UNews - Barriere

Master's studies gain insight into tragedy

trevor.kenney — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:27:35 +0000

As news reports filtered out of fire-ravaged Slave Lake, Alta., recently, tales of heroism and perseverance in the midst of personal tragedy riveted the public. The stories took on even more meaning to ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge master's student Ainslee Kimmel, who is completing her thesis by studying the effects of wildfire and the resiliency of people who experience its wrath.

Kimmel's study focus is on the 2009 West Kelowna fire but she couldn't help but draw similarities to the stories she hears about the residents of Slave Lake.

Master's student Ainslee Kimmel pursues a Master in Education degree while working with noted health sciences researcher Dr. Judith Kulig.

"I think a big thing I see that's similar between the two is the factor of the unknown," she says. "A lot of people said the most stressful thing about the fire was the act of being evacuated, and then hearing reports on what parts of town were and were not affected by the fire, not knowing if they had or had not lost everything."

Kimmel, a Calgary native, came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ with a bachelor of psychology degree from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria. Her goal is to eventually become a registered psychologist, which might seem contrary to her master's work (MEd in the Faculty of Education) at first glance, but it's all by design. She chose the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge over other graduate programs because it is allowing her a more hands-on, practical approach to her vocation.

"The other schools I was accepted to were more research oriented and I wanted to finish my master's with a practical skillset, and I found that here," she says. "It allows me to focus more on counselling as opposed to a master's in health psychology, which puts you in the stream for studying a PhD and possibly teaching."

Working with supervisor Dr. Judith Kulig, an expert in wildfire research and community resiliency from a health sciences perspective, Kimmel sees the practical potential of her findings.

"I just want to know how people cope after something like a wildfire event," she says. "Wildfires in Canada are increasingly a big issue and if we can determine how people cope, hopefully we can develop strategies to help people function better after a wildfire."

Kimmel actually worked with Kulig as a research assistant for a year prior to the beginning of her thesis. Despite the fact that she's pursuing a master's of education degree, she was given special dispensation to have Kulig as her supervisor. She travelled with Kulig to conduct interviews and acquire data following a wildfire event in Barriere, B.C., and is using that experience to guide her through her study of the West Kelowna event.

"Through the work I did with Dr. Kulig, we saw people in Barriere who made it through the fire without losing their homes and yet they had lingering symptoms of depression, while some of those who lost their homes were able to bounce back quicker," says Kimmel. "Understanding how that works and how we can help these people on various levels is the ultimate goal."

While Kulig's research emphasis focuses on community resiliency as a whole, Kimmel's approach, as a psychologist in training, is more specific.

"I felt I could pursue something more on the individual aspects of wildfire," she says, noting that her findings, although preliminary, are not entirely negative. "I'm also looking at how people grow from the experience as a result. It's termed post-traumatic growth in the literature and discusses how people can go through something traumatic and months and even years later benefit from it in terms of developing closer relationships, a better attitude on life and a feeling of strength and confidence that they were able to get through it."

To date, Kimmel has made one trip to Kelowna, interviewing a host of government and firefighting personnel. She expects to return to complete her interviews this fall and will finish writing her thesis over the winter. Kimmel says her excellent relationship with Kulig has been integral to the process.

"She's such a caring person and is really there to help a student. She's also always included me, in terms of authorship, on anything we've worked on," says Kimmel. "We get along so well on a personal level and I don't know if everybody has that with their supervisor – it really can make a difference."

Kimmel's research was made possible by a $17,500 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant.

GET THE FACTS

· Kimmel's study actually includes three fire events in and around West Kelowna in 2009, including: Terrace Mountain Fire (9,277 hectares burned); Glenrosa Fire (400 hectares); and the Rose Valley Fire (200 hectares).

· Only four structures were lost in West Kelowna, despite the potential of losing many more that were threatened, and Kimmel says her preliminary findings show a sense of pride from residents over how the crisis was handled.

· Kimmel accompanied Dr. Kulig to Texas to present findings from her research at an international conference.

