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Scholarly Impact of the Week

We are celebrating and raising the profile of scholarly milestones and research impacts from across the ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV research community.

Examples of Scholarly Impacts can include:

  • Publishing a paper in a high-impact journal;Ìý
  • Patenting an invention;Ìý
  • Debuting a new performance piece;
  • Publishing a monograph or book and/or;
  • Changing a government policy

We expect most of the publications that are featured to be recent impacts—however, we will also publish a transformative impact from the past, from time-to-time.Ìý

As part of ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV's Scholarly Impact of the Week, selected researchers will work with a member of the VP Research and Innovation Office's communications and marketing teamÌýfor support. We will also work with researchers to discuss how we can mobilize knowledge on their work by submitting to The Conversation Canada—one of the world's most trusted independent sources of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered directly to the public.Ìý

Be sure to keep up-to-date on the latest published Scholarly Impact and other research news by following ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Research on Ìý(³Ý).

If you have any questions, please reach out directly by emailing vpri-communications@sfu.ca.Ìý

¶¡ÏãÔ°AV's Scholarly Impact of the Week series does not reflect the opinions or viewpoints of the university, but those of the scholars. The timing of articles in the series is chosen weeks or months in advance, based on a published set of criteria. Any correspondence with university or world events at the time of publication is purely coincidental.

For more information, please see ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV's Code of Faculty Ethics and Responsibilities and the statement on academic freedom.

November 29, 2022

More urban greenspace may reduce diabetes risk

scott lear headshot by jjosue

Scott Lear

Faculty of Health Sciences

Health Sciences Professor Scott Lear studies how the neighbourhoods we live in can affect our health. His recent study finds that more urban greenspace plus higher socioeconomic status is linked to lower risk of diabetes—advice that urban planners can literally take to heart.

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November 21, 2022

Business resiliency in a time of global crisis

June Francis photo by Waltraud Greif

June Francis

Beedie School of Business

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, mass migration and other shocks have disrupted organizations across the globe. ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Beedie School of Business professor June Francis says businesses can improve their resiliency by drawing upon the diverse range of capitals found in the wider community.

Her paper, Resources for business resilience in a COVID-19 world: A community-centric approach, co-authored with Beedie alumnus and IE Business School professor Stephanie Beninger, outlines how businesses can use the novel and actionable integrated capital framework to survive—and to thrive.

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November 8, 2022

New interdisciplinary technology to aid wilderness search and rescue

Carman Nuestaedter

Carman Neustaedter

Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology

School of Interactive Arts and Technology Professor Carman Neustaedter and collaborators Brennan Jones and Anthony Tang used an interdisciplinary approach to create RescueCASTR – new technology that uses wearable cameras to help search and rescue personal communicate in the backcountry.Ìý

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November 1, 2022

Urgent support needed for children’s mental health

charlotte waddell sfu

Charlotte Waddell

Faculty of Health Sciences

Health Sciences Professor Charlotte Waddell and her research team at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV’s Children's Health Policy Centre found that in many affluent countries—Canada included—less than half of children with mental health disorders receive any services for these conditions. She recommends an urgent call to action to support children’s mental wellbeing.

The study,ÌýPrevalence of childhood mental disorders in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis to inform policymaking, was publishedÌýinÌýEvidence-BasedÌýMental Health.

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October 25, 2022

Are small farms really more productive than large farms?

Fernando Aragon

Fernando Aragón

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Research from ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Economics professor Fernando Aragón suggests that policies to foster small-scale agriculture in the Global South may beÌýcounterproductive. Facilitating land transactions and eliminating distortionary policies could help farmers thrive.

His article, Are small farms really more productive than large farms? co-authored withÌýDiego Restuccia (University of Toronto) and Juan PabloÌýRud (Royal Holloway, University of London) was published in Food Policy.

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October 19, 2022

Indigenous peoples mediated the keystone role of sea otters

anne-salomon-sfu

Anne Salomon

Faculty of Environment

Anne Salomon is a leading marine ecologist and professor with ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV’s School of Resource and Environmental Management. Her research on sea otters points to the value of using traditional Indigenous knowledge to inform how coastal ecosystems are managed today.

Salomon's study,ÌýArchaeological and Contemporary Evidence Indicates Low Sea Otter Prevalence on the Pacific Northwest Coast During the Late Holocene, withÌý¶¡ÏãÔ°AV REM graduate and first author Erin Slade and University of Victoria ProfessorÌýIain McKechnie wasÌýsupported by the Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv and Tseshaht First Nations, and has been widely reported in the media.

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October 4, 2022

Understanding the risks of volcanoes to support climate change adaption

Glyn Williams-Jones

Glyn Williams-Jones

Faculty of Science

The Mount Meager (Qw’elqw’elústen) Volcanic Complex near Pemberton, British Columbia, last erupted over 2400 years ago—but it’s still an active volcano, and climate change is making it increasingly unstable.

¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Earth Sciences Professor and Chair Glyn Williams-Jones and his collaborators have made numerous trips to Mount Meager to study these changes and assess the potential hazards of an active volcano close to home. He is one of many ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV researchers working with partners on community-centred climate innovation.

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September 27, 2022

Residential school research project reunites children with their communities

Eldon Yellowhorn

Eldon Yellowhorn

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

September brings the start of the new school year, but it is also a time to pause and commemorate the thousands of children that did not come home from Canadian residential schools, while acknowledging the harms to all.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Indigenous Studies Professor Eldon Yellowhorn is the principal investigator of the Brandon Indian Residential School Cemeteries Project. The project seeks to identify and acknowledge the children buried at the site, and connect them back with family and communities.

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September 13, 2022

Embedding climate action into everything we do

Alison Shaw

Alison Shaw

ACT – the Action on Climate Team at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV works with organizations to embed low carbon resilience approaches and nature-based solutions into their planning and operations. They have published a series of resources and toolkits to help businesses and communitiesÌýtake meaningful and achievable climate action.

We spoke with executive director Alison Shaw about ACT's innovative work to create more sustainable cities and communities.

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September 7, 2022

Do teen dating violence prevention programs work?

Jennifer Wong

Jennifer Wong

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Chelsey Lee

Chelsey Lee

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Adolescence is a critical time of emotional, intellectual and personal development. As young people begin dating, situations arise that can cause stress and conflict. ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Criminology Professor Jennifer Wong and PhD student Chelsey Lee reviewed dozens of studies on teen violence prevention programs to analyze their effectiveness.Ìý
Their article, Examining the effects of teen dating violence prevention programs: a systematic review and meta-analysis, discusses what's working—and what’s not—when it comes to preventing teen dating violence.

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