UNews - Stephen McGlenn

Byrne film an environmental landmark

trevor.kenney — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:29:29 +0000

This story first appeared in the Lethbridge Herald

By SHERRI GALLANT

An educational film with algae-filled Lake Winnipeg as its focal point appeals to farmers and city dwellers to change their ways and help the country's watersheds to heal.

Choking Lake Winnipeg, a 25-minute documentary available free online, was screened Thursday at Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs. Produced by Jim Byrne, U of L prof and Chair of Geography, and his wife, Leanne Little, it includes interviews with many of the nation's top environmental scientists, including David Schindler, Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, and Joe Rasmussen, Canada Research Council Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

An original soundtrack for the film was created by Stephen McGlenn, a U of L grad who attended COP 16 in Cancun — the United Nations Conference on Climate Change — as a Canadian Youth Delegate.

"We're looking to change a political/social approach to the way we deal with environment," said Byrne. "I went to some of my very favorite colleagues, Canada Research Chairs in many locations, outstanding and brilliant colleagues."

Byrne's expertise is in global environmental change. He was the lead scientist, originator and co-producer of the 2002 award-winning television series Global Change and the 2004 TV series Water Under Fire.

"Our goal was to inform people in a qualitative way and let them know that not only do we have this very challenging environmental problem, but we have some suitable solutions if we just have the political will."

Comparisons can be made with conditions in southern Alberta, where chemical runoff from farming and manure from beef, chicken and hog operations makes its way into the Oldman River watershed. Farmers, said Byrne, can go to zero-tillage practices which holds moisture in the soil and doesn't allow erosion and runoff; while city dwellers can take steps that include conserving water, being aware of what they shouldn't flush down their toilets, and using less — or zero — herbicides and pesticides on their lawns.

The film shows how massive blue-green algae blooms have appeared in Lake Winnipeg and other water bodies across the Canadian prairies. Eutrophication (when water is depleted of oxygen by algae, killing the body of water) is fast becoming a problem; not just in Canada but in the most heavily-populated parts of the industrialized and developing world.

To learn more, visit www.scientia.com.

Campus garden reaps harvest

trevor.kenney — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:03:15 +0000

Its roots may be humble but the legacy of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's first campus garden is truly grand.

An initiative with community in mind, the garden enjoyed its first harvest this fall. There should be many more to come.

"For a first year, I think we did really well," Stephen McGlenn, president of the Campus Roots Garden Cooperative, says. "We weren't expecting an incredibly huge garden because the first year takes a lot of work and a lot of co-ordinating of volunteers. It was challenging at times but in the end, everyone felt really good about it, especially the community building aspects of what making a garden is all about."

Located near the Parkway Service Complex, the fenced facility consisted of nine private plots (each 144 square feet) and a large communal plot. McGlenn estimates some 35 people were directly involved in renting and planting the plots but at any given time, with the involvement of family members, more than 60 people contributed to the garden's success.

Challenges were what you'd expect from a typical garden, including the co-ordination of volunteer weeding efforts. One unique difficulty was a lack of water available to the gardeners due to construction activities on campus.

"Water conservation was a huge challenge. With the area construction, our water was turned off for the better part of three weeks, and it forced us how to learn to use water effectively," says McGlenn, a fourth-year Native American Studies major.

Learning, it would turn out, proved to be a common theme throughout the summer.

"The cross-generational learning from the veteran gardeners, their experience and their love of gardening, really translated to the younger students who maybe didn't have that knowledge but really wanted to learn," says McGlenn. "That sharing of knowledge really got people excited about the project."

Students, staff, faculty and extended family members all had a hand in maintaining the garden and in the end, reaped benefits from its harvest. All extra produce was earmarked for local food banks.

Plans for next year's garden include planting specific plots for different campus departments.

"We're going to try and have a plot specifically for the daycare, one for the Native Studies Department and so on so that departments can hold events using food that they've grown on campus," says McGlenn.

It doesn't stop there, as the group submitted a proposal to the City of Lethbridge's Plan Your City project about incorporating the community garden concept into the city plan.

"Our proposal talked about how beneficial these gardens are, not only for healthy eating, community building and active living, but also for lessening our dependence on fossil fuels and promoting sustainable technologies."

GET THE FACTS

• The garden featured a variety of vegetables, including potatoes, peas, beans, carrots, varieties of lettuce and selected herbs.

• The communal plot included companion plants like marigolds to attract certain predators that would aid in the control of pests.

• Student Kyle Robinson initiated the community garden project before McGlenn took over. Following his graduation in Apr. 2010, a new executive will be created. "For me, it's almost been the climax of my undergraduate degree. Putting something together and having something tangible that I can point to in the future and say, "We put that together," is pretty fulfilling," says McGlenn.

Campus garden reaps harvest

trevor.kenney — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:47:58 +0000

Its roots may be humble but the legacy of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's first campus garden is truly grand.

An initiative with community in mind, the garden enjoyed its first harvest this fall. There should be many more to come.

Learning, it would turn out, proved to be a common theme throughout the summer.

Students, staff, faculty and extended family members all had a hand in maintaining the garden and in the end, reaped benefits from its harvest. All extra produce was earmarked for local food banks.

Plans for next year's garden include planting specific plots for different campus departments.

It doesn't stop there, as the group submitted a proposal to the City of Lethbridge's Plan Your City project about incorporating the community garden concept into the city plan.

GET THE FACTS

• The garden featured a variety of vegetables, including potatoes, peas, beans, carrots, varieties of lettuce and selected herbs.

• The communal plot included companion plants like marigolds to attract certain predators that would aid in the control of pests.

UNews - Stephen McGlenn

Byrne film an environmental landmark

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Campus garden reaps harvest

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Campus garden reaps harvest

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