In Canada, progress towards reconciliation with Aboriginal Peoples has been slow, in part because of a lack of emphasis on interpersonal reconciliation—changes in the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours of non-Aboriginal Canadians. Physical distance, prejudicial public discourses, and insufficient, ineffective education for the public pose barriers to renewed relationships between settlers and Aboriginal Peoples. Drawing from transformative learning theory and pedagogy for the privileged, this narrative inquiry examines critical events in the lives of eight white settlers living in Mi’kmaw territory in Nova Scotia. The study uncovers factors which have prompted some Euro-Canadians to take up their responsibility for reconciliation and enabled them to stand as allies with the Mi’kmaq. The transformation process in settler allies was catalyzed by a combination of personal, intrinsic, and extrinsic events. New relationships between settlers and the Mi’kmaq were founded around shared interests or goals, and friendships provided an important foundation for learning. Hearing the personal stories of Mi’kmaw people challenged stereotypes and misinformation about Aboriginal Peoples. Settlers’ learning was further supported by immersion in Mi’kmaw communities or contexts, time spent on the land, and mentoring by Mi’kmaw people. Allies reported that the satisfaction they derived from relationships with Mi’kmaw people as well as a desire to do good and see justice done sustained these relationships over the longer term. The study suggests that a lengthy period of awareness raising and confidence building followed by opportunities for informal, experiential learning and face-to-face interactions are key elements in settler decolonization.

Historical gold mine tailings at several sites in Nova Scotia, Canada are publicly accessible and may pose a threat to human and ecosystem health because of high arsenic (As) concentrations in the tailings (max 25 wt.%) and associated pore waters (up to 100 mg/L). Two of these sites, Montague and Goldenville, are under consideration for remediation. Similar tailings sites have been cleaned up by covering the mine wastes with soil. However, the tailings at Montague and Goldenville have been weathering for at least 70 years, leading to a wide range of As-bearing secondary minerals which may dissolve under a soil cover, releasing As to local waters. The challenge of remediating these heterogeneous tailings lies in the different Eh-pH niches in which iron arsenates (oxidizing, acidic), calcium-iron-arsenates (oxidizing, alkaline), and sulfides (reducing) are stable. The main objectives of this study were to: 1) characterize pre-remediation geochemical controls on As mobility in subsurface tailings; 2) establish hydrogeological influences on As mobility; and 3) identify geochemical changes that result when a low organic soil cover is applied to the tailings. Pore water measurements were combined with bulk chemistry, scanning electron microscopy, and synchrotron micro-X-ray diffraction analyses, which were used to characterize the mineralogical composition of the tailings. Groundwater and surface water flow regimes throughout the tailings were defined through the use of piezometers and hydraulic conductivity measurements. Laboratory leaching experiments were used to assess the effects of a soil cover on the tailings. Variable weathering conditions over time have resulted in a continuum of saturation and redox environments and a range of As hosts in the tailings. In some areas, tailings pore waters are mixing with stream waters leading to As transport beyond the tailings. Applying a low organic soil cover does not induce reducing conditions in the tailings or cause dissolved As concentrations to increase compared to field pore water concentrations. This type of soil cover is effective in slowing sulfide mineral oxidation while maintaining stable conditions for secondary As-phases. The results of this research can be used to inform remediation decisions and guide ongoing environmental management of historical gold mine sites. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2014-06-04 10:22:43.838

