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Background: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among farmers is greater than non-farming populations. The burden on Canadian farmers is unknown, however. Research is required to determine the occurrence of these conditions and the work-related tasks that contribute to musculoskeletal pain in prevalent anatomical sites. Objectives: The objectives of the two studies comprising this thesis were to 1) describe the sample population of Saskatchewan farmers and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, and, 2) explore the strength of associations between biomechanical exposures and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Methods: Objective 1. Participants received a mail-out survey for the Saskatchewan Farm Injury Cohort. Study outcomes were self-reports of musculoskeletal disorders characterized by presence and severity of musculoskeletal pain in nine anatomical regions. Objective 2. A cross-sectional analysis of the experience of musculoskeletal pain in relation to four main biomechanical work exposures was performed. Relationships were determined by modeling the exposures separately using modified Poisson regression. Results: Objective 1. A strong majority of participants (82.2%) reported having musculoskeletal pain in at least one body part over the past year. The lower back was the anatomical site most frequently affected (57.7%), followed by the shoulders (44.0%). Objective 2. Results suggest that all biomechanical exposures had a dose-response effect on musculoskeletal outcomes. Shovel or pitchfork use was strongest for lower back pain, while working with arms above head was the greatest risk factor for shoulder pain. Conclusions: Objective 1. Our study suggests that Canadian farmers also experience musculoskeletal pain most frequently in the lower back and shoulders, similar to those in other regions and commodity types. It also found that all farm people are at risk for musculoskeletal disorders, highlighting the need to target all subgroups and commodity types equally. Objective 2. Strong associations between increased biomechanical exposures and pain in the lower back and shoulders support the evidence that these regions are susceptible to the physical exposures of farm work.

The phenology and productivity of temperate forests has changed across eastern North America in recent decades. However, these changes have varied spatially and temporally. And, while climate change has been an important cause of these changes in forest growth, the precise influence of climate remains unclear. This thesis presents the results of research which 1) tested for forest growth trends that could indicate that forest growth has changed in response to environmental stressors; and 2) assessed climate-growth relationships for different forest growth processes (phenology and productivity). Analysis was conducted at a regional scale within the Algonquin-to-Adirondacks (A2A) corridor, and at a sub-regional scale within the four geoclimatologically distinct ecoregions of A2A (Algonquin Highlands, Frontenac Arch, St. Lawrence Lowlands & Adirondack Mountains). We conducted two studies using different, but complimentary, methodologies. In the first study we used dendrochronology to study the growth of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) over a century (1912-2011). We found that sugar maple ring-widths declined recently in the Algonquin Highlands (- 46 mm2/year, 1993-2011) and Adirondack Mountains (- 33 mm2/year, 1991-2011), but that climate-growth relationships with temperature, precipitation and the SPEI drought index were limited (response function coefficients of ± 0.3). In the second study we used remote-sensing to study forest landscapes (i.e., pixels) over 26 years (1989-2014). We found that statistically significant (p 80 %), and accumulated heating (> 4 0C) and chilling (< 20 0C) temperatures were the most important climatic variables for driving forest growth. Understanding climate-growth relationships for temperate forests in A2A will improve understandings of how forests have already responded to climate change, and will contribute to our capacity to predict how they may respond to future climate change.

