Fostering research, outreach
New CBU university research chairs to connect research with community
The Office of Research and Graduate Studies are announcing four university research chairs whose focus will be to work with communities on research-community collaborations.
Matthias Bierenstiel, Pat Maher, Kathy Snow, and Leslie Wardley started their new roles April 1, 2019. Their research agendas focus on a broad range of topics including tourism, education, social enterprise and health.
University research chairs will implement a community engaged research plan over the next three years which will include outreach activities and community-university research collaborations in their areas of research expertise.
Outreach activities can be wide reaching and might include workshops, lectures, community discussions, or working groups.
The new chairs are partially funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s exchange grants which emphasises connecting research with the broader community.
“We are thrilled with the new CBU research chairs initiative which will support our researchers to continue their important work in collaboration with communities.” says Tanya Brann-Barrett, associate vicepresident, academic and research. “Their work speaks to the wealth of knowledge and experience our researchers have engaging with communities.”
University research chairs will establish collaborations and longer-term relationships within and outside the academy, increasing capacity for broader local and global community impact.
Here’s a look at each of the chairs.
• Matthias Bierenstiel, university research chair in science and technology: Matthias Bierenstiel, associate professor of chemistry, is building off of his work with assistant professor Tuma Young and L’nu Elders and knowledge holders to explore the medicinal qualities of traditional plants. He builds upon maskwiomin (birch barkoil), a traditional L’nu skin ointment. Collaborating in a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, Young used his expertise in ethnobotany and worked in-community to understand maskwiomin and its production, while Bierenstiel lent his chemistry knowledge to produce the oil and to provide scientific evidence to support the oil’s beneficial properties. Through his term as research chair, Bierenstiel will continue this line of collaborative research by examining folk medicines of local Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. He hopes to expand knowledge around other local herbal remedies found in Cape Breton, and create further opportunities for community outreach and science education.
• Pat Maher, SSHRC exchange university research chair in social sciences and the humanities: Pat Maher is an associate professor in the department of experiential studies in community and sport. His program of research, titled “Cruise Ship Sagas,” is designed to connect a community of stakeholders in similar locations across the circumpolar north; linking to his ongoing leadership of the University of the Arctic’s thematic network on northern tourism.
The Port of Sydney has seen tremendous growth in the cruise tourism sector; this has come with great celebration and the building of a second berth underway. Maher’s work will consider what lessons Cape Breton Island might learn from similar destination ports: Ísafjörður, Iceland and Skagway, Alaska. This work will consider how community stakeholders have embraced growth and change through their own narratives.
• Kathy Snow, SSHRC exchange university research chair in social sciences and the humanities: Kathy Snow is an assistant professor of education. Dr. Snow looks to build upon ongoing work related to student success and identity development with local L’Nu youth which includes creating locally created solutions for supporting L’Nu youth pride in identity and the formation of healthy responses to external pressures. The over-arching research questions guiding the three-year agenda include:
1.What factors impact youth identity development and consciousness about traditional and contemporary Indigenous values, culture, and knowledge systems?
2.What role can the P(K)-12 public school in community play in empowering youth and promoting skills for transition, wellbeing and resilience.
• Leslie J. Wardley, SSHRC exchange university research chair in social determinants in health: Leslie J. Wardley is an assistant professor of marketing in the Shannon School of Business. The overall goal of the proposed work under this research chair position is to share knowledge, promote social enterprises and improve working conditions for social enterprise workers. Current projects involve community-based research with two of Cape Breton’s main social enterprises. Additionally, over the coming years, two international research projects are proposed that focus on social franchising - a form of social enterprise that uses a franchising model to achieve impact at scale. This work is closely aligned to CBU’s strategic plan, so it is her hope that this work can be expanded over the three years with positive outcomes for this community and beyond.
Nicole MacDougall is the research administration officer for facilitation and outreach.