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Episode 18 features Baljit Sangra, a Vancouver-based documentarian and filmmaker. Baljit's latest documentary, "Because We Are Girls", is a powerful film that follows three Indo-Canadian sisters from Williams Lake, BC, who experienced sexual abuse by an older relative in their childhood years. Through an empathetic lens, Baljit shows the sisters’ laughs and struggles, as they seek to break the cycle of abuse and redress the wrongs within their family. Am Johal and Maria Cecilia Saba talk to Baljit about her approach to a complex story in a way that highlights her heroines’ humanity and the power of true sisterhood. Read more about "Because We Are Girls" here: vivamantra.ca/

Tim Louis is a practicing lawyer who has been actively involved in Vancouver civic politics for over forty years. Tim has lived and worked in Vancouver all his adult life. From his early days as a law student at UBC – during which time he co-founded Vancouver’s custom transit service for people with disabilities [HandyDART], through to his terms as an elected official on both Park Board and City Council, Tim has listened to, and advocated on behalf of, communities across Vancouver. Penny Parry was born in Montreal and moved to BC in the late 1970’s. She has worked as a university professor, psychologist and artist, among other things. She is a former Child and Youth Advocate for the City of Vancouver. Pennyhas a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and a BA and PhD in psychology.

Critical theorist Alberto Toscano joins Am Johal in conversation about his work and writings, as he joins SFU as a visiting faculty member with the Digital Democracies Institute in SFU’s School of Communication. In this episode, they discuss Alberto’s writing on the philosophy of fanaticism, and conflicting discourse and counter-histories around the figure of the fanatic, which historically takes many forms, from abolitionist leaders to peasant revolutionaries. Alberto and Am also dive into global and historical trends of authoritarianism, racial capitalism and the notion of ‘late fascism.’ Alberto speaks to expanding our concept of fascism, to recognize iterations outside of what could be thought of as European fascism. They also talk about neoliberal tendencies in post-secondary administration, and the workings of mechanisms that maintain or fortify power structures within institutions.

We present optically-derived estimates of phytoplankton carbon (Cphyto) and chlorophyll a concentration (Chl) across a wide range of productivity and hydrographic regimes in the Subarctic Pacific Ocean. Our high-frequency measurements capture changes in Cphyto and Chl across regional gradients in macro- and micronutrient limitation, and sub-mesoscale hydrographic frontal zones. Throughout the majority of our survey region, carbon to chlorophyll ratios (Cphyto:Chl) ranged between 50-100. Lower values (10-20) were constrained to the highly productive coastal upwelling system along Vancouver Island, whereas higher estimated values (>200) were found directly off the southern British Columbia continental shelf. Further offshore, Cphyto:Chl was less variable, ranging from 50-80 in high nutrient low Chl (HNLC) waters in June, and from 80-120 in the Gulf of Alaska in July. Much of the variability in Cphyto:Chl throughout the study region could be explained by mixed layer light levels (i.e. photo-acclimation), with additional variability attributed to nutrient-controlled changes in phytoplankton growth rates in some regions. Elevated Cphyto:Chl ratios resulting from apparent nutrient stress were found in areas of low macro-nutrient concentrations. In contrast, iron-limited waters exhibited Cphyto:Chl ratios lower than predicted from the photo-acclimation model. Applying the Carbon-based production model, we derived Cphyto and Chl-based estimates of net primary productivity, which showed good coherence with independent 14C uptake measurements. Our results highlight the utility of ship-board optical data to examine phytoplankton physiological ecology and productivity in surface marine waters. Supplement to: Burt, William J; Westberry, Toby K; Behrenfeld, Michael J; Zeng, Chen; Izett, Robert W; Tortell, Philippe Daniel (2018): Carbon : Chlorophyll ratios and net primary productivity of Subarctic Pacific surface waters derived from autonomous shipboard sensors. Global Biogeochemical Cycles

This is a basic reproduction package for the paper "The variable radio counterpart of Swift J1858.6-0814" by J. van den Eijnden et al. (2020). It aims to provide the data products underlying the figures in the paper, report where the analyzed observations can be accessed, and list the software used to perform the analysis. An open access version of the paper can be found at https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.06425.

