EUC Research Update – January/February 2026

Accolades, Awards and Acknowledgements

Muna Udbi-Ali and Aaron Joseph acted as curators in the Harriet Tubman Institute (HTI)’s Black History Month gallery opening celebration on the theme “Politics/Poetics of Migration“. The exhibition displays artworks that engage both the political realities and the poetic imaginings of migration, including displacement, being and belonging, borders and crossings, memory and transformation. Featured EUC student artists include Mosa McNeilly and Natalie Wood. Through the convergence of art, history, and lived experience, this exhibition aims to illuminate how Black mobility continues to shape the world’s cultural and political landscapes. The art exhibition is available to view at the Crossroads Gallery (HNES 283) & Zig Zag Gallery (HNES Student Lounge) for free till May 2026.

Raju Das co-edited with LA&PS professor Robert Latham and EUC adjunct professor David Fasenfest a new book on The Power of Marxist Thought (Brill, 2026) as part of the Studies in Critical Social Sciences series. The authors compare Marxist and non-Marxist approaches regarding a wide range of issues and articulate how a Marxist approach can produce a unique, essential and comprehensive analysis of pressing political, social, economic and ecological issues.

Roger Keil received a subgrant from a CIFAR Catalyst project on “Remaking Urban Territories” led by Harvard University Professor Dianne Davis in collaboration with other CIFAR Humanity’s Urban Future research program members Xuefei Ren (Michigan State University, Humanity’s Urban Future), Ranabir Samadar (Kolkata Research Group), and Kian Goh (UCLA). Specifically, the sub-project on “Making and Unmaking of Cities,” will assess the changing landscapes of production, distribution, consumption, mobility, and communication in the Toronto-Detroit corridor. A dialogue is planned in Detroit about making/unmaking/remaking processes and how they may impact both Toronto via micro-regional engagements between Detroit and Toronto at the US-Canada border. Keil’s research on crisis and community research was also recently featured in YFile.

In December 2025, EUC researchers were in the Philippines to attend the conference of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on Sustainable Rural Systems. The conference was hosted by the Department of Geography at the University of the Philippines (UP), Diliman, and the visit deepened research ties between York and UP. Philip Kelly gave one of the conference keynote lectures, titled “Mapping Value in Labour Migration and Rural Social Reproduction”. Jennifer Hyndman presented a paper on “The Ruralization of Migration Through Protection Policy: Refugees in Canada”. Lawrenz Decano (MA student, Geography) gave a paper titled “Exploring the rural geographies of im/migrant labour in Southern Alberta cattle feedlots”.  The conference was followed by a field trip to mining, agricultural and coastal sites in Northern Luzon, led by local researchers. Philip Kelly also met with researchers at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, and with officials from the government’s Department of Migrant Workers to discuss research collaborations.

Sarah Levy (MES/LLB alumna) co-authored a book titled The Only Flag Worth Flying: Direct Action and the Enforcement of International Marine Conservation Law (Routledge, 2026) based on her thesis Why the Pirate Flag is the Only One Worth Flying Direct-action and the Enforcement of International Marine Wildlife Conservation Laws (2019) supervised by FES retired professor Ray Rogers. The book unfolds in three parts, moving from Soundings, which explores the legal and historical foundations of marine conservation law; to Currents, which traces the emergence of direct-action enforcement and its necessity in instances where states lack the means, will, or jurisdiction to act; and finally to Horizons, which looks ahead to the emerging landscape of ocean governance beyond the state. Sarah is currently doing a doctorate in law at Oxford University.

Raquel Andrade Rodrigues Mendes and Cole Webber, ES PhD students are recipients of York University’s Elia scholarship. The program is York University’s most prestigious graduate award for incoming domestic or international doctoral students. It enables York University to attract doctoral students of the highest possible caliber and ensures that selected students have the opportunity to participate in York’s distinguished graduate programs.

