Undergraduate Theses

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    Canadian wildfires: a spatial-temporal assessment of fire activity and cause (1988 to 2018)
    (2020-04-22) Wheeler, Amy
    Vegetation zones such as the boreal forest in Canada have been shaped and maintained by naturally occurring wildfires for centuries. However, as global climates have warmed due to an increase in greenhouse gases within the atmosphere, there has been a profound impact on Canada’s forests. As fire activity continues to be very influential in altering forest biomes in Canada, it is important to analyze and evaluate these changes. The focus of this study is on assessing change in fire frequency, severity, and cause of fire disturbances in relation to where people reside in Canada. The timeframe for this study is a 30-year span, 1988 to 2018. The datasets utilized allowed for both temporal and spatial analysis of forest fires for each province and territory in Canada. Datasets were analyzed, and maps were developed using ESRI’s ArcMap GIS software. There has been an increase in both frequency and severity (in terms of area size) of forest fires over these 30 years. The main cause of this upsurge in fire activity is associated with lightning, but human accident fires have also steadily increased particular in proximity to Canada’s ecumene (where most people live). Human prescribed fires have also surged, especially in western Canada, as these deliberately set fires have become more necessary in efforts to safeguard Canada’s forest resource and vulnerable populations. As the geography of forest fire activity continues to evolve in Canada, this type of spatial-temporal research is useful to those who develop new policies, mitigation plans, and adaptation strategies to protect the vitality of forest ecosystems and the safety of Canadian populations
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    An analysis of primary and secondary sector employment in Canada in relation to the distribution of median income
    (2018-04-17) St-George, Eric
    The Canadian economy continues to become more ‘advanced’ and is shifting towards more service jobs; tertiary, quaternary, and quinary. As a result, the Canadian job market now focusses less on direct resource and manufacturing employment. These changes are occurring in the context of globalization where productivity is continually being improved upon and higher education is greatly valued. This study addresses employment activity in the primary and secondary sector in Canada. This analysis is done to get a better understanding of the continued importance of these employment activities in a country that is focussing on more professional and service jobs. In order to analyze the primary and secondary sector in Canada, three variables have been used. The three variables are: 1) mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; 2) agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting; and 3) manufacturing. ArcMap has been used in this study to provide a visual representation of the spatial distribution of each of these three variables by according to a low, middle, and high range of industry activity. Locations in Canada that are categorized as low, middle and high in terms of industrial activity are also compared by median income. This research indicates that primary and secondary sector activity in Canada is still very important to the national economy as well as numerous local economies in Canada.
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    Resource-extraction employment proportions and socioeconomic indicators in canadian municipalities
    (2017-04-01) Smith, Jesse
    The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to describe the distribution of mining employment in Canada by proportion within census subdivision boundaries (CSD), and 2) to describe mining employment in relation to various socioeconomic indicators at the CSD level. This was accomplished by stratifying mining employment proportions into individual categories (none, low, medium, high, and extreme) and calculating the median values of each of these indicators according to mining employment proportion. In effect, communities were profiled according to their level of reliance on resource-extraction dependency. In order to adequately contextualize these findings, a large body of socioeconomic and resource community-based research literature was drawn from. These examples provided a foundational basis for the interpretation and conclusions reached in this study
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    Promoting community health by expanding the City of Greater Sudbury’s Active Transportation Network to target youth.
    (2016-05-02) Lavigne, Kevin
    As the second most obese city in Canada, the City of Greater Sudbury needs to take measures to combat this health epidemic. This paper begins by exploring the links between active transportation and community health. The current state of active transportation in the City of Greater Sudbury is then assessed and the factors that influence the adoption of active transportation are discussed. The possibility of creating infrastructure with the aim of encouraging youth to actively commute is explored, as well as are the benefits of pursuing such an aim. Cycling-specific infrastructure in the neighbourhoods surrounding schools would be beneficial and a geographic information system is used to model the roads in Greater Sudbury that could be developed to encourage youth to cycle.
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    The state of indigenous research in Canada: a review of canadian university graduate and post-graduate theses 2010-2015
    (2016-05-02) Gordey, Erin
    There is currently a lot of academic work being conducted in the area of Indigenous studies by Canadian scholars. In particular, attention has been given to the paradigm shift in Indigenous studies where the participatory focus is on benefiting Indigenous communities, versus mere academic exercise. Amongst all of the attention given to the paradigm shift in Indigenous methodology, it can be difficult to get an understanding of what themes of research have been under-explored and how a researcher could best support the research field. This thesis sets out to identify priority areas of Indigenous research, research themes that are under-researched, and the state of Indigenous research conducted by the academic community in Canadian Universities. This qualitative study examines a representative sample of graduate and post-graduate theses on Indigenous studies between the periods of 2010 to 2015 and qualifies them according to the 25 themes identified as priority, by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The results from this research show that the categories ranked as top priority are Indigenous justice, urban issues, Indigenous identities, Indigenous languages and traditions, economies and labour studies, governance and sovereignty, Indigenous humanities and culture and lands and environment. This study shows when comparing sampled theses to priority themes, with the exception of research pertaining to land, and Indigenous humanities, ongoing research in these categories is still required. It is determined that the acknowledgement of the paradigm shift in Indigenous research has been successful in the production of Indigenous study themes that are in line with the determined priorities and methodologies.