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal sits down with Dan Adleman, an Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Toronto. He has also previously taught at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design. Dan received his PhD from the University of British Columbia in 2016, in his dissertation he explores new-rhetorical approaches to American fiction grappling with the emergence of a new media environment at the turn of the millennium. Alongside Am Johal, he is the co-founder of Vancouver Institute for Social Research, a non-profit graduate-level critical theory free school run out of the Or Gallery since 2013.

Squamish Nation Councillor and community leader Khelsilem joins Am Johal on this first episode of Below the Radar’s Climate Justice & Inequality series. In this episode, they discuss the climate crisis as a result of the colonial project, how climate change hits hardest for those already at a disadvantage, and the spaces where colonialism has existed within climate movements. Khelsilem speaks to his critique of fossil fuel infrastructure, the false narrative of individual responsibility, and the role governments play in worsening the crisis through policy decisions that favour oil and gas. We also hear about innovative affordable housing projects, such as Squamish Nation’s Sen̓áḵw Development, and how to build climate-friendly design into new housing models.

Understanding the causes and consequences of population phenotypic divergence is a central goal in ecology and evolution. Phenotypic divergence among populations can result from genetic divergence, phenotypic plasticity or a combination of the two. However, few studies have deciphered these mechanisms for populations geographically close and connected by gene flow, especially in the case of personality traits. In this study, we used a common garden experiment to explore the genetic basis of the phenotypic divergence observed between two blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) populations inhabiting contrasting habitats separated by 25 km, for two personality traits (exploration speed and handling aggression), one physiological trait (heart rate during restraint) and two morphological traits (tarsus length and body mass). Blue tit nestlings were removed from their population and raised in a common garden for up to five years. We then compared adult phenotypes between the two populations, as well as trait-specific Qst and Fst . Our results revealed differences between populations similar to those found in the wild, suggesting a genetic divergence for all traits. Qst - Fst comparisons revealed that the traits divergences likely result from dissimilar selection patterns rather than from genetic drift. Our study is one of the first to report a Qst - Fst comparison for personality traits and adds to the growing body of evidence that population genetic divergence is possible at a small scale for a variety of traits including behavioural traits. Data filesArchive.zip

1.The question of when to monitor and when to act is fundamental to applied ecology, and notoriously difficult to answer. Value of information (VOI) theory holds great promise to help answer this question for many management problems. However, VOI theory in applied ecology has only been demonstrated in single-decision problems, and has lacked explicit links between monitoring and management costs. 2.Here, we present an extension of VOI theory for solving multi-unit decisions of whether to monitor before managing, while explicitly accounting for monitoring costs. Our formulation helps to choose the optimal monitoring/management strategy among groups of management units (e.g. species, habitat patches), and can be used to examine the benefits of partial and repeat monitoring. 3.To demonstrate our approach, we use case simulated studies of single-species protection that must choose among potential habitat areas, and classification and management of multiple species threatened with extinction. We provide spreadsheets and code to illustrate the calculations and facilitate application. Our case studies demonstrate the utility of predicting the number of units with a given outcome for problems with probabilities of discrete states, and the efficiency of having a flexible approach to manage according to monitoring outcomes. 4.Synthesis and applications. The decision to act or gather more information can have serious consequences for management. No decision, including the decision to monitor, is risk-free. Our multi-unit expansion of Value of Information (VOI) theory can reduce the risk in monitoring/acting decisions for many applied ecology problems. While our approach cannot account for the potential value of discovering previously unknown threats or ecological processes via monitoring programs, it can provide quantitative guidance on whether to monitor before acting, and which monitoring/management actions are most likely to meet management objectives. Multi-unit VOI functionsCode to simulate and analyze data for multi-unit value of information (VOI) problems in Bennett et al. (J. Appl. Ecol.)voi functions multi unit.txt

This study was a cross-sectional, web-based survey of Ontario paramedics that measured perceptions, support, interest, and training in Community Paramedicine (CP). Paramedics view multiple functions within the Community Paramedic role and are very supportive and interested in Community Paramedicine.