Events

ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | JANUARY 2023


Island Lecture Series: Towards Energy Sovereignty on Labrador’s Remote Island of Ponds
Dr. Nick Mercer
Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 · 7:00pm AST (UTC-4)
Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI

(Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies · January 24th, 2023)
Newfoundland and Labrador is a global leader in the development of renewable energy. However, the electricity-generation mix differs dramatically in remote and Indigenous communities throughout the province, which remain almost exclusively reliant on diesel fuel, resulting in numerous energy inequities. While sustainable energies are often promoted for these isolated villages, emerging research demonstrates detrimental socio-economic and livelihood implications which emerge when development is led by outsiders or corporate interests. The presentation will focus on an 8+ year community-based research partnership between Dr. Nick Mercer, the NunatuKavut Community Council’s Department of Research, Education, and Culture, and the NunatuKavut Inuit community of Black Tickle, located on the subarctic tundra Island of Ponds, in southern Labrador. The research focuses on identifying and addressing community needs, integrating local knowledge and sustainability values, and mobilizing community-led initiatives to enhance island energy resilience.

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ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | JANUARY 2023

Island Lecture Series: Towards Energy Sovereignty on Labrador’s Remote Island of Ponds
Dr. Nick Mercer
Tuesday, January 24th, 20 · 7:00pm AST (UTC-4)
Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI

(Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies · January 24th, 2023)
Newfoundland and Labrador is a global leader in the development of renewable energy. However, the electricity-generation mix differs dramatically in remote and Indigenous communities throughout the province, which remain almost exclusively reliant on diesel fuel, resulting in numerous energy inequities. While sustainable energies are often promoted for these isolated villages, emerging research demonstrates detrimental socio-economic and livelihood implications which emerge when development is led by outsiders or corporate interests. The presentation will focus on an 8+ year community-based research partnership between Dr. Nick Mercer, the NunatuKavut Community Council’s Department of Research, Education, and Culture, and the NunatuKavut Inuit community of Black Tickle, located on the subarctic tundra Island of Ponds, in southern Labrador. The research focuses on identifying and addressing community needs, integrating local knowledge and sustainability values, and mobilizing community-led initiatives to enhance island energy resilience.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Dr. Nick Mercer is a recently appointed professor within UPEI’s Master of Island Studies [Sustainable Islands Specialization] and Environmental Studies programs. Prior to joining the UPEI community, Dr. Mercer held a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship within Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies. In this role, Dr. Mercer studied questions of energy justice in isolated northern communities, examining how [or if] communities have participated in energy-related decision-making, and how [or if] communities have benefitted from development. Dr. Mercer has a long research relationship with remote and island communities, having conducted almost a decade of partnership research with the Island of Ponds in Labrador, on issues ranging from participatory energy planning, to water security, to gendered dimensions of resource access. Dr. Mercer serves as one of eight appointees to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Net Zero Advisory Committee and is a vocal advocate for community-led clean energy policy and practice.

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Island Lecture Series: What’s Law Got To Do With It! Islands And Their Status In International Law with Dr. Donald Rothwell

ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | SEPTEMBER 2022
Island Lecture Series: What’s Law Got To Do With It! Islands And Their Status In International Law
Dr. Donald Rothwell
Tuesday, Sept 13, 2022 · 7:00pm AST (UTC-3)
Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI

(Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies · Sept 13, 2022)
In the latest installment of the 2022 Island Lecture series, Dr. Donald Rothman explores the international conversation on the legal status of islands. The legal status of islands has increasingly become contested in various parts of the world as a result of the distinction between islands and rocks, and the increasing development of artificial islands. Can international law resolve these issues or just make them more contentious?


ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Dr. Donald Rothwell is a Professor of International Law at the ANU College of Law, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Born on the island continent of Australia, he is a graduate of the University of Alberta, and the University of Calgary, and has lived on Vancouver Island and studied islands and the law of the sea for 30 years.

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Island Lecture: Trade in the Nicobar Islands with Shaina Sehgal March 2022

ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | MARCH 2022
Trade in the Nicobar Islands
Shaina Sehgal March 2022
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 · 1pm AST (UTC-4)
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In the second installment of our Island Lecture Series, Shaina Sehgal presents some of the findings from her Ph.D. research on the Nicobar Islands. The Nicobar Islands is a little-known archipelago in the eastern Indian ocean. However, these islands were ports-of-call along the ancient sea route from West Asia to South-East Asia and reported by traders and sea-farers throughout history. In this talk, Sehgal sketches the trading world of the Nicobar Islands between the 18th and 19th centuries. Analysis of historical texts, maps and images from this period shows the connection between seasonal trade within the archipelago and trade with the Nicobar Islands. This study concludes that these islands were a site of sustained contact within the bustling Indian Ocean world until the early 20th century.

Watch recordings of our past events!

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Shaina Sehgal is an interdisciplinary scholar who has studied the social and environmental issues across diverse and challenging terrains across India (mountains, forests, and islands) over the past decade as a graduate student and researcher at Ambedkar University Delhi, India. Her Ph.D. in Human Ecology examined trade, agriculture, development and governance in the Nicobar Islands, using archival research, quantitative data analysis, social network analysis, and ethnographic research.

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Island Lecture Series – January 2022: “Art and Climate Change Adaptation” with Ilse Van Dijk

banner with photo of Ilse van Dijk and text saying: Island Lecture Series Art and Climate Change Adaptation with Ilse van Dijk Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies @ UPEI

ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | JANUARY 2022
Art and Climate Change Adaptation
Ilse Van Dijk
Tuesday, January 18th, 2021 · 1pm AST (UTC-4)
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In the first installment of the 2022 Island Lecture series, Ilse van Dijk will present the findings of the research she conducted as a research intern with Island Studies at UPEI and the School of Climate Change and Adaptation. In her research project, Ilse aimed to identify possibilities for the integration of artistic processes into climate change adaptation policies on Prince Edward Island.

Climate change and climate change adaptation are increasingly represented in the arts. Previous research has to some extent established that the resulting ‘climate art’ can perform a variety of functions, in addition to its artistic value, such as articulating difficult emotions and translating complex information. However, policymaking for climate change and adaptation does not utilize the potential of climate art. In her research project, Ilse developed a concept for the integration of artistic processes into adaptation policymaking on Prince Edward Island. The research is based on qualitative data, gathered through in-depth interviews with artists, cultural experts and climate change adaptation policymakers on Prince Edward Island.

Interested in attending? Email us at InstituteofIslandStudieUPEI@gmail.com to register!

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Photo of Ilse van Dijk

Ilse Van Dijk is currently a research master’s student at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She is following a specialization in islands and sustainability, with a particular focus on the theme of culture and climate change adaptation. IIlse recently completed a research internship with Dr. Laurie Brinklow from Island Studies and Ross Dwyer from the School of Climate Change and Adaptation. She holds a masters’ degree in human ecology from Lund University in Sweden, and a bachelors’ degree in cultural anthropology and development studies from Radboud University in the Netherlands.

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