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) developed in Madagascar by French Jesuit and agricultural scientist Fr. Henri de Laulanie in the 1980s has since been propagated to over 50 countries worldwide. By transplanting younger seedlings, increasing the spacing between individual plants, irrigating intermittently and consistently aerating the soil, SRI promises to increase global rice production to twice the 3.7 t/ha currently experienced (Uphoff, 2003). Notwithstanding regional variance (Uphoff, 2003) and contestation of the results (Sheehy et al., 2005), SRI advocates in various countries posit SRI as an agro-ecological innovation that is an alternative to top-down, input-intensive agriculture, yet can greatly expand yields and farm incomes. These properties are argued to be particularly important in a world of rising temperatures and increased demand for foodstuffs. In projecting SRI as a singular solution to current and future constraints upon rice production, however, little attention has been given to its translation and embedding within diverse socio-ecological settings. Given that socio-ecological and political climates vary greatly from region to region, my broad research question uses political agronomy as a theoretical framework to ask: what social realities are silenced in order to craft a narrative in which SRI can become a universal driver of agricultural development? Through ten weeks of participatory observation and interviews with farmers, NGO representatives, researchers and extension officers directly involved in SRI in two districts in Nepal’s Terai, (Chitwan and Morang), I was able to observe how SRI is enacted in unique settings. The aim of this project was to understand how SRI practices are institutionalized on the ground and whether broad characteristics lead specific types of farmers to gravitate towards, or be selected for, the adoption of SRI (such as land holdings or access to water and institutional channels such as bank credit and agricultural extension). In asking these questions, this research aims to more adequately assess SRI's suitability as a global agricultural innovation.

Lesson 1: (p.1-11) The History of Canadian Hockey and its Reflection of Canadian Nationalism and Identity. (Students will develop an understanding of the relationship between monumental historical hockey events and the greater Nationalistic representation reflected at the time: politics, culture, war, public image, etc. In addition, students will review the consequences for excessive nationalism through hockey and how it reflects a challenge of identity for those who don't connect with hockey. ) Lesson 2: (p.12- 39) The Canadian History of Immigration Policies (Students will develop an understanding of the hardships immigrants have faced in Canadian policy, and still face today. The lesson will guide students in creating connections between past political policies and how they have evolved over time.) Lesson 3: (p.40-47) Canada and the Over-Exploitation of Resources (Students will reflect on the current environmental crisis of the Albertan tar-sands. In addition, students should compare this contemporary issue with the history of excessive resource exploitations of the timber industries and will develop skills in understanding a limited resource industry.) Lesson 4: (p.48- 63The Alberta Pipeline: A Link to Exploring First Nations Treaties and Land Rights- Past and Present. (Students will learn about the proposed Albertan Pipeline and its link to First Nations Peoples. This will provide a point of departure for discussing historic treaties, the Indian Act, and other current comprehensive and specific land claim issues arising in Canada. Students will consider the ethical dimension of appropriation of First Nations land and will explore the consequences of that past in relation to the proposed Albertan pipeline of today.) Lesson 5: (p. 64-91) Exploring the Changing Gender and Parental Roles as Represented in the Media since World War I (Students will gain an understanding of modern day gender/parental roles by exploring the continuity and change as represented in media sources since WWI.) Lesson 6: (p. 92-105) Understanding Canada’s Military Involvement against ISIS through Exploring Canada’s Past Military Roles. (Students will explore Canada’s combat and peacekeeping heritage since WW1 and will examine the current state of the Canadian military and how it has responded to budget cuts over the years. This historical perspective will give students a better understanding of the role Canada is currently able to play in international conflicts and students will engage in a debate over the future direction of Canada’s military.

Maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy can induce a range of behavioral and cognitive deficits in offspring, which are collectively termed Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). There are significant delays in motor development and sensory-motor skills in children with FASD, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of these deficits are poorly understood. The goal of this research project is to test the hypothesis that the Kinesiological Instrument for Normal and Altered Reaching Movements (KINARM) will serve as an effective tool for identifying and measuring specific, neurologically-based motor deficits in children with FASD. These deficits were revealed through investigation of multi-joint upper limb movements during the performance of sensory-motor tasks. Children (31 FASD; 83 controls, aged 5 to 18 years, male and female) performed: (1) a visually-guided reaching task with fingertip feedback only; and children (31 FASD; 49 controls, aged 5 to 18 years, male and female) performed: (2) an arm position-matching task in the absence of visual feedback. Children with FASD differed significantly from controls in many reaching task outcome measures, specifically those related to the initial motor response and corrective responses. In particular, large effect sizes were observed for outcome measures related to the first (initial) movement (corresponding to feedforward control; e.g., direction error; distance error), as well as for those measures related to corrective responses (corresponding to feedback control; e.g., difference between minimum and maximum hand speeds; number of speed peaks during movement). In the position-matching task, children with FASD constricted the spatial workspace of the subject-controlled arm relative to the robot-controlled arm, in the horizontal axis. There was also observed a systematic shift between the subject- and robot-controlled arms in the XY end position, resulting in significant error. Additionally, children with FASD exhibited significantly increased trial-to-trial variability for final hand position of the subject-controlled arm, over all targets, and for which large effect sizes were observed. The results suggest that children with FASD have difficulty integrating sensory information into planned motor movements. The KINARM is a promising research tool that may be used to assess motor control deficits in children affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol.

