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
Balancing energy and ecosystems: Exploring the spatiality of renewable energy development for a low-carbon future
(2025) Willard-Stepan, Maya; Hoicka, Christina; Bone, Christopher
Fossil fuel energy production, as one of the most significant drivers of climate change, is causing extreme social and environmental harm worldwide. These circumstances necessitate a transition to low-carbon energy sources. A key factor in the expansion of low-carbon energy systems is the potential impact this development may have on other benefits provided by the environment, such as food or materials, commonly referred to as ecosystem services. There is currently limited knowledge beyond the regional scope of how energy development is impacting these services; an important consideration, as local studies cannot consider the full spectrum of global environmental impacts. The research outlined in this thesis uses an exploratory methodology to examine the spectrum of environments in which renewable energy projects are constructed in, and which ecosystem services are most likely to be impacted by the expansion of renewable energy globally, both for single-technology and clustered renewable energy power plants. First, in Chapter 3, I analyse the land cover and associated ecosystem services surrounding global power plants. In Chapter 4, I reproduce this analysis on a growing global dataset of renewable energy projects that utilize multiple types of resources, known as clusters. These results are compared with those discussed in Chapter 3 to assess how the configuration of energy systems influence the land they are constructed on. I find that hydropower and wind power show the highest occurrence in ecosystem service rich environments, creating the largest risk of ecosystem service loss from renewable energy production, while clustered energy systems are placed in areas which decrease the risk of ecological trade-offs. As renewable energy continues to develop, incorporating other land considerations will be critical in ensuring the energy transition minimizes harm to the natural environment for which we all rely on.
Unsettled futures: Pathways for Indigenous solidarity on Haida Gwaii
(2025) Weder, Julia; Rowe, James K.
Haida scholars and community leaders have made it clear that non-Haida people can (and should) contribute to the collective protection, well-being, and resilience of Haida Gwaii. There is a lack of clarity among many settlers, however, around their agency in the anti-colonial movement and methods for addressing settler colonial logics in the community. To address this gap, I reviewed literature on settler colonialism and non-Indigenous agency in collective social liberation, and conducted 13 interviews with Haida and non-Haida community members. I explored three research questions. (1) What approaches, practices, and tools have been successfully used by other communities and social practitioners/organizations to support settler (un)learning and transformation? I found that helping people foster deeper relationships with land and ancestry, exploring shared place-based histories, engaging in reading, discussion, and embodiment-based courses, and using art as a tool for knowledge-sharing are examples of effective social/educational tools. (2) What past or current spaces/movements on Haida Gwaii have fostered dialogue around settler responsibilities and conceptions of Haida sovereignty? A key finding was that Haida Gwaii has a rich history of alliances between Haida and settler peoples – in support of Haida title and resurgence, to protect Haida Gwaii’s lands and waters, and in resistance to corporate industrial invasion – which have been powerful sites of personal transformation and solidarity-building. (3) What approaches, practices, and tools might be effective for settlers in Daajing Giids with various perspectives to critically interrogate and transform mindsets around settler identity and Haida sovereignty? How can passive allies or more neutral residents be brought more into the fold of anti-colonial action? I found that among local community organizers, a politics based on relationships and shared interests (such as a connection to place and the health of the community’s air, water, and food sources) was favoured over a politics of identity, shame, and deference; the latter of which risks homogenizing or unnecessarily burdening the Haida community. Neutral or passive allies could be engaged by creating opportunities for in-person relationship-building and supporting residents in witnessing Haida business at potlatches and other political/cultural events. Ultimately, I saw great interest among participants to strengthen networks and practices of mutual aid, support one another in subverting settler colonial habits and structures, and continue to build popular social power that aligns with the interests of the Haida Nation.
