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While there is a wealth of research evidencing the benefits of active-learning approaches, the extent to which these teaching practices are adopted in the sciences is not well known. The aim of this study is to establish an evidential baseline of teaching practices across a bachelor of science degree program at a large research-intensive Australian university. Our purpose is to contribute to knowledge on the adoption levels of evidence-based teaching practices by faculty within a science degree program and inform our science curriculum review in practical terms. We used the Teaching Practices Inventory (TPI) to measure the use of evidence-based teaching approaches in 129 courses (units of study) across 13 departments. We compared the results with those from a Canadian institution to identify areas in need of improvement at our institution. We applied a regression analysis to the data and found that the adoption of evidence-based teaching practices differs by discipline and is higher in first-year classes at our institution. The study demonstrates that the TPI can be used in different institutional contexts and provides data that can inform practice and policy.

The Canadian Earth System Model version 5.0 (CanESM5.0), the most recent major version of the global climate model developed at the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma) at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), has been used extensively in climate research and for providing future climate projections in the context of climate services. Previous studies have shown that CanESM5.0 performs well compared to other models and have revealed several model biases. To address these biases, the CCCma has recently initiated the "Analysis for Development" (A4D) activity, a coordinated analysis activity in support of CanESM development. Here we describe the goals and organization of this effort and introduce two variants ("p1" and "p2") of a new CanESM version, CanESM5.1, which features important improvements as a result of the A4D activity. These improvements include the elimination of spurious stratospheric temperature spikes and an improved simulation of tropospheric dust. Other climate aspects of the p1 variant of CanESM5.1 are similar to those of CanESM5.0, while the p2 variant of CanESM5.1 features reduced equilibrium climate sensitivity and improved El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability as a result of intentional tuning of the atmospheric component. The A4D activity has also led to the improved understanding of other notable CanESM5.0 and CanESM5.1 biases, including the overestimation of North Atlantic sea ice, a cold bias over sea ice, biases in the stratospheric circulation and a cold bias over the Himalayas. It provides a potential framework for the broader climate community to contribute to CanESM development, which will facilitate further model improvements and ultimately lead to improved climate change information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's boreal forests and tundra ecosystems are responding to unprecedented climate change with implications for the global carbon (C) cycle and global climate. However, our ability to model the response of Canada's terrestrial ecosystems to climate change is limited and there has been no comprehensive, process‐based assessment of Canada's terrestrial C cycle. We tailor the Canadian Land Surface Scheme Including Biogeochemical Cycles (CLASSIC) to Canada and evaluate its C cycling performance against independent reference data. We utilize skill scores to assess model performance against reference data alongside benchmark scores that quantify the level of agreement between the reference data sets to aid in interpretation. Our results demonstrate CLASSIC's sensitivity to prescribed vegetation cover. They also show that the addition of five region‐specific Plant functional types (PFTs) improves CLASSIC's skill at simulating the Canadian C cycle. CLASSIC performs well when tailored to Canada, falls within the range of the reference data sets, and meets or exceeds the benchmark scores for most C cycling processes. New region‐specific land cover products, well‐informed PFT parameterizations, and more detailed reference data sets will facilitate improvements to the representation of the terrestrial C cycle in regional and global land surface models. Incorporating a parameterization for boreal disturbance processes and explicitly representing peatlands and permafrost soils will improve CLASSIC's future performance in Canada and other boreal regions. This is an important step toward a comprehensive process‐based assessment of Canada's terrestrial C cycle and evaluating Canada's net C balance under climate change. Plain Language Summary: Canada plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. Its boreal forests and tundra are responding to climate change. There has not been a comprehensive modeling assessment of Canada's land carbon cycle. We modify our model to better represent the distribution of plants in Canada and to include five new plant‐type representations. We then compare results from our model and other independent observation‐based data sets. Our modifications produced model results that agreed better with the independent data sets. This is an important step toward a comprehensive modeling assessment of Canada's land carbon cycle. Key Points: Using region‐specific prescribed vegetation cover and adding five region‐specific Plant functional types reduced model biases against reference dataCanadian Land Surface Scheme Including Biogeochemical Cycle's performance when tailored to the Canada domain is similar to that for comparisons between independent reference data setsFuture work should focus on boreal disturbance (i.e., fire, insect damage, and harvest), peatlands, and permafrost in Canada and other boreal regions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 and the resulting financial impacts had budget and workforce implications for organizations involved in emergency shelter provision. To address distancing and sanitation protocols as well as virus transmission and vaccination rates, shelter