UNews - Director of Centres and Institutes

Functional Flows gets funding boost

trevor.kenney — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:58:56 +0000

A critical study by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Water Institute for Sustainable Environments (WISE) that could shape how the province manages its water sources is being given a $1 million boost by the Alberta government.

Alberta Innovates – Energy and Environment Solutions is contributing $1 million toward a proposed $2.5 million project that will take place over the next three years.

Functional Flows, headed by principal researcher Dr. Stewart Rood of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Department of Biological Sciences, will attempt to answer the question of how much water needs to be left in our rivers to sustain healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystems, all the while developing strategies to provide sufficient water to support growing human populations and industrial expansion.

"It is critical for the environmental health of our aquatic ecosystems that we understand the ecological impacts from river damming and water diversions," says Rood.

"Further, we need to create and implement strategies for environmental flow regimes that will ensure that our rivers continue to sustain high water quality, as well as the fish and floodplain forests that we value."

Alberta's rivers deliver mountain snow-melt and rainfall to the drier regions of the prairie and parkland zones, where most Albertans live and work.

Water is trapped by dams and reservoirs and diverted off-stream for agricultural irrigation, municipal and domestic use and industrial purposes.

As the human population grows and industrial expansion continues, the demand for Alberta's surface water will progressively increase.

Rood and his team support the notion of working rivers, whereby river regulation and water withdrawal continues, but in a strategic manner that both sustains environmental health and supports socio-economic uses.

Rood contends that deliberately artificial flow patterns can optimize water for environmental survival during low flow years, and capitalize on the opportunities provided in high flow years to rejuvenate the fish and floodplain forest ecosystems.

"One of the significant challenges identified in Alberta's Water for Life strategy is meeting the needs of healthy aquatic ecosystems. The work being undertaken by Dr. Rood and his team provides a scientific and evidence-based approach to improving environmental performance, even in Alberta's highly allocated river systems," says David Hill, director of Centres and Institutes and Research Advocacy at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

"This approach allows stakeholders and water managers to directly participate in building and improving environmental resilience through specific water management opportunities. The understanding gained through this research will be a critical component in ongoing integrated watershed management decision-making."

The research activities associated with Functional Flows involve substantial student training, contributing towards the next generation of environmental scientists and natural resource managers for Alberta and Canada. The research projects bring together biologists, geographers and other natural and social scientists affiliated with WISE, working in collaboration with other academic and government researchers.

The collaborations also engage regional agencies such as Alberta Environment, the Alberta Conservation Association and the public Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils.

"The U of L has a long history of research collaboration with the community. This is particularly the case in Dr. Rood's research. This program brings together the research team, with government operators and regulators and stakeholders of the community, ensuring that the science and research findings can be implemented to deliver improved environmental performance measures," says Hill.

"This project will contribute to Alberta being recognized not just for its forward looking water strategy – but for ongoing and improved watershed management operations."

Balancing environmental sensibilities with the future economic prosperity of the province was a driver of the Functional Flows project, which received an initial $250,000 contribution from ConocoPhillips Canada (CPC). Based in Calgary, CPC is part of ConocoPhillips, a leading global exploration and production company. "We see this as an opportunity to engage the research expertise at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in a manner that will benefit everyone from students and faculty members involved in the research, to industry, agriculture, municipalities, Aboriginal communities and end users of Alberta's water resources," says Lloyd Visser, VP, Environment and Sustainable Development.

Small business, big opportunity

trevor.kenney — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:01:06 +0000

According to the provincial government, small businesses make up about 96 per cent of all businesses in Alberta. While they may be small, they certainly are mighty. In fact, small businesses in the province contribute nearly 30 per cent of Alberta's gross domestic product (GDP) – a figure that puts them first in the country for small business GDP per capita in 2009. But it's not just small enterprises in Alberta that are economic powerlifters. Across Canada, small businesses are doing their bit by employing half of the total workforce.

The hard reality, however, is that 75 per cent of Canadian small businesses fold within nine years. Why does that happen, and what factors contribute to the long-term success of some small businesses?

These questions and others like them are being explored at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's newly established Small Business Institute (SBI) in the Faculty of Management. Founded earlier this year, the SBI links small businesses to the expertise of researchers, professionals and other business people. Simply put, the SBI serves as a hub for research on small businesses and a resource for those who own, work at and are interested in them.

Dr. M. Gordon Hunter and Dan Kazakoff want to help area small businesses avoid the pitfalls that doom many great ideas.

The Institute investigates many issues related to businesses, including succession, sustainability and franchising. The SBI also works with rural areas throughout southern Alberta, where small businesses are often the lifeblood of the community.

"The SBI is an excellent example of U of L professors and researchers working to ensure that their work is relevant and valued in the community, and that leading business practices can be adopted by small businesses in the region," says David Hill, director of Centres and Institutes at the U of L.

The SBI was established by researchers Dr. M. Gordon Hunter and Dan Kazakoff. Both professors in the Faculty of Management, they worked together initially to co-author the book Little Empires: Multi-Generational Small Business in Southern Alberta, Canada. Published in 2008, Little Empires profiled 11 local, family-run operations.