Mendes’ research examines ecological relationships in urban environments, exploring human and non-human agency and how belonging and community can be strengthened in digital-age societies. Webber’s research examines how rental housing evictions in Toronto impact tenants’ working conditions, integrating housing and labor research.

Eric Miller received a grant from the Greenbelt Foundation for a project titled “How Ontario’s greenbelt supports Ontario’s ecological footprint”. The project will connect ecological metrics with economic frameworks to inform land-use policy and to demonstrate how protected areas like the Greenbelt are essential for maintaining sustainability. As director of EUC’s Ecological Footprint Initiative (EFI), the research team works to advance the measurement of Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity not only in Ontario but also around the world. In partnership with the Global Footprint Network and the International Ecological Footprint Learning Lab, it acts as a global data center for National Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts to support sustainability goals.

Lisa Myers received a subgrant from the OCAD University for a collaborative SSHRC Insight project with Suzanne Morrisette on Indigenous and BPOC relationality and accountability within Indigenous territories. The funding will support artist residency for Indigenous trans and queer artists which will be structured as a gathering where artists could share practices, build relationships, and strengthen networks and capacity.

At the core of the project is the methodology of working and growing together, as well as how artworks may think through what it means to live ethically within and in critical dialogue with Indigenous people and their territories.

Brian Mahayie Waters, Geography PhD Candidate, has been awarded a Mitacs Globalink Research Award for his doctoral project titled “From Insecurity to Strategy: Making Community Water Solutions Legible in Freetown, Sierra Leone.” The award will fund his 12-month longitudinal study of seasonal hydrosocial dynamics in Freetown. The grant is in partnership with Salmatta Ibrahim from The University of Sierra Leone, Fourah Bay College. The Mitacs Globalink Research Award is an exciting initiative that provides the opportunity for faculty members and students at Canadian academic institutions and to build an international research network and undertake research abroad.

It is with deep sadness that we share the sad news about the passing of Dr. Kaz Higuchi at the age of 76 in December 2025. Kaz was a climate change researcher with specializations in complex systems research, global carbon cycle, climatology, and meteorology. He worked for 38 years at Environment Canada and after retirement continued his research and teaching as an Adjunct Faculty in EUC and Graduate Program in Geography as well as in York’s School of Administrative Studies. The fruits of Kaz’s research is a prolific list of 110 publications including papers, book chapters and book reviews with thousands of citations. A generous mentor to many young scientific minds. Kaz’s dedication to the pursuit of knowledge was perhaps his most defining characteristic. For those who wish to donate in Kaz’s memory, you may visit Canada Helps philanthropic page.

Publications and Reports

Asgary, A., Aarabi, M., Naeemi, P., Olusola, A. et al. Drone-Based Water Quality Monitoring of a Small Urban Lake: Case of Swan Lake in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, January, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square.

Beveridge, R., Keil, R., and Lashkari, M. (2025). The modalities and politics of crisis urbanism: A new reparative conjuncture? Dialogues in Human Geography, 0(0).

Das, R. J., Latham, R. and Fasenfest, D., Eds. (2026). The Power of Marxist Thought. Volume 1. Series: Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Volume: 343. Brill.

Das, R. J. (2025). Climate Change Mitigation, Capitalism, and the Capitalist State: Towards a Theoretical Approach. International Critical Thought, 15(4), 584–609.

Hovorka, A. J. (2026). Yi-Fu Tuan’s Dominance and Affection: Placing Pets, Power, and Posthumanism in Animal Geographies. GeoHumanities, 1–14.

Kapoor, I. (2026). Extimate nature: Environmental crisis and the Excluded, Political Geography, Volume 124, January, 103434.

Kipfer, S., Harrison, P., & Ren, X. (2025). The materiality of urbanization: Politics, regions, and networks in the work of Roger Keil. Urban Political Ecology, 1(3), 151-162

Levy, S. and Watson, P. (2026). The Only Flag Worth Flying: Direct Action and the Enforcement of International Marine Conservation Law. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.