supplies, facility modifications, and staffing adjustments were needed. As funding and authorizations to implement public health guidance and stabilize the workforce expired, emergency managers had to determine whether to continue pandemic protocols. In order to understand these relationships, we conducted a workshop in September 2021 with 137 emergency managers, public health leaders, and other government and nonprofit practitioners from 20 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada to identify resource reallocation strategies utilized for sheltering from post-lockdown to post-vaccine periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied a fiscal recovery framework to explore how these operational changes were influenced by and have implications for fiscal and policy support as well as operational adaptability. Results show that as fiscal and policy support waned, some pandemic protocols were suspended, thereby shifting and reducing human and facility resource needs. Distancing protocols benefited from improvements in masking, vaccine, and testing availability without consistent mandates, but non-congregate shelter provision was reduced as authorizations and funding expired. Modified service contracts and increased utilization of special needs registries can realign resources with health and safety needs. Based on participant responses, we developed a Retractable Stabilization Model to indicate how shelter resources can be reallocated and supported by future policy interventions to provide a range of emergency sheltering options during pandemics and overlapping hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Earth System Model version 5 (CanESM5) developed at Environment and Climate Change Canada's Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma) is participating in phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). A 40-member ensemble of CanESM5 historical decadal forecasts (or hindcasts) is integrated for ten years from realistic initial states during 1961 to present using prescribed external forcing. The results are part of CCCma's contribution to the Decadal Climate Prediction Project (DCPP) component of CMIP6. This paper evaluates CanESM5 large ensemble decadal hindcasts against observational benchmarks and against historical climate simulations initialized from preindustrial control run states. The focus is on the evaluation of the potential predictability and actual skill of annual and multi-year averages of key oceanic and atmospheric fields at regional and global scales. The impact of initialization on prediction skill is quantified from the hindcasts decomposition into uninitialized and initialized components. The dependence of potential and actual skill on ensemble size is examined. CanESM5 decadal hindcasts skilfully predict upper-ocean states and surface climate with a significant impact from initialization that depend on climate variable, forecast range, and geographic location. Deficiencies in the skill of North Atlantic surface climate are identified and potential causes discussed. The inclusion of biogeochemical modules in CanESM5 enables the prediction of carbon cycle variables which are shown to be skilful on decadal time scales, with a strong long-lasting impact from initialization on skill in the ocean and a moderate short-lived impact on land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Olympic Games is a measurable test of a nation's sporting power. Medal counts are the object of intense scrutiny after every Olympiad. Most countries celebrate any medal with national glee, since 60% of competing countries will win none. In 2012, 10% of the competing countries won 75% of all medals. Despite this concentration among a few countries, more countries are winning more medals now than 20 years ago, thanks in part to athlete-support and -development programs arising around the globe. Small strong sporting countries like Norway are typified by fairly large variation in medal results from Olympiad to Olympiad and a high concentration of results in a few sports. These are important factors to consider when evaluating national performance and interpreting the medal count. Medal conversion, podium placements relative to top 8 placements, may provide a measure of the competitiveness of athlete-support programs in this international zero sum game where the cost of winning Olympic gold keeps rising whether measured in dollars or human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Earth System Model version 5 (CanESM5) is a global model developed to simulate historical climate change and variability, to make centennial-scale projections of future climate, and to produce initialized seasonal and decadal predictions. This paper describes the model components and their coupling, as well as various aspects of model development, including tuning, optimization, and a reproducibility strategy. We also document the stability of the model using a long control simulation, quantify the model's ability to reproduce large-scale features of the historical climate, and evaluate the response of the model to external forcing. CanESM5 is comprised of three-dimensional atmosphere (T63 spectral resolution equivalent roughly to 2.8 ∘) and ocean (nominally 1 ∘) general circulation models, a sea-ice model, a land surface scheme, and explicit land and ocean carbon cycle models. The model features relatively coarse resolution and high throughput, which facilitates the production of large ensembles. CanESM5 has a notably higher equilibrium climate sensitivity (5.6 K) than its predecessor, CanESM2 (3.7 K), which we briefly discuss, along with simulated changes over the historical period. CanESM5 simulations contribute to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) and will be employed for climate science and service applications in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the practice of presenting visiting dignitaries with a white cowboy hat, symbol of the city and the brand of hospitality in Calgary, Alberta. Projection of civic identity through the community spirit; Recognition of the ceremony as a site of struggle; Emphasis on social cleavages and promotion of corporate interests.