"We wanted to help small businesses learn from each other," says Kazakoff, noting that the SBI was a logical evolution of the work invested in Little Empires. "With the Institute, we wanted to raise the profile of small businesses and interact with the community. It was our way of giving back."

The strategy works well, says Paul McDonald (BMgt '88), one of the entrepreneurs featured in Little Empires. McDonald, along with his brothers Jim (BMgt '80) and Gord (BMgt '89), owns the McDonald Auto Group, which has operated in southern Alberta since 1942. While the family business originally sold John Deere tractors, it now owns McDonald Chevrolet Buick GMC in Taber and McDonald Nissan in Lethbridge.

Participating in Little Empires, says McDonald, was an eye-opening experience. "It allowed me to see how other businesses operate and what allowed them to prosper." Today, he repays those insights by serving on the SBI's Advisory Board. "They want to know the challenges small businesses face and the resources we need to succeed in the future. We provide that feedback."

In addition to guiding the SBI's initiatives, Alberta businesses are also supporting them financially. This fall, ATB Financial made a $36,000 investment in the SBI that will sponsor a speaker series and bring industry leaders and researchers – including Hunter and Kazakoff – to rural communities throughout southern Alberta. The purpose of the business education seminars is to share knowledge and experiences on topics pertaining to small businesses.

That expertise is also showcased in Hunter and Kazakoff's second book, which was released earlier this year. Unlike Little Empires though, Small Business: Journey to Success was written primarily for an academic audience, reflecting the researchers' goal to eventually develop new courses within the Faculty of Management that focus on small businesses and bring new knowledge into the classroom.

In the meantime, Hunter and Kazakoff are busy with a number of research projects. The team, for example, has previously examined why small businesses fail (e.g., owners lack passion and focus) and how small enterprises survived the financial crisis (e.g., they were already operating in a fiscally conservative manner). Now the researchers are studying why small businesses typically do not partake in insolvency processes to deal with deteriorating financial situations (e.g., owners usually cannot afford the inherent expense).

Down the road, Hunter and Kazakoff will also look at small businesses' contributions to the local economy and how the agricultural industry has been affected by changes to the Canadian Wheat Board. The researchers also plan to compare the success stories of indigenous entrepreneurs in Canada with those of the Maori in New Zealand.

"Through our research," says Hunter, "we hope to expand our reach locally, regionally, nationally and internationally."

For more information on the U of L's Small Business Institute, please visit: www.uleth.ca/management/sbi

This story first appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of SAM. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Hill introduced as first Director of Centres and Institutes and Research Advocacy

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:46:02 +0000

David Hill, a respected manager and administrator with more than 40 years experience in government, not-for-profit and advocacy work will join the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as the first Director of Centres and Institutes and Research Advocacy.

Hill, a long-time Lethbridge resident who has called Edmonton home for the past six years, is presently the Executive Director of Water Resources for Alberta Innovates-Energy and Environment Solutions.
"In his new role, David will be responsible for assisting in the growth, development and ongoing administrative needs of centres and institutes at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, as well as facilitating government and industry interaction with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge centres, institutes and individual faculty members," says Dr. Dan Weeks, the U of L's vice-president (research). "We are extremely pleased to see David return to Lethbridge and to have him on our team."
As the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has grown its research base, it has recently developed several research centres and institutes to combine the talents of faculty, technical staff and community partners. Growth of research centres and institutes in strategic areas and the continued development of existing centres and institutes is a key feature of the Strategic Research Plan of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.
Weeks says Hill's career experiences, which have a strong focus on developing relationships with government, researchers, regulatory agencies and policymakers, will be a key asset to the
U of L.
"As we bring more people together, and enhance our work with regional, national and international partners, we need people such as David, who has a proven ability to move ideas forward to a wide variety of audiences."
Hill is well known both provincially and nationally as a key advocate for water research, water use policies and irrigation management, two key elements of his previous career experiences and, through the Water Institute for Sustainable Environments (WISE), a pillar of research strength at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.
He has led public-private sector research initiatives and collaborated on international research and policy. He has served as a member of the Alberta Water Council since its inception, representing first irrigated agriculture, and has represented the science and research community since the fall of 2007.
Hill is active in a number of organizations critical to the development of sound water policies, among them the Canadian Committee on Irrigation and Drainage and the Canadian Water Resources Association. He is the Water Policy Co-Chair (along with Representative John (Bert) Stevenson of Idaho) for the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, is a member of the Board of Trustees of Inside Education, a member of the Board of Directors of the TEC Fund Limited Partnership (Edmonton) and has been a participant of the Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California, Berkeley) since 2004.
Additionally, he has served on Alberta's Endangered Species Conservation Committee, the Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture Council and was an advisory member of the Board of Directors for the Northwest Irrigation Operators Inc. in Boise, Idaho for five years.
Hill will join the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Office of Research Services on Sept. 1, 2012.

UNews - Director of Centres and Institutes

Functional Flows gets funding boost

Related Topics

Small business, big opportunity

Related Topics

Hill introduced as first Director of Centres and Institutes and Research Advocacy

Related Topics