The emergence of novel disturbance in Jasper National Park – evaluating the causes and implications of 100 years of landscape change using repeat photography
(2025) Tricker, James; Higgs, Eric
Recurring disturbance has a strong influence on the bounds of ecosystem variability. The concept historical range of variability (HRV) describes these bounds, providing a sense of the range of ecosystem characteristics exhibited in response to disturbance and recovery over time and space. Altered and novel disturbances can drive changes in ecosystem composition and configuration that depart from the HRV and lead to regimes shifts. In Jasper National Park, a systematic set of historical and repeated oblique photographs depict montane landcover in the aftermath of extensive fires in 1915 and a mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in 2020/22. However, the MPB disturbance is historically unprecedented, and raises important questions about whether the characteristics of this event are within the HRV of the montane ecosystems. The focus of this dissertation is to apply a new workflow for deriving landcover maps from oblique photographs to evaluate the landcover changes that have occurred in the park’s montane ecoregion over the last 105 years. The workflow comprises a deep learning algorithm that automates the classification of landcover evident in grayscale and color oblique photographs and a georeferencing tool that incorporates these data into a GIS. I report on the accuracy of the data produced by the workflow (Chapter 2) and quantify the changes in composition and configuration of broad landcover types after the two disturbance events for a study area in the montane ecoregion (Chapter 3). A scenario planning exercise is then undertaken to evaluate the uncertainty surrounding the implications of these changes and the potential for future novel disturbance events (Chapter 4). Georeferencing accuracy using root-mean-square error for a subset of 7 images was 4.6 m and overall classification accuracy for the landcover map produced from oblique photographs using the new workflow was 68%. The change analysis in the montane ecoregion indicated that the MPB outbreak has returned a version of heterogeneity evident in 1915 to the landscape by reducing the dominance of mature conifer (both in composition and configuration) across the landscape. Four scenarios then describe alternative futures in the park based on different levels and combinations of ecological novelty and management intervention. The value of this research is to validate the development of a new workflow for analyzing historical and repeat photographs, increase the temporal depth of ecological monitoring in the park, and allow managers and restoration practitioners to develop a better understanding of how and where novel disturbance is altering ecological processes and could reoccur in the future.
Investigating the function of eosinophils in mucosal immunity
(2025) FitzPatrick, Rachael D.; Reynolds, Lisa A.
Eosinophils are a highly abundant immune cell type in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract at steady-state, where they have recently been reported to contribute to tissue homeostasis in response to nutrient and bacterial microbiota-derived signals. Eosinophils are also elevated in the GI tract of some individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who are also more susceptible to enteric bacterial infections. Further, therapies to treat hypereosinophilic syndromes have been designed to deplete eosinophils from the human body rendering some people completely devoid of this cell type. Together, these observations emphasize the need to gain a deeper understanding of the role of eosinophils in the GI mucosa.
In this thesis, I examine the function of eosinophils under three different contexts within the murine intestinal tract: 1) steady-state secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) production, 2) enteric bacterial infection, and 3) the development of oral tolerance. We find that contrary to previous reports, eosinophils are not essential for the maintenance of sIgA in the GI tract at steady-state. Instead, our findings emphasize the importance of optimally controlling rearing and housing conditions throughout life between mice of different genotypes when their phenotypes are being assessed. Further, we determine that eosinophils are responsive to an enteric infection with the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) but not essential for controlling S. Typhimurium colonization within the GI tract. Finally, we established a mouse model to investigate the contribution of eosinophils to oral tolerance development in early life. Using this model, we uncover immune responses to dietary antigens unique to the early life period and determine that eosinophils are not an essential cell type contributing to oral tolerance in early life.
Collectively, these results contribute to our understanding of eosinophils within the GI mucosa, which ultimately will help inform treatment strategies for people living with elevated or depleted levels of eosinophils. Further, our findings lay the groundwork for future well-controlled and robust studies of eosinophils as well as oral tolerance development during the early life period.
A case study of new nurses’ transition from education to rural practice in times of adversity
(Creative Nursing, 2024) Herron, Rachel V.; Waddell-Henowitch, Candice; Smith, Nadine; Pylypowich, Ashley; Lawrence, Breanna C.; Pellerin, Shelby
The transition of new nurses from training to employment in rural practice can be difficult in the best of times. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified challenges in supporting new nurses transitioning from education to employment. Drawing together Benner’s novice-to-expert model and the concept of human flourishing, this article reports on research that explored new nurses’ experiences transitioning from training to employment in rural nursing during the initial years of the COVID-19 pandemic, using case study methodology combining an online recruitment survey and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants identified a lack of on-the-job training and mentorship, feeling unprepared for the acuity of patients and concerns about patient safety, feeling unprepared for leadership roles, feeling unsupported by management, feeling fatigued and anxious, and a lack of optimism about the future of rural health care. On the positive side, participants reported valuing social connections and teamwork, gratitude from patients, and a sense of community, as well as increasing competency at work. Their stories and self-rated flourishing revealed both strengths and challenges in transitioning to practice in rural settings during times of adversity. This research can inform theories of nursing development as well as policies and practices that support new nurses to thrive in rural contexts.