This qualitative study was designed to explore the transition experiences of youth with learning disabilities (LD) educated in the province of Ontario and their families. The primary purpose of this research was to understand what influences the decisions adolescents who have LD make about post-secondary education and employment goals and paths. The expectations and experiences of youth with LD and their families during the transition process were investigated. Adolescents and their parents were the main informants. Facilitators and barriers to the process in terms of each of the systems described in Bronfenbrenner ecological theory and Turnbull and Turnbull’s family systems theory were also examined. A case study method was used in the design of this research and data were collected following Seidman’s three-interview process. Five families consisting of the youth with LD, at least one parent, and in four cases, a sibling participated in this study. The questions focused on family interactions, roles, and the decision-making process. Data from the 18 participants were coded and arranged according to the research questions which were linked to the central ideas in the theoretical framework. The findings revealed that parents’ expectations influenced the decision-making about post high school goals and paths by the youth and their families. In contrast to previous research, it was found that parents’ expectations were generally high for their children with LD and were shaped by their own post high school experiences. The dynamics of family relationships and roles during transition planning depended on the time of diagnosis of LD (primary grades vs. senior high school), attitudes towards LD by the parents, advocacy by parents, self-advocacy abilities of the youth with LD, and the nature of relations among siblings. Additionally, none of the youth with LD had a formal transition plan and the data showed that teachers could facilitate or hinder the transition process. Also emerging from the data were three types of advocacy that were practised by parents. The study findings add to our knowledge about the transition process and in particular how decisions are made and the factors that influence them. Moreover, this study gives a voice to youth with LD and their families as they described their transition experiences to post-secondary education or employment.

Le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario a présenté sa nouvelle politique en matière d’éducation environnementale en 2009. Elle implique la participation de tous ceux œuvrant au sein du système éducatif, incluant les enseignants. Dès le départ, les enseignants ne sont pas neutres à l’égard de l’environnement. Les valeurs environnementales préalables des enseignants auront-elles un impact sur l’accueil qu’ils réservent pour cette politique? À l’aide de l’échelle du New Ecological Paradigm développé par Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig et Jones (2000), cette étude mesure les valeurs environnementales des enseignants d’un conseil scolaire francophone du Nord de l’Ontario et évalue l’accueil qu’ils réservent à la politique d’éducation environnementale pour ensuite vérifier s’il y a une relation entre ces facteurs. Les résultats démontrent que le groupe accueille la politique de façon plutôt favorable. Les valeurs environnementales semblent exercer une influence sur l’attitude qu’adoptent les enseignants face à celle-ci, mais c’est vraisemblablement dans le niveau d’action qu’ils entreprendront que cette influence se manifestera.

There are two serious methodological problems in the research literature on school effectiveness, the ecological problem in the analysis of aggregate data and the problem of not controlling for important confounding variables. This dissertation corrects these errors by using multilevel modeling procedures, specifically Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), and the Canadian Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 data, to evaluate the effect of school variables on the students’ academic achievement when a number of theoretically-relevant student variables have been controlled. In this study, I demonstrate that an aggregate analysis gives the most biased results of the schools’ impact on the students’ academic achievement. I also show that a disaggretate analysis gives better results, but HLM gives the most accurate estimates using this nested data set. Using HLM, I show that the physical resources of schools, which have been evaluated by school principals and classroom teachers, actually have no positive impact on the students’ academic achievement. The results imply that the physical resources are important, but an excessive improvement in the physical conditions of schools is unlikely to improve the students’ achievement. Most of the findings in this study are consistent with the best research literature. I conclude the dissertation by suggesting that aggregate analysis should not be used to infer relationships for individual students. Rather, multilevel analysis should be used whenever possible.

Ecological Economics has not paid sufficient attention to the macroeconomic level both in terms of theory and modeling. Yet, key topics debated in the field of Ecological Economics such as sustainable consumption, reduction in working time, the degrowth debate, the energy-exergy link, and the rebound effect require a holistic and macro perspective. While this deficiency has been identified before and Keynesian economics has been generally suggested as a potent vehicle to establish economic system's thinking, very little concrete theorizing and practical suggestions have been put forward. We give further credence to this suggestion and demonstrate the value of tackling key concerns of Ecological Economics within a Keynesian growth framework. Contextualized by an application to climate change we suggest that policy relevant recommendations need to be based on a consistent view of the macroeconomy. We end with laying out key building blocks for a Keynesian model framework for an Ecological Macroeconomics. (authors' abstract)

