Electronic Theses and Dissertations from 2009
https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/6
2024-03-28T14:51:47ZBy no means there yet: centring the voices of Black, Indigenous, and youth of colour climate activists in Ontario
https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/5288
By no means there yet: centring the voices of Black, Indigenous, and youth of colour climate activists in Ontario
Grewal, Rupinder Kaur
This critical qualitative inquiry delves into the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and youth of
colour activists involved in the climate justice movement. Semi-structured narrative interviews
were conducted with 15 Black, Indigenous and youth in Ontario, aged 18 to 29, engaged with a
climate justice organization for a minimum of six months. Utilizing timeline mapping and semistructured interviews, participants highlighted pivotal life events shaping their justice-oriented
values. Two overarching themes emerged: 1) Deliberately Unheard? Conveying the Challenges
Encountered by BIPoC Youth Climate Activists, and 2) Empowering Echoes: Nurturing Identity,
Shaping Communities, and Forging New Pathways for BIPoC Youth Leaders. Early connections
to the land, familial influences, and the Land Back movement significantly informed participants'
activism, emphasizing the need for intersectional environmentalism. Amidst experiences of
racism within the movement and the predominant whiteness of youth protests, BIPoC youth
navigate a diverse range of climate emotions and advocate for leadership opportunities and
dedicated spaces for youth to foster intergenerational knowledge transfer. The study calls for
systemic change and concludes with recommendations to enhance climate justice education in
schools, offering insights to inspire future generations for a more equitable and sustainable
future, especially for the most vulnerable of peoples.
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZUnveiling the hidden pandemic: service provider perspectives on the rise in intimate partner violence (IPV) in Northwestern Ontario midst the COVID-19 pandemic
https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/5287
Unveiling the hidden pandemic: service provider perspectives on the rise in intimate partner violence (IPV) in Northwestern Ontario midst the COVID-19 pandemic
Rodriguez, Oriana
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health concern that can affect
individuals regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, ethnicity,
and geographic location (Moreira & Pinto da Costa, 2020). However, women are
disproportionately represented in victimization rates worldwide with the World Health
Organization reporting that on average 35% of women - more than one in three women
- have experienced at least one form of physical, psychological and/or sexual violence
perpetrated by an intimate partner throughout their lifetime (Moreira & Pinto da Costa,
2020; UN Women, 2020). Rural, remote and northern (RRN) regions in Canada present
the highest rates of IPV and femicide compared to urban centres, while having limited
availability of IPV services (Moffitt et al., 2022). In times of crisis, IPV cases increase
drastically; this is documented, for example, during Hurricane Katrina and the Ebola
crisis (Meinhart et al., 2021; Schumacher et al., 2010). The COVID-19 pandemic has
followed this trend as the amalgamation of risk factors including heightened stress,
increased rates of substance abuse, economic uncertainty due to loss of employment,
and stay-at-home orders contributed to unfavourable violence-prone domestic
environments across the globe (Kaukinen, 2020; Kofman et al., 2020).
The primary objective of this research is to understand the challenges faced by
IPV service providers and survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of
Northwestern Ontario (NWO), from service providers’ perspectives. Service providers
were asked to share their perspectives on the following three guiding questions: (1)
What are the unique challenges that service providers and IPV survivors, as understood
by service providers, in NWO have faced due to the implementation of emergency
protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) How might public policy support IPV
related organizations and the individuals that access their services in times of crisis
such as pandemics? (3) What is needed in the development of inclusive, gendered, and
equitable health policy and emergency protocols in times of crises? Semi-structured,
in-depth interviews were conducted with five IPV service providers located in different
communities across NWO. [...]
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZEffect of boreal forest disturbance due to logging at different spatial scales on migratory songbirds
https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/5286
Effect of boreal forest disturbance due to logging at different spatial scales on migratory songbirds
Cupiche Herrera, Vianney Janice
Boreal birds have experienced population declines that may be related to alteration of the forest
at a range of scales. Understanding how resource extraction may affect the distribution and
abundance of species is critical to address conservation policy in the boreal forest region. This
study aims to understand how habitat alteration by logging influences the abundance and habitat
choices of a migratory songbird, the Canada Warbler (CAWA; Cardellina canadensis) in its
Canadian breeding range and more specifically within the northwestern region of Ontario, where
there is little information about this species at risk. I assess whether there exists a different
response in the abundance of upland migratory songbirds to logging disturbance at different
scales. Also, I assessed the “habitat compensation hypothesis,” which states that some species
can substitute their primary habitat for other alternative and less preferred habitats on the
landscape. I conduct a meta-analysis of 21 studies to identify the effects of habitat alteration on a
relative abundance index (RAI) of 21 upland songbird species, comparing logged to unlogged
sites along the southern border of Canadian boreal forest. Using generalized linear mixed models
(GLMM), I model the RAI incorporating two scales (local- and landscape-scale effects), time
since logging, and forest type. Several species, including CAWA, are reported in decline in
Canada. They occasionally have a higher mean RAI comparing logged areas at landscape scale
than comparing at the finer local scale, suggesting that they occupy lower quality habitats in
disturbed areas. The results are consistent with other findings: birds associated with old-growth
forests are most sensitive to logging, as well as birds that nest on trees and those more associated
with a coniferous forest. I then assess how time since logging affects CAWA occurrence and
distribution in Northwestern Ontario. I use Maxent software to develop a predictive highresolution (30 m) field-validated species distribution model (SDM). [...]
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZSupporting the executability of R markdown files
https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/5285
Supporting the executability of R markdown files
Islam, Md Anaytul
R Markdown files are examples of literate programming documents that combine R code
with results and explanations. Such dynamic documents are designed to execute easily and
reproduce study results. However, little is known about the executability of R Markdown
files which can cause frustration among its users who intend to reuse the document. This
thesis aims to understand the executability of R Markdown files and improve the current
state of supporting the executability of those files.
Towards this direction, a large-scale study has been conducted on the executability of
R Markdown files collected from GitHub repositories. Results from the study show that a
significant number of R Markdown files (64.95%) are not executable, even after our best
efforts. To better understand the challenges, the exceptions encountered while executing
the files are categorized into different categories and a classifier is developed to determine
which Markdown files are likely to be executable. Such a classifier can be utilized by search
engines in their ranking which helps developers to find literate programming documents as
learning resources. To support the executability of R Markdown files a command-line tool
is developed. Such a tool can find issues in R Markdown files that prevent the executability
of those files. Using an R Markdown file as an input, the tool generates an intuitive list
of outputs that assist developers in identifying areas that require attention to ensure the
executability of the file. The tool not only utilizes static analysis of source code but also uses
a carefully crafted knowledge base of package dependencies to generate version constraints
of involved packages and a Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) solver (i.e., Z3) to identify
compatible versions of those packages. Findings from this research can help developers
reuse R Markdown files easily, thus improving the productivity of developers. [...]
2024-01-01T00:00:00Z