Dr. Gabor Sass takes Science Rendezvous on a fascinating journey into sustainability.
Fascinated by ecological systems and how they work, my research has been largely focused on the idea of connectivity and flow. Up until a few years ago, this meant mapping the flow of water and the nutrients, and figuring out how they give life to receiving bodies of water in boreal and agricultural landscapes of Canada’s prairie provinces.
However I would like to tell you about an entirely new direction in my career, grounded in my passion for urban sustainability. It is off the traditional research path. In fact, I am not following a formal research agenda and I am not filling the shoes of the reserved, objective scientist, standing outside the system they are observing. I have immersed myself in my community in London, Ontario and together with some neighbours and friends we have posed the question: Can we turn, or rather, how do we turn an entire city into a pollinator sanctuary?
Headlines now declare declining pollinator health and some exciting new research is pointing to cities as being promising places of sanctuary for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. In fact, there are already many excellent organizations promoting and advocating for the benefits of creating pollinator gardens and habitats in urban areas. Our group, the Pollinator Pathways Project, has taken this work a step further and expanded habitat creation in urban areas to incorporate the concept of connectivity. We are focused at the ecosystem level, fostering the creation of strings of gardens to form pollinator pathways so pollinators can find food, shelter and mates.
Urban pollinator pathways are not an original concept, but our approach is unique. We not only focus on just the ecological outcome, where urban landscapes are connected through mostly stepping stone pollinator gardens and meadows, but also the social conditions necessary to achieve this by giving people agency to create the gardens. We connect people to useful information, such as how to plant a garden, but more importantly, we connect them to each other and foster a mentality that we are all in this network together. Now, our network is growing with individual gardeners and organizations that care about pollinators. And lately businesses are reaching out to us too.
The idea of pathway thinking is spreading and certainly not just because of our work. What about in your neighbourhood and in your city? Can you see yourself planting a small patch of native flowers for supporting pollinators? And if you have achieved that, can you share the idea with your neighbours? We have so much potential in Canadian cities as millions of hectares of urban land is dedicated to pollinator unfriendly lawns. What if we converted a portion of that acreage to pollinator friendly yards and meadows?
Pollinators have led me to a brand new and very exciting path, a personal pollinator pathway of sorts. I am cross-pollinating scientific ideas like connectivity and networked approaches to ecosystem management and sustainability action on the ground. It has not only strengthened my connection to my community but further heightened my passion for science.
Make sure to celebrate sustainability and your passion for science at Science Rendezvous next year on May 8, 2021 with our theme of STEAM Green! The University of Western Ontario is a proud Science Rendezvous partner. They have provided brilliant activities in their last events, from coding to prehistoric paint, and from Chemistry experiences with dry ice and liquid nitrogen to discoveries about space. Not to mention, their firework display and Phantastic Physics Stage Show, along with the science chase where participants can win prizes, are sure to amaze.