In the last 20 years, linguists and community members engaged in fieldwork with endangered languages have become increasingly aware of and vocal about the ethical dilemmas that potentially can, and often do, arise in work of this nature. One result of this can be seen in the reconceptualization of best practices and methodologies in linguistic fieldwork. There is a strong push towards collaborative, community-driven, and interdisciplinary forms of research, and a concomitant shift in the roles taken on by academic and community-based researchers. The shifts in roles in turn have led academics and community-members to rethink the responsibilities associated with these roles. The purpose of this thesis is threefold: firstly, to provide a description of a highly collaborative, community-driven project involving, as one of its components, the documentation of language associated with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK); secondly, to consider and illustrate how the relative roles of academics and community participants have shifted and thirdly, to discuss responsibilities associated with the protection of the TEK documented through this work – knowledge that would not have been documented to the same extent if the project had not been collaborative and community-driven. These topics evolved from the knowledge and guidance of Kʷakʷaka'wakʷ Clan Chief Kʷaxsistalla (Adam Dick), as well as the ethnoecological/linguistic projects that this thesis is centred on. I propose that a) collaborative research that is community-steered can be supported by the Community-Based Language Research model developed by Czaykowska-Higgins (2009), b) within this emerging research framework unconventional research roles can be assumed by all participants, c) it is important to respect and protect the Traditional Ecological Knowledge recorded in research with Indigenous experts, and d) existing systems of Intellectual Property fall short in adequately protecting and respecting TEK. I conclude this study by relating these issues to larger movements occurring within linguistics and social science and humanities research in general. I suggest a move away from subscribing to the Intellectual Property system, and towards approaching language research through a human rights framework. The result of this thesis is an analysis of collaborative community-based language research with and within an Indigenous community in Canada. It will contribute to the ongoing discussions and evaluations of changing roles and responsibilities in field research in linguistics. / Graduate

This dissertation explores how transformative spaces and agency provide opportunities in everyday lives for transformative shifts from the dominant culture towards a culture of ecological decision-making. Stories about transformative change and system shifts, told by forty people involved in Canada’s Gulf Islands, form the basis for the findings. Their stories demonstrate how personal transformation leads to changed lifestyles and system shifts that reflect the interconnectedness between all living organisms. Two elements of the shift to ecological thinking are increased understanding of the natural world, and willingness to hear and empathise with other people’s realities. Change in communities is cumulative and unpredictable, mirroring personal transformation. Community self-governance is at the core of cultural shifts – the extent to which community members, with various purposes and realities, engage in empathetic dialogue. When interacting with governments and corporations, those who have shifted to ecological-thinking mode exercise their agency and respond according to their inner values. Factors that increase the likelihood of cultural shifts include: a) a multiplicity of different realities in the same space that create the opportunity for people to rethink their cultural box and see the arbitrariness of dominant norms, b) people exercising their agency rather than looking to government as authority, c) collective, non-hierarchical processes, and d) support and links to others in a network of symbiotic ecological-thinking nodes. The power in d) is the power of an accumulation of localisms that creates cultural shifts, arising from communities, which shifts society’s norms and behaviours. / Graduate / 0329 / 0615 / fayweller@shaw.ca

This thesis set out to investigate the influence of disturbance on the succession of the Krakatau islands (Rakata, Sertung, Panjang). The hierarchical model of succession by S. Pickett and colleagues (1987) was adopted as a research framework, and provided the basis for an alternative model of succession on Krakatau that focuses on processes rather than successional pathways. Investigations were conducted on (i) the meso-scale, and (ii) the patch-scale, (i) quantified the recent disturbance regime, and inter- and intra-island differences in diversity, (ii) compared sapling performance (growth, mortality and recruitment), and species compositional patterning in space and time for saplings and the seed bank with respect to island, gap size and severity of disturbance. Multivariate techniques were used, and amongst other attempts at characterising the light environment, hemispherical photography was employed. For the first time the effect of a continuous period of volcanic activity (1992-1995) of Anak Krakatau could be directly quantified and compared between Panjang and Sertung (ash-affected) and Rakata (receiving no ash). Increased rates of gap formation in the volcanically active period in comparison to the previous decade were found for all islands. This supports the disturbance-driven model of Whittaker and colleagues. However, an extension is required, because, contrary to expectation, Rakata also experienced more disturbance. This increase is argued to be a result of more severe weather conditions, and an increased number of earth tremors, during times of volcanic activity. The disturbance factors of extreme climatic events (e.g. ENSO events) and human impact are also proposed for inclusion in the alternative model. Drought associated with the 1994 El Niño is of relevance to short-term and potential long-term impact on regeneration dynamics and succession. Attention was drawn to the local human influence of pumice mining on the coastal forests. Supporting previous findings on the plot- and whole island scales, data from species presence/absence transects established that species richness and beta-diversity on the ash- affected islands was also lower on the meso-scale. Panjang's canopy composition is less uniform, and locally more species-rich than Sertung's. More evidence of the suggested decline of the mono-dominant species Neonauclea calycina and Timonius compressicaulis was gathered. The third dominant, Dysoxylum gaudichaudianum, is expanding in the lowlands of all islands. This is aided by its ability to regenerate in moderate shade, to grow rapidly in gap environments, and its tolerance of ash-fall, drought and herbivory. However, on Rakata, it is not expected to become generally mono-dominant because a considerable number of other potential canopy species are present. Sapling performance and species composition and its changes were in general strongly affected by ash-fall and drought. These factors tended to override effects of gap size and severity of disturbance. Advance regeneration, and the composition of the local forest type were identified as important factors influencing the composition of the early stages of gap-fill. The local forest type also seemed to contribute most to seed bank composition. As rarer species tended to have clumped distributions, and 'safe sites' for regeneration seemed not to be limiting, dispersal constraints were argued to be the most likely factors slowing diversification, unless further severe volcanic disturbance leads to successional set-back. The latter also strongly limits the predictability of succession on Krakatau.