Little, A., Palmer, M., Amyot, M. and Korosi, J. (2026). Under-Ice Ecological and Biogeochemical Dynamics at the Onset of Spring Thaw in Four Arsenic-Contaminated Subarctic Lakes, JGR Biogesciences, Volume 131. Issue 1.

McMain, E. M., Chan, M. C.-H., Edwards-Schuth, B., Molyneux, T. M., El Sabbagh, J., Gupta, A., & Engelbrecht, A. (2025). Podcasting as a Critical Methodology: Reflections From a Social and Emotional Learning Podcasting Project. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies. Advance online publication.

Pellegrino, R., O’Hagan, C., Korosi, J., Smol, J. and Thienpont, J. (2026). Temporal assessment of cumulative impacts from interacting disturbances of wildfires and lake-level changes on a small lake in the Western Canadian Arctic. Arctic Science, 12: 1-12.

Preston, V., Shields, J. and Bedard, T. (Eds, 2025). Social Resilience and International Migration in the Canadian City. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Preston, V. Shields, J. and Bedard, T. (Eds, 2025). Social Resilience and the Urban Migrant Experience. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Purdon, M., Winfield, M., and Scherrer, F. (2025). Planning capacity and delegated authority for decarbonizing metropolitan regional transportation: A comparison of California and Quebec. Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, Volume 4, Issue 3. UofT Press.

Quarshie, E., Badour, J., Mensah, J., and Laar, K. (2026). Diplomatic Disparities and Mobility Bias: Structural Inequalities in the Migration-Development Nexus. International Migration, Volume 64. Issue 1.

Weima, Y., Biorklund, L., Bose, P., Culcasi, K. Brankamp, H. and Hyndman, J. (2026). Jennnifer Hyndman’s Managing Displacement, 25 years on, Political Geography, 103484.

EUC and Associated Events

On Tuesday, February 24, 2:30-4:30pm at 314 York Lanes, the Harriet Tubman Institute (HTI) invites you to a Black History Month book talk and conversation titled Black Muslim Refugee: Militarism, Policing, and Somali American Resistance to State Violence with Dr. Maxamed Abumaye, Assistant Professor, Department of African American and African Studies, The Ohio State University moderated by EUC professor Dr. Muna Udbi-Ali. The book traces the globe-spanning journeys of Black-Muslim refugees, from civil war–era Somalia to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya to their eventual arrival in San Diego. In this book, Abumaye analyzes their experiences through the dual lenses of anti-Blackness and Islamophobia and situates their displacement within the larger context of East Africa’s colonial history, as well as the policy consequences of the American-backed war on terror and war on drugs. 

On Thursday, February 26, 3-5pm at HNES 140, the Geography Graduate Program is hosting its second annual Geography Alumni Lecture welcoming back Dr. Grace Adeniyi‑Ogunyankin, distinguished York alumna and now Associate Professor at Queen’s University and Canada Research Chair in Youth and African Urban Futures. Dr. Adeniyi-Ogunyankin will speak about the “Archives of the future: African youth, aesthetic life and the everyday”. Her research on popular culture explores the issues of race and representation; subjectivity and belonging; and the use of Afrofuturism in geographic projects that address the colonial politics of difference. For those interested in attending the lecture, please register here.

On Friday, February 27, 12-1:30pm at Dahdaleh 2150, invites you to a panel discussion on Equitable Green Homes? Housing, Health, and Energy in a Changing Climate with Evelyn Amponsah (CITY/EUC postdoc), Patricio Belloy (Universidad Astral de Chile professor), and Mylene Riva (McGill Geography professor) moderated by EUC professor Lina Brand Correa. We invite you to be part of a conversation with these three interdisciplinary panelists, whose work intersects at the core of the question “How can we keep everyone healthy and well as we work towards mitigating and adapting to climate change?“. Join us as we find unexpected connections and points of intervention!

