News and Events

hello BGSA folks!

As the weather slips to sub-zero temperatures in Montreal, we thought we'd give you a post with the ghost of bio past, the ghost of bio present and the ghost of bio yet to come.

To kick it off, we've got pictures up from our wildly successful pumpkin carving contest. Check out the pictures here!!! As you can see, the stakes have been raised, yet again. Better start planning for next year!!

Check out the seminar page on the Biology Department website. There are several interesting molecular and organismal seminars coming up. There are also many PhD seminars and PhD defenses, so come out and support your soon to be graduating colleagues - it'll be your turn soon! You can also check out the BGSA calender for events as well. Click on the calendar link on the BGSA page.

Some events to look out for include:

A post-seminar discussion with Dr. Owen McMillan from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Thompson House, Room 406 from 4.30-6.30pm.

The first annual symposium: Biodiversity Science in Quebec: 2010 and beyond. Hosted by the Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science, information and registration can be found here

And from the enviro digest, some interesting discussions and events coming up:

Panel Discussion- environment and animal welfare impacts – Nov 8

ENVIRONMENTAL & ANIMAL WELFARE IMPACTS OF INTENSIVE FARMING: EXPLORING THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND POTENTIAL AVENUES FOR CHANGE

Monday, 8 November 2010

5:30pm, Reception to follow

McGill Law Faculty, 3644 Peel St.

Moot Court

Environmental Law McGill and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund are hosting a panel discussion on the environmental and animal welfare impacts of intensive farming. The panelists will explore the current legal framework surrounding intensive farming, debate potential avenues for change, and share what they view as the most promising ways to mitigate environmental and animal welfare impacts.

This panel will be bringing together three experts from Canada and the United States. Kaitlyn Mitchell is a staff lawyer with Ecojustice, the nation's leading non-profit organization using the law to protect and restore the Canadian environment. Navin Ramankutty is a Professor of Geography and Earth System Science at McGill University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Land-Use and Land-Cover Change. David Wolfson teaches animal law, with a particular focus on farmed animals, at Columbia Law School and NYU Law School.

We invite you to attend the panel discussion and join us for a reception immediately following the panel. Hope to see you there!

For more details, visit the website: www.saldf.ca.

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Geospectives Seminar Series - Nov 8

From pastures to forests: Successional dynamics of tropical rain forests

Dr. Robin Chazdon

Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

University of Connecticut

Geospectives Seminar Series

11-12:30 pm, Monday Nov 8th

Burnside Hall Room 426

McGill University

(refreshments served at 10:45)

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From Canada to Cancun: Canadian Climate Policy and the UN climate change negotiations

6pm, Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

McGill School of Environment Conference Room

3534 University

Remember COP15 in Copenhagen last December, where we failed to get a fair, ambitious, and binding deal on climate change? Wondering what's up next at the UN climate change negotiations?

The COP16 UN climate negotiations kick off November 29th in Cancun, Mexico. But how does the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) work? And how does Canada's domestic climate policy (or lack thereof) affect our role internationally? Our workshop will cover the basics of the UNFCCC, Canadian climate policy, what to expect from Cancun, some of the key issues Canada faces regarding climate change, and a discussion of what McGill students can do to effect policy change.

This workshop is presented by two members of the Climate And Sustainability Advocacy (CASA) Project who are undertaking an independent study in Canadian Climate Policy. Members of the Canadian Youth Delegation to COP16 will be present to help answer questions and to add to discussions. For more information, please check out http://casamcgill.wordpress.com/.

Cheers,

BGSA