This investigation, comprising two studies, examined the number of barriers to physical activity (Study 1) and barrier strength (Study 2) reported by middle-aged and older adults using a social ecological framework (McLeroy et al., 1988). Researchers were interested in assessing age group (45-54; 55-64; 65-74 yrs) by physical activity group (active, less active) effects for barrier responses using analyses of variance. In Study 1, 180 participants completed a physical activity level survey (Godin & Shephard, 1985) and answered open-ended questions about barriers. Results indicated that 45-54 yr-olds reported more barriers overall, and more intrapersonal barriers than older groups. Less active 45-54 yr-olds reported more organizational-interpersonal barriers than the other groups. Descriptive analyses of coded themes demonstrated that common intrapersonal barrier sub-themes cited by younger adults related to family commitments, while sub-themes reported by middle-aged and older adults related to having a health problem or an injury. In the organizational-interpersonal category, the most common barrier sub-theme related to the workplace. In Study 2, 116 participants completed a survey assessing weekly physical activity and barrier strength for items pertaining to ecological categories and barrier sub-factors. Results showed that less active adults reported each of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment barriers more strongly than active adults, irrespective of age; the intrapersonal category was relatively the most constraining for our participants. In terms of barrier sub-factors, results showed that significantly higher barrier strength scores are most often associated with physical activity level (i.e., less active), and only occasionally associated with age group. The overall investigation can provide valuable information for improving physical activity interventions for middle-aged and older adults.