On Friday, February 27 at Founders College 305, the CITY Institute, EUC and LA&PS are co-organizing a symposium on The City in the Age of the Polycrisis, The general theme of this interdisciplinary event is the “polycrisis”, that is, a crisis predicated on the convergence of social, cultural, environmental, economic and political upheavals. This graduate student symposium will bring into dialogue and discussion the many different dimensions of the polycrisis and the implications these have for cities based on (but not limited to), the following questions:

• How can we approach and analyze the polycrisis? 
• How do we identify and critically analyze the impacts and effects of the polycrisis on different aspects of the urban, including: the political, cultural, social, and environmental? 
• What are some of the responses, actions and policies that cities can adopt to address different aspects of the polycrisis? 
• What does the polycrisis mean for the future of the city – politically, socially, economically, culturally?
• How does the polycrisis impact every day urban life and lived experiences in the city?

All are welcome to attend – please RSVP here. 

On February 27, 10-11:30am, CITY and Robarts will also hold a panel discussion on What is ‘public’ about public transportation? The question of accessibility. In this panel, researchers from different disciplines whose work is grounded in questions of dis/ability share some of their research and thoughts on how we should frame and explore accessibility in public transportation as a question of urban politics. Speakers include Ron Buliung, Geography, University of Toronto; Mahtot Gebresselassie, EUC, York University; Aimi Hamraie, Social Science, York University with commentary from James Perttula, Director of Transportation Planning, City of Toronto. This event is organized by the CIVIS research cluster at the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and co-sponsored by the CITY Institute. Register here.

On Friday, February 27, 8:30am-12:30pm, come and attend a free, half-day, in-person symposium on Energy Modelling Hub (EMH) Toronto Energy Modelling Exchange followed by a networking lunch, at the Schulich Executive Learning Centre at York University. The event will focus on assessing energy and electricity modelling capacities and needs in Ontario in an environment of growing uncertainty. The program features two moderated panels: the first examines modelling practices, needs, and challenges within Ontario’s energy agencies, utilities, and planning institutions; the second highlights modelling work from post-secondary institutions and civil society and explores how independent analysis can complement official planning processes. The symposium will bring together system planners, policymakers, utilities, academics, and independent analysts for a focused exchange on how modelling capacity in Ontario can evolve to better support future decision-making.

Also on Friday, February 27 at 305 York Lanes, The Global Resource Research Centre (GLRC) will hold a graduate symposium Centering Migrant Women’s Voices in Research and Resistance. GLRC invites migrant women, gender-marginalized migrant students and researchers (undergraduate, MA, PhD, and recent graduates, and postdocs) to centre their own stories, theories, and resistance practices in a decolonial conversational space. The aim is to refute claims and images of victimization of these voices and underscore the power and strength in lived experiences. The symposium will conclude with a special hands‑on workshop led by Professor Soma Chatterjee, drawing from her forthcoming book Skills to Build the Nation. Immigrant Labour Market and Canadian Nationalism. From Thesis to Book: A Practical Guide for Emerging Scholars offers an accessible, demystifying look at how graduate students and early‑career researchers can transform a thesis into a publishable monograph.  

EUC’s winter research seminar kicked off this February with a talk on More-than-Human Curation with Isla Gladstone, EUC professor Lisa Myers, and Alice Would as they explored the curatorial worlds with animals and plants. The talk is part of the More-than-Human/ities: Interdisciplinary Collaborations, Multiagential Worlds seminar series, a joint venture organized by Professor Cate Sandilands and Andy Flack from the University of Bristol’s Centre for Environmental Humanities. The series of events highlight new arts and humanities research that consider diverse forms of life and nonlife as collectively shaping past, present, and future worlds. The next seminar on March 4 will be held on Thinking the more-than-human through materials featuring Cole Swanson, Milo Newman and Sam Le Butt. Please join us as they explore the interdisciplinary practices of creative, more-than human materiality. Here is the registration link to join the webinar. Everyone welcome!

