The influence of a peer mentor program for international students on domestic peer mentors and their intercultural development

In this study, a mixed method approach was used to examine the experience of 43 domestic peer mentors who participated in a peer mentoring program for international students offered at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada. The study aimed to answer the following questions: 1) does participating in a mentorship program for international students result in change in the intercultural development for domestic peer mentors as measured by the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)? 2) what were the experiences of domestic peer mentors participating in a peer mentoring program for international students? Following the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (Bennett, 1998) as a guide, this study used the scores from the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to gain an understanding of the influence of the program. The scores obtained pre and post mentorship experiences were compared and a significant difference was found. Reflections from 120 monthly reports and seven individual semi-structured interviews were also conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the mentorship experience and the influence it had on the mentors’ intercultural development. The benefits of intercultural peer mentoring on student development of skills such as leadership, communication and empathy are also discussed. The study echoes previous research that calls for an increased amount of facilitated intercultural program within university campuses. The study also advocates for further implementation of programs that provide opportunities for intercultural learning between domestic and international students in order for intercultural development to improve in higher educational settings.

Assessing the legacy of the pine point mine: post-industrial land cover and land use

While mining is a major component of the northern Canadian economy, including the contemporary mixed economy of Aboriginal communities, it often leaves legacies of environmental and economic transformation that persist after closure. The legacies of historical mines in northern Canada challenge industry claims of sustainability. This thesis addresses how industrial mineral development and closure continue to affect local environments and economies after abandonment. The abandoned Pine Point mine in the Northwest Territories provides a case study for explaining the ongoing relationships among land cover, land use, and the post-industrial landscape. Drawing from landscape ecology and micropolitical ecology, I adopt an interdisciplinary approach to examine environmental and socioeconomic changes in the wake of industrial development and closure at Pine Point. The results show that passive reclamation is not sufficient for restoring ecological function in a subarctic environment. Land use, however, persists as land users adapt to the post-industrial landscape despite grave concern about its environmental condition. If mining is to be considered sustainable, decommissioning and reclamation must explicitly account for long-term environmental transformation as well as ongoing post-industrial land use, particularly in Aboriginal contexts.

The exclusive fishing zone for the artisanal fishery in Chocó Colombia: origins, development, and consequences for artisanal fisheries and food security.

Exclusive Fishing Zones (EFZs) are a type of place-based management tool often used to mitigate conflicts between fishing sectors by granting fishing rights to one of the sectors. This case study enhances our knowledge of the pre- and post-implementation processes associated with EFZs as well as its consequences for fish stocks and artisanal fishers and their families. The study draws upon interviews with artisanal fishers and key informants related to an EFZ established in 2008 in Colombia (the Chocó-EFZ). The findings of this research indicate that conflicts at sea and on land between artisanal and industrial fisheries triggered the Chocó-EFZ process. Results also show some potential benefits of the Chocó-EFZ including: a) mitigating conflicts between artisanal fishers and industrial shrimpers; b) contributing to the food security of artisanal fishing households and sustaining local fish stocks; c) supporting an existing informal community-based management as well as promoting the development of a co-management regime. Potential negative effects of the Chocó-EFZ include: a) displacement of industrial fishing effort and, b) job loss within the industrial shrimp industry. The findings of this research also indicate that there are multiple factors that jeopardize the effectiveness and continuation of the Chocó-EFZ, some of which include diversity of fisheries, power struggles among stakeholders, and disagreement about exclusive access to fish resources.