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Probing beneath the surface

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:10:28 +0000

While you cannot see individual waves of light, they collectively compose a spectrum that allows our eyes to perceive emerald hills and brilliant blue oceans.

Digital photography has opened up ways of capturing light and colour far beyond what the human eye detects, but traditional formatting methods (like JPG) have limited the information the camera preserves to keep files small, explains ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus Christopher Myhr (BFA '08).

This changed several years ago with the emergence of RAW: a format that captures unadulterated digital images in still photography. The result? Greater editing options and the ability to shoot images that were previously too difficult or expensive.

While professionals jumped on board, academia and the art community has been slow to explore RAW's full range of possibilities. Myhr has been working to fill this void. As an undergraduate student in the Department of Art, he systematically explored the tool's technical possibilities, largely by incorporating new techniques in his own works. His accomplishments earned him the J. Armand Bombadier CGS Masters Award.

This fall he'll start his master's degree at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where he hopes to examine RAW's impact on society and the art world.

"Essentially, digital technology is now ubiquitous – it's everywhere. I'm interested in looking at how tools like RAW are affecting people and the history of photography," he says.

Like Myhr, Craig Wheaton has focused his studies on an often overlooked subject: the creation of biodegradable plastic.

Wheaton, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is working to develop catalysts – chemicals that trigger particular reactions – involved in the creation of polylactide polymer.

Derived from renewable resources like wheat and corn, the plastic is currently on the market (it can be found in certain kinds of food packaging), but there's a need to create cheaper, more efficient ways of producing it. A better chemical catalyst can make this happen, says Wheaton, who recently earned a doctoral scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

"I really believe in the development of plastics made from renewable resources - this is a sustainable way of developing materials. I'm really quite interested in environmental issues, and I would like to do a little bit to make a difference if I can."

Wheaton, who published six times as an undergraduate and master's student, chose doctoral studies at the U of L over larger institutions. "It has a good balance between the resources of a large school and the atmosphere and learning environment of a small school."

Ambra Gullacher has also aligned her academic career with a strong drive to make a difference. The undergraduate health sciences student is gearing up for a career in nursing and says recent research experience has changed her view of the profession.

Gullacher has been participating in an interdisciplinary, international research study of the impact of wildfires on rural communities. Led by nursing researcher Dr. Judith Kulig, the research team represents a wide range of disciplines and locations (Canada, the U.S. and Australia).

"What we're looking at, on a community collective scale, is what has t

he community's response to the fire been both immediately and in the aftermath?" says Gullacher. Gullacher has been working as an undergraduate project leader on a program examining two communities which experienced wildfires in the last decade: La Ronge, Sask., and Barriere, B.C. In 2003, Barriere was evacuated for a month when forest fires ripped through BC's interior. La Ronge was affected by forest fires in 1999, though the impact has been long-lasting. "Some people talk about it as if it happened yesterday," she says.

While the SSHRC-funded research is ongoing, some themes have already emerged.

"A lot of people have identified a sense of community as a factor in resiliency," she says. "When you live in a community that's smaller and is farther away from the city or other services, you're more dependent on each other. And because of that dependence, there's a bond there."

She's been amazed to discover that in some ways, the fires ben

efited the communities.

In Barriere, a mill where most of the community worked was slated to be shut down before the fire, and property values were expected to plummet.

When the fire destroyed the mill, it didn't re-open, but ex-employees received insurance and relief money from the loss of their homes, and were able to either relocate or rebuild.

"There's been a bit of a rejuvenation – a reclaiming of the community's sense of pride and spirit – whereas before there was a sense that things were going downhill."

Gullacher's work has earned her a Canadian Institutes for Health Research Health Professional Student Research Award and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Summer Studentship Award. It's also taught her that health isn't just a matter of physical well-being; it's impacted greatly by how a community affects people emotionally and socially.

"Being able to see how a community works together, and how it acts as its own little organism gives me a better perspective."

UNews - Barriere

Master's studies gain insight into tragedy

Related Topics

Probing beneath the surface

Related Topics