On Thursday, March 5 from10am-2pm at the Osgoode Hall Helliwell Centre, the Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic at Osgoode Hall Law School will hold a Student Research Symposium with land defenders from Neskantaga First Nation on the topic “What’s Actually Happening in the Ring of Fire? This symposium of student research and land defender presentations will provide some ground-truthing. The event will put forward cutting-edge research to make sense of the rapidly changing regulatory landscape across the Indigenous homelands of Treaty No.9. It will consider the environmental and impact assessments for the Ring of Fire roads, the ongoing Regional Assessment, the likelihood and consequences of a possible designation of the Ring of Fire as a Project in the National Interest (PONI) or a “Special Economic Zone” (SEZ), and the wide sweeping impacts on both Indigenous self-determination and democratic rights of the onslaught of “fast-tracking” legislation. Leaders and community members from Neskantaga First Nation will describe the Here We Stand camp they have set up on the Attawapiskat River, at the proposed crossing site for the mining road, their ongoing land defence actions, and will participate in a Q&A session.

On Wednesday, March 18, 12:30-4:30pm at HNES Lounge, the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change’s (EUC) Research Office is excited to announce the first Undergraduate Research Fair where our EUC students will be sharing their original research. Every year, EUC undergraduate students are participating in research through their Honours Thesis, Environmental and Urban Change Undergraduate Research Awards, and Dean’s Changemaker projects. We want to showcase and celebrate these accomplishments through an event where students can gain experience in postering and present their work to their peers, faculty members and our campus community. RSVP here. Deadline to RSVP is March 11.

The Palestine Research Cluster at York University is pleased to invite graduate students and faculty members from across disciplines to participate in Palestine in Focus: Interdisciplinary Research at York University, to be held Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at York University (Toronto, Ontario). This symposium is conceived as a collaborative, conversation-driven research space. Its purpose is to bring together scholars working on Palestine, or on issues directly related to Palestine, in order to share work, exchange ideas, and collectively deepen ongoing research through sustained dialogue and feedback. Participants do not need to have a completed paper; works-in-progress are strongly encouraged, including research statements and/or proposals. Interested participants should submit a brief abstract or project description (approx. 150-250 words) and a short statement indicating the stage of the project and what kind of feedback would be most useful (approx. 250 words). Submissions should be made via this link: PRC Symposium Registration Form by March 1 and drafts of accepted submissions by April 1, 2026. For questions or further information, please contact the Palestine Research Cluster at: prcsymposium2026@gmail.com.

Recent Events

On January 30, 2026, in an effort to build a community between geography graduate students at York University and University of Toronto, EUC PhD candidate Romeo Quintero and Wiley Sharp (MES, now PhD candidate at UofT) organized a graduate conference on urban, environmental, social, and political geography. The event held at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE/UofT) involved a brilliant slate of panelists who also discussed the possibilities and challenges of scholar-activism and solidarity with Palestine.

EUC also hosted on February 6 a Canadian Southeast Asian Studies Initiative (CSEASI) Research Colloquium, in partnership with the York Centre for Asian Research, that featured Professor Maria Victoria Espaldon (University of the Philippines Los Baños) who talked about “Empowering Filipino Farmers: Reinvigorating Agriculture in the Philippines through Digital Tools.”

Espaldon highlighted the SARAI (Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry) project, an initiative developed over more than a decade to support smallholder farmers facing climate risks such as typhoons, flooding, and drought. She showed how remote sensing, automated weather stations, crop modelling, and mobile applications translate complex environmental data into practical farm advisories, helping farmers decide when and where to plant, what to plant, and how to manage pests, irrigation, and weather uncertainty, while emphasizing the importance of training, local government partnerships, and policy support to scale these tools and keep them accessible.

EUC held a Mega Student Resource Fair on February 11 that brought together student clubs, health and wellness as well as financial support services, co-op office, research labs and experiential education community partners.

The event offered insights into the many resources and involvement opportunities that students may not be aware of and provided an avenue for students to come learn about the many university resources, clubs, and other engagement opportunities that are available to support them towards their career success.