Lake Erie has undergone a substantial amount of ecosystem changes over the past century; including cultural eutrophication and several invasions by industrious exotic species. Simple mass balance models for phosphorus have been useful in guiding policy decisions that led to reduced eutrophication, but new, confounding threats to the ecological health of Lake Erie continue to appear and lake managers continue to need useful tools to better understand the lake. As more complex ecological questions are asked to guide future management decisions, more complex ecological models are developed in an effort to provide some clues. The walleye fishery in Lake Erie is economically very important. Walleye recruitment has been highly variable from year to year since the 1990s. Modelling zooplankton is desired as a diagnostic tool for elucidating the quality of habitat – spatially and temporally – that is available to walleye in their vulnerable larval state. ELCOM-CAEDYM (or ELCD) is a 3-dimensional, coupled hydrodynamic and ecological model, which has been successfully applied to Lake Erie to model the nutrients and phytoplankton. The objectives of this study were to better understand the ELCOM-CAEDYM model of Lake Erie through a sensitivity analysis (SA), which has not been done before, and to explicitly simulate zooplankton in this model. An SA is important for determining which of the uncertain parameters have the greatest impact on the output variables. Due to the complexity of the CAEDYM model and the highly interdependent functions and variables modelled, a local SA (comparing changes in output by perturbing parameters one-at-a-time from some baseline configuration) was not desirable. Local SA’s ignore the possibility of a parameter’s effects being correlated to the status of other parameters. However, quantitative global methods are enormously computationally expensive for a complex model. The Lake Erie ELCD model simulates temperature, mixing, nutrient cycles, and phytoplankton dynamics. Phytoplankton are represented by 5 functional groups. With the explicit inclusion of 2 functional groups of zooplankton (copepods and cladocerans), the model uses over 300 function parameters in addition to requiring meteorological data and river inflow characteristics throughout the simulation. The model is set up with a 2-km grid over 40 layers with a 5-minute timestep from April 11 to September 1. This full simulation takes 6 days to complete. A quantitative global method to evaluate all parameters potentially significant to zooplankton would be impossible. The Morris method was selected for its streamlined global sampling procedure combined with the manageable computational demands of a one-at-a-time analysis. This method provides the relative sensitivity of diagnostic outputs to perturbed parameters. Ninety-one parameters were selected to be evaluated in 3680 simulations for the Morris SA. The selection of which parameters to evaluate and their assigned ranges are critical components in any SA. The ranges for parameters that represent a measurable quantity were assessed based on observed values in Lake Erie and other relevant studies. For some parameters, a measured realistic range was unknown. In these cases, values from relevant published models or judgements based on experience with the ELCD-Erie model were used to choose a suitable range. To assess the sensitivity of CAEDYM variables to parameters, DYRESM was substituted for ELCOM to vastly decrease the computation time of a single run. DYRESM is not suitable to model the entire lake due to the large size and irregular shape of the entire lake. Therefore, only the West Basin was modelled and analysed using DYCD. The West Basin was of special interest for a sensitivity analysis of CAEDYM parameters with respect to zooplankton because it is an important area for walleye larval development. DYCD output profiles for temperature, total chlorophyll a (TChla as a surrogate for total phytoplankton concentration) were similar in magnitudes and seasonal dynamics compared to ELCD outputs in deep West Basin stations. The sensitivity of zooplankton, TChla and TP to each parameter was assessed using two single value diagnostics: the simulated seasonal maximum and the simulated day on which peak maximum was reached. Zooplankton were sensitive to almost all of the zooplankton parameters perturbed in the analysis. This may indicate that modelling zooplankton is extremely complex, relying on many dynamic processes, or that evaluated ranges were not constrained well enough. An example of sensitivity to a poorly known parameter is the messy feeding coefficient. Reducing the uncertainty of this parameter would improve the confidence in the zooplankton assimilation submodel. Other parameters that stood out for being especially significant to zooplankton were: the respiration rate, mortality rate, internal phosphorus to carbon ratio, the temperature multiplier and standard temperature for feeding dynamics, and the half saturation constant. Most of these are easily explained as they directly aid or impede growth or they directly affect zooplankton losses. The most significant phytoplankton parameters on TChla and zooplankton outputs were, not surprisingly, the maximum growth rate and the mortality and respiration coefficient. Some particulate matter parameters proved to be important to outputs as well. More than 2500 of the 3680 parameter configurations resulted in unrealistic zooplankton simulations: peak values that did not much exceed initial conditions on the first day of the simulation. The SA exercise pinpointed a few configurations that resulted in reasonable peak zooplankton values and timing; these runs were used as a starting point for calibrating the ELCD model. Parameters were further manually adjusted by quickly checking their impacts on DYCD before applying them to ELCD. Post SA and minor calibration, the modelled zooplankton results were dramatically better than initial modelling attempts prior to the SA. Zooplankton concentrations throughout the lake were close to measured ranges and in some parts of the lake seasonal patterns were also similar to measured patterns. Modelled zooplankton results were least consistent with observations in the south west area of the lake: zooplankton were overestimated in late June-early July and they subsequently crashed and were underestimated in late July-August. It is supposed that this is due to higher grazing pressure from fish larvae in that area of the lake, which is not explicitly modelled. Although it is not anticipated that the south west seasonal zooplankton patterns will improve through parameter calibration (since predator effects are uniformly characterized throughout the lake by the same mortality factor) , further calibration is needed to improve results in the rest of the lake since copepods are generally overestimated and cladocerans generally underestimated. Phytoplankton groups must also be calibrated simultaneously to ensure that they are still operating within reasonable concentrations given more successful zooplankton simulations.

Earthships are buildings which are constructed almost entirely of recycled materials and are built to be almost totally self sufficient through the recycling of rain water, the recycling of solar energy into electrical energy, passive solar techniques and sometimes the recycling of wind through turbines, also into electrical energy. This thesis draws out and demonstrates the logic that Earthship architecture emerges from and generates amongst its inhabitants. This logic, it is argued, can be characterized as containing elements of the baroque and Neo-baroque. It is a logic of following and interfacing the elements (earth, sun, wind, rain) that folds them into itself. In such a space it is impossible to delineate any strict division between the inside and outside of a house. The inside becomes a node, interval, or point of passage of the outside and domestic life emerges from a complex and dynamic rhythmic arrangement with the outside. Such a space emerges from and generates a new sense of nature as cycles, flows, and interconnections which are fundamentally inseparable from architecture, technology or domestic life. This thesis also argues that to properly understand Earthships it is necessary to draw out the sense of historical and natural catastrophe that has impacted their origin and present incarnations.