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The construction and operation of hydroelectric projects consist of multiple activities in a single watershed, which can generate significant impacts on the surrounding biophysical environment and on the health and well-being of local communities. The impacts of those activities may be insignificant individually, yet together may have an important cumulative effect. The impacts of hydroelectric development on human health and well-being have been widely documented. Current practices of cumulative effects assessment (CEA), however, as conducted under project-based environmental assessment (EA), often fail to address the deeper issues of human health and social well-being. This thesis was developed to examine how health effects, including cumulative health effects, are considered within regulatory EA practices in the hydroelectric sector in Manitoba. This was achieved by reviewing the EAs of three recent hydroelectric projects –Wuskwatim Generating Station, Bipole III Transmission Project, and Keeyask Hydroelectric Generating Station – located in the Nelson River watershed in northern Manitoba. Results indicate that the consideration of human health issues in EA has gradually improved over time; however, the assessment of health impacts was invariably limited to physical health components and often lacked due consideration of broader social health issues. The inadequacy of the practice of health impact assessment (HIA) was also evident by the lack of health-related indicators and the poor consistency in the use of indicators across projects and over time for measuring and predicting changes in the health conditions of the communities due to project development. An in-depth analysis regarding the assessment of cumulative health effects was carried out in the CEA of the most recent hydroelectric development – the Keeyask project. The findings show that cumulative health effects were not adequately considered in each of the basic components of CEA – scoping, retrospective analysis, prospective analysis, and management measures. Improving the consideration of health in EA requires paying more attention to broader range of health determinants, including both biophysical and social determinants and their interconnectedness in EA. Moreover, there is a need to improve greater consistency in the use of health indicators across projects and over time. It can be assisted by developing standardized terms of reference (ToR) for project proponents to ensure the consideration and monitoring of those indicators used for development projects built within the same geographic region and affecting the same communities and environments. Approaching cumulative health effects in a more regional and strategic framework of CEA, beyond the scale of individual projects, is likely to provide the best mechanism to understand and monitor the cumulative impacts of project development on the health and well-being of the affected communities.

Introduction: Adequate calcium and vitamin D are needed for maternal and fetal health. Many pregnant women are not consuming enough calcium and are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency. Objectives: To 1) investigate the nutrition-related knowledge, opinions, and clinical practices of family physicians (FPs) towards prenatal calcium and vitamin D; and 2) determine the prevalence of meeting a predefined cut-off serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration ([25-OHD]) for vitamin D sufficiency (≥ 75 nmol/L) in a cohort of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods: Part 1: 500 surveys were mailed out to randomly selected FPs across Manitoba. Part 2: data were collected via retrospective chart review of 35 pregnant women with GDM attending a teaching hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013 and having one serum [25-OHD] measurement during their pregnancy. Results: Approximately one-third of FPs are discussing calcium and vitamin D requirements and supplements with their prenatal patients. The top three perceived barriers to delivery of calcium and vitamin D advice were more urgent issues, lack of time, and forgetting to do so. The mean serum [25-OHD] was 52.5 ± 24.1 nmol/L (range 14-109 nmol/L). Over half of women (51.4%) were vitamin D deficient ([25-OHD] < 50 nmol/L), and 28.6% of women were insufficient ([25-OHD] 50-74 nmol/L). Conclusions: Physicians would benefit from more training in nutrition. Multiple barriers exist that prevent FPs from providing calcium and vitamin D advice. Women with GDM have a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in our study. / February 2016

Adaptive management (AM) is a systematic process that regards management and policy decisions as experiments or treatments. This iterative process is relatively simple and intuitive, leading to widespread uptake and application of these principles. Popularity of AM results in the process being routinely inserted into strategies or plans without full recognition of the commitment and paradigm shift in management that it represents. This case study involved evaluation of Manitoba Hydro’s Environmental Protection Program during construction of the Bipole III transmission line and its use of AM. Researching the program’s functionality spanned three construction seasons using document review, employee interviews and site visits. The program was evaluated according to what current literature identifies as elements of successful AM. Monitoring and Innovative activities provided strong examples of AM principles while other areas such as communication face challenges. The recommendations pursue a more active approach to AM and continual improvement of environmental protection performance. / February 2017