On February 23, a panel discussion on Growing Black Food Sovereignty in Toronto was held with Nicole Jacobs, MES student and Farmers Market Manager at Dufferin Grove Farmers Market, Aaron Joseph, MES student, Charlyn Ellis, MES student and Director of Ecological Stewardship and Gardening at Let’s Bee Connected Foundation moderated by EUC Professor Martha Stiegman. The discussion covered urban agriculture, community gardens, and sustainable, culturally appropriate food systems as well as explored community-led initiatives, such as the Black Food Sovereignty Plan, that addresses food insecurity in Toronto. The event highlighted the crucial role of academic-community partnerships in advancing food justice. 

EUC in the Media

Gail Fraser was quoted in a Toronto City News article on “Rare European robin spotted in Montreal draws crowds from across Canada”. The article reports on an unprecedented bird sighting that has captivated birdwatchers nationwide. Fraser explains that “while there is no definitive explanation for how the European robin, a species common in Europe that never before documented in Canada ended up in Montreal, one plausible possibility is that strong storms can displace birds far outside their normal range”. She also notes that the robin’s versatile diet may help it survive the unusually harsh Canadian winter conditions it currently faces.

Bennet Toman (MES Student) was featured in an Environment Journal article titled “Greening the Games: Canada’s sporting landscape on thin ice”. The article examines how climate change and sustainability pressures are reshaping winter sports and mega-sporting events in Canada and globally. Toman outlines efforts to make the 2026 Winter Olympics a model for lower-carbon delivery through renewable energy, venue reuse, and waste reduction, while noting that Canada’s sporting sector remains fragmented in its sustainability response. Drawing on his experience as a former national and international figure skater and his master’s research in sport ecology, Toman argues that athletes can be powerful leaders in advancing climate action within sport.

Peter Victor was cited in The Guardian article titled Economic growth is still heating the planet. Is there any way out? highlighting that rising GDP continues to mean more carbon emissions and wider damage to the planet. He was also cited in a Global Landscapes Forum titled The decoupling debate: Can we keep growing on a finite planet? In January, during an international conference on Beyond GDP in Geneva, UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ urged a shift “beyond GDP” to measure progress, warning that relying on GDP drives environmental and social destruction. In line with Guterres’ critique as well as with his book, Escape from Overshoot: Economics for a Planet in Peril (2023), Victor argues that the focus of measurement must shift from economic value to human wellbeing and physical impact on the planet. The article provides a good overview of the competing positions on whether economic growth is compatible with resolving climate change.

Brian Wilkes (MES Alumnus) wrote an article titled A Reminder on the Impact That Nature Clubs Can Have in BC Nature Magazine recalling the work done by former FES professor John Livingston. In the book titled The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation (1981), Livingston made a persuasive argument that unless new approaches are found to people’s perception of nature and their place within it, it will soon be impossible to reverse the destruction man is inflicting on nature. Refreshing his memory and thoughts on this concern, Wilkes reiterated the need to get Livingston’s central message be heard again by naturalists. While noting that it is more of a struggle than ever to find younger members of nature clubs and to generate the commitment to accomplish significant results on the matter, he expressed hopes that as long as nature clubs lobby for wetland protection, to protect old growth, to expand the bluebird nesting box network; when they conduct the Christmas Bird Counts or help with bird banding; when they undertake bioblitzes or take the public on nature walks, they are helping meet the challenge laid out 1981 by John Livingston.

Mark Winfield was quoted in The Energy Mix article “Encore: Critics Slam Cost of Ontario SMR Plan, Question Dependence on U.S. Uranium”, which revisits criticism of Ontario’s plan to build four small modular nuclear reactors at the Darlington site.

The article focuses on the project’s high costs compared to wind and solar, uncertainty over who will ultimately pay, and risks tied to relying on enriched uranium from the United States. Winfield, co-chair of the Sustainable Energy Initiative at York University, warns that the plan could raise electricity rates and represents a major economic and technological gamble that has not received sufficient public or environmental scrutiny.