名古屋大学年代測定総合研究センターシンポジウム報告

Evidence indicates that regular physical activity (e.g., aerobic physical activity for 30 minutes most days of the week) reduces recurrent cardiac events and death rates in women with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, study findings consistently report higher rates of physical inactivity among rural versus urban women. In addition, rural women experience significant geographic disparities, health inequities, and limited access to health care services and providers, creating further self-care challenges such as engaging in recommended physical activity behaviors post-MI. To understand how rural Nova Scotia (NS) women engage in physical activity behaviors post MI, and factors that affect their physical activity in the post-MI period, constructivist grounded theory (CGT) and photovoice methodologies and methods were used in this research. Eighteen NS women from rural settings participated in two interviews and in the taking of personal photographs using provided disposable cameras. Findings from the narrative and visual data culminated in a substantive theory, “Seeking-Self Worth: A Theory of How Rural Women Engage in Physical Activity Behavior Post-MI.” What was most problematic for study participants was questioning self-worth as a rural woman post-MI. To manage this problem, study participants engaged in the process of seeking self-worth as a rural woman post-MI. The theory of seeking self-worth also involved the processes of assessing MI damage and physical activity, testing physical activity limits, and choosing physical activity priorities. All of these processes played out within a rural context where gender and contextual factors encouraged or hindered study participants’ seeking of self-worth post-MI and, subsequently, their engagement in physical activity behavior post-MI. This substantive theory has implications for nursing, particularly rural public health nurses and nurse practitioners, in the areas of practice, education, research, and policy development.

This thesis explores the relationship between food and identity. Drawing on the concept of ‘gastro-anomie’, or ‘food normlessness’, it asks how individuals’ make sense of food and eating in the context of an increasingly globalised and complex food economy. Through a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a small number of individuals living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the thesis outlines participants’ everyday attitudes toward food and eating practices. It concludes that individuals actively seek out and ultimately find meaning through their food consumption practices. Consciously aware of the problems associated with the global food economy, the participants in this study used their food choices as a way to reflexively carve out their identities. Their bodies provided a powerful medium through which they engaged in these efforts.

A high-resolution pollen record from Path Lake (43°87’00”N, 64°92’42”W, 10m asl) in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, was used to provide a paleo-ecological perspective on Holocene climate and vegetation variability within the context of local archaeological research. Pollen assemblages in the early Holocene reflect a post-glacial forest dominated by Pinus, Tsuga, Betula and Quercus. Shallow water aquatic and wetland taxa increased after 3400 cal. yr. BP in response to wetter climatic conditions. Increased settlement intensity of native inhabitants coincides with late-Holocene climate change at a regional scale, suggesting that environmental conditions may have influenced prehistoric human activities. European settlement, after 350 cal. yr. BP, was marked by a rise in Ambrosia, and peak charcoal accumulation rates after this time showed evidence of human disturbance on the landscape. This study suggests that environmental changes affected human exploitation of the landscape, and human activity altered forest composition in the late Holocene.

Seamfulness is a narrative-based and arts-informed inquiry into young women's "depression" as pedagogy. Unfolding in rural Nova Scotia, this research is rooted in my experience of depression as the most transformative event in my life story. While memoirists tell me I am not alone, there is currently a lack of research on personal understandings of depression, particularly for young adult women. Through storytelling sessions and self-publishing workshops, I explored four young Nova Scotian women's depression as a productive site for growth. Participants include four young women, including myself, who experienced depression in their early 20s, and have not had a major depressive episode for at least three years. Aged 29 to 40, we claim Métis, Scottish, Acadian, and British ancestries, and were raised and lived in rural Nova Scotian communities during this time. At the seams of adult education, disability studies, and art, I ask: How do young women narrate experiences of "depression" as education? How do handmade, self-published booklets (or “zines”) allow for exploring this topic as embodied, emotional and critical transformative learning? To address these questions, I employ arts-informed strategies and feminist, adult education, mental health, and disability studies literatures to investigate the critical and transformative learning accomplished by young women who experience depression. Through a feminist poststructuralist lens and using qualitative and arts-informed methods, I situate depression as valuable learning, labour, and gift on behalf of the societies and communities in which women live. I argue that just as zines are powerful forms for third space pedagogy, depression itself is a third space subjectivity that gives rise to the "disorienting dilemma" at the heart of transformative learning. I close with "Loose Ends," an exploration of depression as an unanswered question. This thesis engages visual and verbal strategies to disrupt epistemic and aesethetic conventions for academic texts. By foregrounding participant zines and stories, I privilege participant voices as the basis for framing their experience, rather than as material to reinforce or contest academic theories.

Thesis--Université de Paris. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [249]-255).

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland. / Typescript. Restricted until May 1997. Bibliography: leaves 100-104. Also available online.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1997. / Restricted until November 1998. Bibliography: leaves 237-261. Also available online.