonization goals for 2030 and beyond.
“It helps me to be more aware and connected to my body when I spent so many years trying to disconnect”: A qualitative pilot study on the impact of time spent in nature on eating disorder recovery
(Body Image, 2025) Buchkowski, Megan; Nutter, Sarah; Saunders, Jessica F.
Eating disorders have high relapse and mortality rates, complex treatment needs, and disproportionately affect women. A common characteristic of women with eating disorders is a lack of embodiment and disconnection from the body. Increasing positive embodiment may be a means to help support recovery. This study qualitatively examined the impact of time spent in nature as a potential mechanism for increasing positive embodiment during eating recovery among six women in Canada and the USA using semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis. Participants shared that spending time in nature helped them appreciate and care for their bodies and slow their eating disorder voice, providing a foundation on which to build and maintain recovery from their eating disorder. Participants also described how being in nature helped them feel connected, leading to feeling a sense of belonging and a part of something bigger than themselves. The findings from this pilot study warrant further investigation, and may have implications for eating disorder treatment for women, as spending time in nature during eating disorder recovery may help counterbalance societal pressures on women and support recovery maintenance.
Anatomical and ultrastructural characterization of the frog accessory olfactory bulb and vomeronasal nerve
(University of Victoria, 2026) Merx, Xander
The accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) serves as the central relay for vomeronasal chemosensory information and has been implicated in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in frogs. Activity-dependent enhancement (ADE), observed at the vomeronasal nerve (VNN)–mitral cell synapse, has been described in Rana pipiens and hypothesized to involve neuropeptide co-release from dense-core vesicle (DCV)-containing afferent terminals. Bimodal compound action potential recordings from the Lithobates catesbeiana VNN suggest the presence of two morphologically distinct axon populations. The present study employed light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) anterograde tracing to characterize the anatomy and ultrastructure of the AOB and VNN in adult L. catesbeiana.
Light microscopy revealed a laminated AOB with glomerular and mitral cell layers; a notably sparse periglomerular cell population was identified, consistent with the frog AOB being less elaborated than its mammalian counterpart. TEM of the glomerular neuropil identified likely dendrodendritic synapses and gap junctions, features documented in the mammalian olfactory bulb but not previously reported in the frog AOB. Large vesicular profiles with electron-dense cores were observed in HRP-DAB labeled VNN afferent terminals; however, the evidence is insufficient to confirm the presence of dense-core vesicles, and these observations do not provide anatomical support for the neuropeptide co-release hypothesis. Quantitative axon diameter analysis identified two morphologically distinct fascicle types: Type A fascicles with a unimodal small-axon distribution and Type B fascicles with a bimodal distribution with a sparse large-profile subpopulation, consistent with the bimodal CAP profile.
These structural observations support ongoing functional investigations and warrant further study using biochemical and volumetric imaging approaches.
Supervisor: Dr. Kerry Delaney