Sanders, Donald W. The University of Manitoba, March, 2017. The effect of preceding crop on soybean (Glycine max) grain yield, mycorrhizal colonization, and biological nitrogen fixation. Major Professor:Yvonne Lawley. Manitoba has seen a twenty-fold increase in soybean acres seeded since 2000, with over 1.6 million acres seeded in 2016. This change presents unique opportunities and challenges to improve crop rotations in Manitoba. This experiment studied the effect of four crop sequences on soybean yield, mycorrhizal colonization, and biological nitrogen fixation. In the first year of this experiment, spring wheat, canola, corn and soybeans were grown at three sites in Manitoba (Carman, Portage la Prairie, and Kelburn). In the second year, soybeans were grown on these same plots as a test crop. This two-year sequence of crops was done twice at each site, in 2012-13 and 2013-14. To determine mycorrhizal colonization, root samples were collected at the V3 stage and then analyzed microscopically for mycorrhizal infection. Nitrogen fixation was estimated using the natural abundance method using soybeans collected at the R5 and R6 stage and canola as a reference crop. Soybean following soybean had significantly higher grain yield than all other crop sequences at one site year, and significantly lower grain yield than all other crop sequences at another site year. There were no other differences in soybean test crop yield between crop sequences. Crop sequence significantly affected mycorrhizal colonization. Soybean following canola had significantly lower mycorrhizal colonization than soybean following soybean or corn. Soybean following spring wheat also had significantly lower mycorrhizal colonization than soybean following soybean or corn. Soil test phosphorus levels also significantly affected mycorrhizal colonization, with increasing soil phosphorus resulting in decreased mycorrhizal colonization. Crop sequence significantly affected biological nitrogen fixation. Soybean following soybean or corn often had significantly greater biological nitrogen fixation than soybean following spring wheat or canola. Soil test nitrate levels affected biological nitrogen fixation, with increasing soil nitrate resulting in decreased biological nitrogen fixation. Soil test nitrate levels were affected by the carbon to nitrogen ratio of the preceding crop, with a higher carbon to nitrogen ratio associated with decreased soil nitrate. These results indicate that although there is often not a yield penalty associated with specific rotations, crop sequence has a strong impact on mycorrhizal colonization and biological nitrogen fixation. The soil organisms associated with those processes affect soil phosphorus uptake and nitrogen fixation. Producers should consider the importance of crop rotation when seeking to maximize productivity through symbiotic processes with mycorrhizae and nodule forming bacteria. / May 2017

This research examines multi-generational households and patterns of co-residence among Chinese immigrant households in Winnipeg following the federal government’s reforms of the Parent Grandparent Program in 2014. These phenomena are examined within the conceptual frameworks of familial obligations and social capital. The study interviewed 29 mainland Chinese immigrants living in Winnipeg. The study found that while social capital is relevant to understanding the flow of favours across generations, the flow of favours between generations is not necessarily reciprocal, but instead flows downward to the youngest generation. The study found the enormous scale of social, political and economic transformation in mainland China over the past half century have produced different forms of familial obligations and largely eliminated the practice of co-residence. Reforms to the PGP had the most impact on young families that desired to sponsor their parents and in-laws over a relatively short period of time. / May 2017

I investigated the relative effects of grassland cover and fragmentation per se, and the relative influence of landscape and local habitat characteristics on grasslands songbirds in the moist mixed-grass prairies of Manitoba. In 2013, 361 avian point counts were conducted across 47, 2.4-km radii landscapes in the southwest part of the province. I used an information-theoretic approach to rank and select models describing effects of landscape and local-scale habitat variables on grassland songbird abundance and occurrence. Overall, my results indicate that grassland amount, fragmentation and quality, and matrix composition had relatively small and variable effects on grassland songbird abundance and occurrence, but that abundance of obligate species when pooled showed a strong negative response to grassland fragmentation. While fragmentation through edge effects may contribute to obligate species declines, my results suggest that these factors alone are unlikely to explain ongoing declines of grassland birds in southwestern Manitoba. / October 2016

Disturbance can provoke a chronic (long-term) stress response in wildlife, and can contribute to population declines. I examined the stress response of boreal woodland caribou, moose, and wolves to disturbance in eastern Manitoba by measuring cortisol concentrations in hair. Caribou cortisol concentrations were greatest for the three most southern populations, and increased with decreasing home range size. Intermediate logging (6-21 years) provided the best explanation for individual variation in caribou cortisol concentrations. Disturbance did not affect moose cortisol concentrations, but cortisol concentrations were higher in moose killed by wolves than moose collected by humans, suggesting that chronic stress in moose is linked to poor body condition and increased vulnerability to wolf predation. Wolf cortisol concentrations increased in 2012 and 2013 compared to 2011 following increased harvest pressure, and were higher in females. However, neither winter severity nor variation in wolf diet affected wolf cortisol concentrations. / October 2016

Spring flooding regularly occurs in the plain along the Assiniboine River’s low-lying terminus in eastern Manitoba as the river attempts to accommodate snowmelt drained from the central plains territory of North America. The annual insensitive response to the changing state of the river is a physical expression of competing understandings of time made manifest in the landscape. Can the consideration of time shift our understanding of flooding in the prairie context? How can a deep sense of time be expressed in our reaction to the design of the land? Shifting to thinking of a time-sensitive response to flooding, I aim to construct a hybrid cartography that addresses the relationship between observer and understanding fundamental to relevant critical projects in the landscape. This approach aims to understand the geographic and temporal context to reveal deep synchronicities ignored by rational approaches to both fluvial engineering and design. / May 2016