This dissertation examines a process of indigenous accumulation among Tonga farmers in Zambia’s Southern Province. In the 1970s multiple authors concluded that capitalist farmers had emerged among Tonga agro-pastoralists, predominantly within private titled holdings. Relying on archival research, newspapers, secondary sources and extensive oral testimony this thesis fills a 35-year gap on the topic, providing insights into the social and environmental impacts of neoliberal policy among African peasants and capitalist farmers. In contrast to dominant narratives of the post-independence period, this study argues that Zambia did experience a developmental process post-independence, which saw significant achievements made in the agricultural sector, including the doubling of national cattle stocks. The data reveals a painful process of disarticulation beginning in the late 1980s. Following neoliberal adjustment, we observe significant heterogeneity in production systems, some regional specialization, and processes of migration. Most importantly, the thesis uncovers processes of overwhelming ecosystemic change that contributed to livestock epidemics of severe scale and scope. Amazingly, this went largely undocumented because of the simultaneous crisis of the state, which left the national statistics office and other state bodies incapable of functioning from the late 1980s into the 2000s. In response, the Zambian state has introduced a number of neodevelopmental initiatives in the sector, yet the lack of animal traction remained up to 2008 and agricultural production declined, while more capitalized farmers (largely white, and/or with foreign direct investment) have become more significant players in the country. This thesis provides compelling evidence to challenge dominant economic thinking of the Washington institutions as well as many of the common Marxian formulations.

By selectively foraging palatable “browse-preferred” (BP) species and not selecting unpalatable “browse-avoided” (BA) species, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can facilitate an increase in the relative abundance of BA species in temperate forests. This change in community structure can persist after the removal of browsing pressure if BA species competitively suppress the regeneration of BP species. This dynamic is thought to occur in intensively managed northern hardwood forests with high deer densities, where high density BA sedge (Carex pensylvanica) mats may suppress the regeneration of tree seedlings through competition for belowground resources. I examined if and how this suppression may be occurring in an unmanaged forest with low to moderate deer densities. C. pensylvanica was removed to investigate its impact on (i) the growth of BP sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and BA ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) seedlings at two sites over the 2012 growing season, and (ii) on the availability of soil moisture and nutrients (nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate). In addition, long-term deer exclosure plots were used to examine the relationship between the relative abundance of C. pensylvanica, the availability of these resources, and deer presence. Sedge removal had no impact on the aboveground growth of either seedling species, or on soil nutrients, but was associated with lower soil moisture at the driest site. In the exclosure experiment, sedge abundance was not correlated with the abundance of tree seedlings, but was positively correlated to soil moisture across all plots, and negatively correlated to NH4-N and NO3-N in deer absent plots only. Sedge abundance was positively correlated to forb vegetation abundance in deer present plots, and negatively correlated to its abundance in deer absent plots. In summary, these findings indicate that while sedge presence may not affect tree seedling growth at these sites, it does alter the availability of soil resources and impact other important components of the plant community. Sedge mats may thus profoundly influence ecosystem processes and forest composition.

