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Canadian Climate History Workshop 2008 Presentations

NiCHE has archived 11 audio presentations from this event

This workshop sought to assess available documentary materials for the study of past climates in Canada, as well as prioritize the most important collections / datasets -- from the perspective of Canadian history, the physical and natural sciences, and public interest (policy). Participants helped identify how best to work with and make broadly accessible this material, while identifying research strengths and weaknesses in Canadian climate history. It was put on by the Early Canadian Environmental Data group.

If you missed the workshop, but nonetheless have an interest in Canadian climate history, data, methodology or archival materials related to its study, you can watch the presentations. Viewers will get some excellent advice to aid in their research, as well as some refreshing conversations regarding the importance of interdisciplinary studies.

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Introduction to Early Canadian Environmental Data Project

Piper, Liza. "Introduction to Early Canadian Environmental Data Project." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 23 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Liza Piper
Panel Name: 
Introduction
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 23 2008
Bio: 

Liza Piper is an associate professor in History at the University of Alberta. She is also an executive member of NiCHE and the leader of the Early Canadian and Environmental Data project.

Abstract: 

This talk sets out the objectives of the Early Canada Environmental Data project to create digital resources that facilitated the study of historical data on Canadian environments and the efforts to date to achieve those ends. This includes the construction of a database and the significance of the information contained therein.

Historical Climate Data from the Perspective of Physical Paleoclimatology

St. George, Scott. "Historical Climate Data from the Perspective of Physical Paleoclimatology." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 23 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Scott St. George
Panel Name: 
Climate History at the Intersection of History & Science
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 23 2008
Bio: 

Scott St. George is a Research Scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa. His research focuses on past climate change, water resources, natural hazards and renewable energy.

Abstract: 

Paleoclimatologists use human and natural archives to study the behaviour of the Earth's climate prior to the onset of instrumental monitoring. In Canada, most research focuses on insights derived from physical proxies such as ice cores or tree rings, but historical archives have several important characteristics that could allow them to address major gaps in our understanding of past climate change.

The Making of a Global Climatic Event: Written Evidence, Natural Proxies, and Scholarly Debate, 1980-2008.

Newfield, Tim. "The Making of a Global Climatic Event: Written Evidence, Natural Proxies, and Scholarly Debate, 1980-2008." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 23 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Tim Newfield
Panel Name: 
Climate History at the Intersection of History & Science
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 23 2008
Bio: 

Newfield is a PhD candidate in History at McGill University. His historical interests concern environmental and biological phenomena of pre-industrial Europe.

Abstract: 

This paper surveys the rise (from the early 1980s to 2008) of the so-called Dust-Veil Event of the mid sixth century CE. It seeks to illustrates the importance of the event for early medieval demographic and economic history. To do this it collects a range of natural proxies from around the earth, surveys the available written evidence, and demonstrates the value of a comparative approach. Throughout it is emphasized that before written sources are employed to discuss historical climatic events they must be a) situated into their textual environment, in order to discern their ability to tell us anything reliable about the material world, and b) considered alongside natural proxies, which are often (at least in the classical, medieval and early modern periods) our only sources of reliable data.

Using Historical Records of Climate Change in Paleoenvironmental Research.

Moser, Katrina. "Using Historical Records of Climate Change in Paleoenvironmental Research." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 23 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Katrina Moser
Panel Name: 
Climate History at the Intersection of History & Science
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 23 2008
Bio: 

An associate professor of Geography at the University of Western Ontario, Moser is an expert on water quality and quantity issues.

Logbooks and Other Documentary Sources to Reconstruct Climate Variability in the Last 500 Years.

Garcia Herrera, Ricardo. "Logbooks and Other Documentary Sources to Reconstruct Climate Variability in the Last 500 Years." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Ricardo Garcia Herrera
Panel Name: 
Keynote Address
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Ricardo Garci­a Herrera teaches Atmospheric Physics in the Complutense University in Madrid. He has done extensive research into climate reconstruction and was instrumental in bringing a large volume of ship logbooks together for climate researchers through Climatological Database for the World's Oceans 1750-1850 (CLIWOC), which was released in 2003. Garcia Herrera is also the co-ordinator of the Spanish network of climate reconstruction from documentary sources (RECLIDO)

Climate & Weather Records at Environment Canada.

Kocot, Chris. "Climate & Weather Records at Environment Canada." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Chris Kocot
Panel Name: 
Records & Repositories
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Kocot is the Manager of the Data Development Unit at Environment Canada.

On the Association of Canadian Archivists' Climate Records and Information Special Interest Section (CRISIS).

Comeau, Martin and Leah Sanders. "On the Association of Canadian Archivists' Climate Records and Information Special Interest Section (CRISIS)." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008

Presenter: 
Martin Comeau
Presenter: 
Leah Sanders
Panel Name: 
Records & Repositories
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Martin Comeau is an archivist at the Winnipeg Archives. Leah Sanders is an archivist at Library and Archives Canada.

Reading the Climate in Hudson's Bay Company Records.

Colpitts, George. "Reading the Climate in Hudson's Bay Company Records." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
George Colpitts
Panel Name: 
Regions & Climate Hiostory
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

An assistant professor of History at the University of Calgary, Colpitts studies the history of Canada's fur trade, as well as Western and Northern Canadian history

Historical Climatology on the Southern Yukon Territory, 1842-1852.

Tompkins, Heather. "Historical Climatology on the Southern Yukon Territory, 1842-1852." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Heather Tompkins
Panel Name: 
Regions & Climate History
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Tompkins is a geomatics technician in the Architecture and Geomatics section of Library and Archives Canada.

Abstract: 

Video Not Available

Bibliographies: Climate Data & Meteorological History.

Thomas, Morley. "Bibliographies: Climate Data & Meteorological History." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Morley Thomas
Panel Name: 
Ways of Knowing Past Climates
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Retired from his position of senior meteorologist at Environment Canada, Thomas is the foremost historian of Canadian meteorology.

Measuring and Mapping Toronto's Heat Island.

Anderson, Richard. "Measuring and Mapping Toronto's Heat Island." Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Richard Anderson
Panel Name: 
Ways of Knowing Past Climates
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Anderson is a sessional lecturer in the Geography department at York University. He studies historical and cultural geography as well as environmental history.

Archiving Indigenous Weather Knowledge: How & Why?

Pennesi, Karen. "Archiving Indigenous Weather Knowledge: How & Why?" Canadian Climate History Workshop. 24 October 2008.

Presenter: 
Karen Pennesi
Panel Name: 
Ways of Knowing Past Climates
Full Event Name: 
Canadian Climate History Workshop
Event Location: 
London, ON
Presentation Date: 
Oct 24 2008
Bio: 

Dr. Karen Pennesi is an assistant professor of Anthropology at the University of Western Ontario. In her work, she investigates the role weather and climate forecasts play in different sociocultural contexts including rural communities of Northeast Brazil, and Inuit communities in Nunavut. Her research integrates theoretical dimensions of linguistic and ecological anthropology in analyses of how weather-related communicative practices are tied to particular historical, social, environmental and epistemological contexts.

Abstract: 

This presentation includes a discussion of the motivation for creating an online archive of indigenous weather knowledge as well as some practical issues of how to document what people know and how they come to know it. The aim of the archive is to facilitate cross-cultural comparisons and other research about patterns in environmental knowledge at a regional and global level.