The article examines selected newspaper reports on the brutal murder of teenager Reena Virk to determine the possible role played by media coverage in the heightened anxiety about public safety in Canada. It explores the rhetorical techniques used by reporters, such as framing, inflecting and indexing, to shape the story for their readers. News reports about Virk's murder which appeared in "The Province," "The Times Colonist" and other Canadian newspapers are presented.

Examines visual representations of the cowboy to understand the Canadian version of this stereotype. Publicity posters produced by the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Board from 1952 to 1972; Emphasis on the Wild West Show that had given way to the rodeo after World War I; Historical cowboy's role in the development of the American West.

The article focuses on the efforts of Nathan L. Nathanson and Adolph Zukor, showmen of movie exhibition in Canada between 1920 and 1941. The influx of television and megaplexes has reduced the charm among movie goers to visit movie palaces, started during the 1920s. Nathanson created duopoly by starting Famous Players and Odeon Theatres, the two national movie theater chains. Zukor initiated to make Canada a potential movie market, though Toronto, Ontario had an established movie business.

This paper grows out of the author's ongoing interest in the Calgary Stampede, the world's most extravagant celebration of cowboy culture in Alberta. The article focuses on how Calgarians exploit the symbolic resources at their disposal, including the image of the cowboy, to construct their regional and municipal identities. The author highlights the important role of Marcus Belmont Marcell, a U.S.-born adventurer who photographed Calgary Stampede, in documenting the event and suggesting that, working in the tradition epitomized by pictures of such western artists as Frederic Remington, Charlie Russell, and Edward Borein. Marcell played a significant role in popularizing an image of the wild West in general and of the Canadian West in particular.

Focuses on the fictionalization of female immigrant experience in Canada. Examination of how the story of immigration has been rendered in Canadian fiction; Narrative patterns which emerged in Canada that would provide frameworks for telling the individual and collective stories of the journey from old world to new; Colonialism as central theme of Canadian fiction.

The cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is one of the four mostimportant annual crops in the world grown for its edible oil. Species of the genus Helianthus served as the ancestral stock for the present cultivated sunflower. The wild relatives are a valuable genetic reservoir for improving the crop species. This study examined oil concentration and fatty acid composition in oil of two annual Helianthus species (31 populations) and four perennial species (32 populations) from the prairie provinces of Canada. The highest average oil concentration was observed in annual H. petiolaris with 31.3%. Among the perennials, H. maximiliani Schrad. Had the highest average oil concentration with 31.1%. Helianthus tuberosus L. had the highest average palmitic (16:0) acid concentration with 8.0%, while the lowest value was observed in H. petiolaris with 4.0%. The highest average stearic (18:0) acid concentration was found in H. annuus with 2.9%, while H. petiolaris had the lowest with 2.3%. The highest average oleic acid (18:1)was observed in H. petiolaris (18.4%), and the highest lenolic (18:2) was observed in H. maximiliani (77.4%). The variability within the wild species appears to be sufficient for altering oil and fatty acidcharacteristics in cultivated sunflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses original Canadian survey data to compare support for and opposition to five energy-related climate policies. Results show that Canadians were very concerned about climate change and supportive of the policies. Variation in support and opposition was investigated using logistic regression. We tested models that associate climate policy support with a combination of one's ecological worldview, climate change attitudes, personal capabilities, contextual influences, and ascription of responsibility to take action on climate change, applying elements of Stern's (2000) theory of environmentally-significant behaviour and Patchen's (2010) model of climate change behaviour. We found that the more abstract policies attracted a different set of predictors than the more concrete policies. Females and parents showed increased support for the more abstract policies. Having an ecological worldview was a significant predictor of support for all policies but was obscured by other factors in a combined model. Cet article utilise des données d'enquête canadiennes originales pour comparer le soutien et l'opposition à cinq politiques climatiques liées à l'énergie. Les résultats montrent que les Canadiens étaient très préoccupés par le changement climatique et appuyaient les politiques. La variation du soutien et de l'opposition a été étudiée à l'aide de la régression logistique. Nous avons testé des modèles qui associent le soutien à la politique climatique à une combinaison de vision du monde écologique, d'attitudes face au changement climatique, de capacités personnelles, d'influences contextuelles et d'attribution de la responsabilité d'agir sur le changement climatique, en appliquant des éléments de la théorie de Stern (2000) sur le comportement significatif pour l'environnement et le modèle de comportement face au changement climatique de Patchen (2010). Nous avons constaté que les politiques plus abstraites attiraient un ensemble différent de prédicteurs que les politiques plus concrètes. Les femmes et les parents ont montré un soutien accru pour les politiques plus abstraites. Avoir une vision du monde écologique était un prédicteur significatif du soutien à toutes les politiques, mais était obscurci par d'autres facteurs dans un modèle combiné., (© 2023 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

Migratory waterfowl of the world are the natural reservoirs of influenza viruses of all known subtypes. However, it is unknown whether these waterfowl perpetuate highly pathogenic (HP) H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. Here we report influenza virus surveillance from 2001 to 2006 in wild ducks in Alberta, Canada, and in shorebirds and gulls at Delaware Bay (New Jersey), United States, and examine the frequency of exchange of influenza viruses between the Eurasian and American virus clades, or superfamilies. Influenza viruses belonging to each of the subtypes H1 through H13 and N1 through N9 were detected in these waterfowl, but H14 and H15 were not found. Viruses of the HP Asian H5N1 subtypes were not detected, and serologic studies in adult mallard ducks provided no evidence of their circulation. The recently described H16 subtype of influenza viruses was detected in American shorebirds and gulls but not in ducks. We also found an unusual cluster of H7N3 influenza viruses in shorebirds and gulls that was able to replicate well in chickens and kill chicken embryos. Genetic analysis of 6,767 avian influenza gene segments and 248 complete avian influenza viruses supported the notion that the exchange of entire influenza viruses between the Eurasian and American clades does not occur frequently. Overall, the available evidence does not support the perpetuation of HP H5N1 influenza in migratory birds and suggests that the introduction of HP Asian H5N1 to the Americas by migratory birds is likely to be a rare event.