The estimation or modeling of biophysical variables such as surface roughness, vegetation phytomass, and soil moisture in the Arctic is an important step towards understanding arctic energy fluxes, effects of changing climate, and hydrological patterns. This research uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, along with ancillary optical and environmental data, to create models that estimate these biophysical variables across different High Arctic landscapes, with the goal of applying the models across even larger areas. Field work was conducted at two High Arctic locations on Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada. At each location, surface roughness values were measured at a number of randomized plot locations using a pin meter. Soil moisture values were measured using a time domain reflectometry (TDR) instrument within six hours of multiple overpasses of the RADARSAT-2 SAR sensor. Surface roughness models were generated with multi-incidence angle and fully polarimetric SAR data, with resulting R2 values ranging between 0.39 and 0.66, and normalized root mean squared error (N_RMSE) values of 14% - 22%. The output from the final surface roughness model was used as an input to the soil moisture models. Vegetation phytomass was modeled with multi-angular SAR data, using a soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) derived from optical data across the study area as a measure of verification. The resulting model had a significant (p <0.05) relationship to the SAVI values, with an R2 of 0.60. This model was then compared to field-collected above-ground phytomass values, and a model was derived that related SAR data directly to phytomass. This model again showed a strong relationship, with an R2 value of 0.87. The final biophysical variable that was modeled, soil moisture, showed moderate agreement to field-measured soil moisture values (R2 = 0.46, N_RMSE = 0.15%), but much stronger relationships were found for relative moisture values at fine scales across the landscape. These models, when taken together, demonstrate that SAR data is capable of modeling biophysical variables across high latitude environments. These models will help address larger questions, such as how SAR can be used to better understand moisture and energy exchanges over regional areas in high arctic environments.

The purpose of this report is to explore how agriculture easements can be used in Ontario's Greenbelt as a collaborative planning tool by the Provincial government to increase the economic viability of farming operations located in the Greenbelt. The primary objective of this report is to address the research question: How can an agriculture easement program that is complemented with financial incentives and tax credits increase the economic viability and sustainability of Greenbelt farming operations? The secondary objective of this report is to develop a set of policy recommendations to address the challenges that Ontario's agriculture sector faces.

The growing public interest in local, organic food production and concern around environmental degradation has turned proximity to small-scale, organic farms into a value-adding amenity for residential development. As a result, agriculture-suburbs (or agriburbs) have emerged which incorporate residential, natural open space, and agricultural land uses in suburban development. These developments have been introduced into housing markets in the United States of America since the 1990s and more recently in Canada. The Greater Golden Horseshoe region in southern Ontario, Canada, contains a large amount of valuable agricultural land as well as intense growth pressure from its urban centres. The goal of agriburban developments, to balance conservation and development, is echoed in the provincial and regional policies that govern land use planning in this region. This research examined previous case studies of agriburbs and reviewed land use policies for the Greater Golden Horseshoe to consider the implications of agriburban development for planning sustainable communities in this region. Conventional suburban development and new urbanist suburban development were also examined for comparison. An existing framework of sustainability assessment criteria was used to compare agriburban development with conventional and new urbanist suburbs. In parallel to this comparison, an inductive analysis was conducted of the Provincial Policy Statement, the Greenbelt Plan, and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The findings of this research indicate that none of the three approaches are completely effective at providing an appropriate mix and range of housing. Additionally, the benefits offered to residents by new urbanist neighbourhoods are perceived by the general public to be outweighed by the detriments of higher density. The result is that the majority of homebuyers prefer conventional suburbs. Finally, this research indicates that the dual objective of conservation and development is self-contradictory at the site-level and is more effectively addressed at the regional level described in the provincial and regional land use policies. These policies require that planning matters related to population growth, natural heritage and resources, and housing to be approached in a coordinated and integrated manner. Agriburbs produce inefficient development while impacting a greater amount of land and resources than other suburban developments. This approach does not support the policy objectives of developing sustainable communities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. However, there may be specific locations along the fringe of agricultural land preserves where the implementation of agriburbs could reduce land use conflicts between intense residential development and large-scale agriculture operations. Areas for future research include site-specific policies for the appropriate application of agriburbs, incentives for suburban developers to incorporate affordable housing, and education to address the contradictory desires of homebuyers and to increase the desirability of new urbanist suburbs.