Anthropogenic and geogenic sources of arsenic (As) have been identified in mining-impacted soils from the Giant mine (1948-1999), NT and the North Brookfield mine (1886-1906), NS. Both used roasting to extract gold from the arsenopyrite ore, decomposing it to As-bearing iron oxides (roaster oxides or RO) containing As, and releasing As3+-bearing arsenic trioxide (As2O3). Arsenic trioxide is considered highly soluble with the dissolved As3+ species being more mobile and toxic than other oxidation states. Soil profiles from the Giant mine show elevated As and antimony (Sb) at the surface (As=140-3300ppm) and decreasing concentrations with depth (As=22-600ppm). Surface soils contain anthropogenically-derived As2O3 identified using synchrotron methods (µXRD, µXANES) and environmental SEM. The persistence of As2O3 is attributed to Sb in As2O3 grains, dry climate and high organics in the soils. Anthropogenically-derived RO of maghemite (containing both As3+ and As5+) and natural arsenopyrite were observed. Sequential selective extractions (SSE) from surface soils show between 20% and 75% of As extracted in the crystalline iron-oxide phase is attributed to As2O3 and RO, while at depth As is bound by organics in the weaker leaches. North Brookfield mine soils show lower total As (2ppm to 45ppm) except near the roaster (4300ppm). No As2O3 was identified, probably due to the smaller scale and age of the mine, lower organic content and the lack of Sb. As-bearing phases include RO of hematite (As5+), As-rich rims on titanium-oxides, and As associated with clays and goethite. Adjacent to the roaster, SSE show As was also in the amorphous iron-oxide phase, also shown by As in arsenopyrite weathering rims. There are many differences between the North Brookfield and Giant mine soils including roasting techniques which produced different RO mineralogy, the scale of mining, climate, soil type, and the presence of As2O3. Currently, the Giant property is not publically accessible but may become so in the future while the North Brookfield property is accessible. Understanding the form and distribution of As phases is critical because of the potential risk to human and ecosystem health associated with ingestion of soil particles and their control on the total dissolved As in surface and groundwater. / Thesis (Master, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-29 17:21:50.73

The current study developed a paleolimnological approach to assess changes in diatom assemblages (class Bacillariophyceae) from present-day lake sediments in comparison to those deposited before significant human impact (ca. pre-1850) from 51 Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada) region lakes in conjunction with a regional diatom-based transfer functions for pH and total phosphorus. All 51 lakes showed changes in diatom assemblages between the present-day and pre-industrial assemblages that was greater than would be expected (i.e. similarity between ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ samples was much less than the similarities within triplicate ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ samples). To help identify the most important environmental stressors impacting diatom assemblages in these lakes, diatom-based reconstructions of inferred changes in pH (DI-pH) and total phosphorus (DI-TP) that were greater than the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of the respective inference models were reconstructed for each of the 51 lakes. For example, a decrease in DI-pH greater than the RMSE of the pH model would be a strong indication of recent acidification, whereas an increase in DI-TP greater than the RMSE of the model indicates nutrient enrichment. Based on this approach, 4% of the lakes are showing acidification-related trends occurring in lakes with low pre-industrial pH values and relatively undisturbed watersheds. Almost 14% of the study lakes have been impacted by nutrients and characterized by watershed development and high concentrations of TP. Approximately 4% of lakes showed oligotrophication and acidification. Diatom assemblages from almost 20% of the study lakes that were relatively unimpacted by the afore-listed environmental stressors show trends consistent with climate warming. These lakes show an increase in DI-pH greater than the RMSE of the inference model, and floristic changes typically showed a decrease in the relative abundance of Aulacoseira distans paralleled with increase in Cyclotella stelligera and other planktonic diatoms in the modern sediments. In addition, Diatoma tenue and Diploneis parma, diatoms tolerant of high conductivity, increased in 45% of the study lakes suggesting road salt as an additional stressor. This thesis provides a rapid paleolimnological-based technique to assess regional water-quality changes, and further demonstrates the complexity of ecological changes within freshwater resources. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-10 15:18:07.01

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By combining the tools of social history, poststructural analysis, and cultural studies, this dissertation explores the perceptions and realities of late nineteenth-century retailing within Halifax, Nova Scotia. The study places business within a social, cultural, economic, and political framework, while presenting an uncommon case study in professionalization, emphasizing the heterogeneity of retailers, and redefining petty enterprise as commercial activity worthy of research. Additionally, the dissertation addresses a region and occupational group often neglected by Canadian historians. / Specifically, the following study examines the late-Victorian drive for commercial professionalization, middle-class discourse on legitimacy, and recruitment of urban shopkeepers. In an era obsessed with modernity, decades plagued with financial recession, and a region haunted by a conservative reputation, prominent shopkeepers desired an elevated status for themselves, their trade, and their city. Besides the self-representations of leading proprietors, discussions of legitimacy rested upon the views offered by credit-reporting agents, supplying wholesalers, state officials, and social reformers. The external perceptions of retailing 'others'---marginal shopkeepers and itinerant traders---also helped distinguish the 'legitimate' retailer. Contributors to the discourse may have promoted the education of professional business standards, but exclusion remained an essential strategy in designating legitimacy. / Although participants in the discourse never applied the criteria consistently, the identity of the 'legitimate' retailer involved the practice of up-to-date business methods and the application of contemporary notions regarding class, gender, race, ethnicity, and religion. Unfortunately for individuals concerned with promoting professionalization, no consensus emerged for the exact definition of legitimacy. Thus, most attempts to create a homogeneous and professional shopkeeping identity failed. / Despite this failure, retailers demonstrated a remarkable degree of active agency. Women, minorities, immigrants, and Roman Catholics engaged in business in surprisingly large numbers. Meanwhile, leading shopkeepers were not a population of politically impotent inhabitants who blindly accepted Halifax's reputation for unprogressive enterprise. Finally, whether a retailer confronted modernity willingly or chose to reject the dictates of professionalism, all proprietors actively negotiated a course for success or pursued strategies lessening the burden of financial failure.

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

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.