about the group
The Climate Change Adaptation Research Group is based in the department of geography at McGill University. Led by Dr James Ford, the group’s research takes place at the interface between science and policy, with a strong focus on adaptation to the health effects of climate change among Indigenous populations, stakeholder engagement for adaptation planning, novel approaches for tracking adaptation at global to regional levels, and knowledge synthesis.
Dr. James Ford
Dr. James D. Ford is an assistant professor in geography at McGill University. He works with Indigenous communities on climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning, and received a Young Innovator Award from the Canadian government for his innovative community based research. A contributing author to the IPCC fourth assessment report, he currently has projects underway with Inuit communities in Canada, and is co-lead on the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC) project – a 5 year, $2.5m initiative working with Indigenous communities in the Arctic, Peru and Uganda, to develop sustainable adaptations to reduce climate change related health vulnerabilities. His research is also developing novel approaches to track climate change adaptation at global and regional levels, and developing systematic reviews in an environmental change context. He is currently an editor at Regional Environmental Change, and has published widely in leading journals including Global Environmental Change, American Journal of Public Health, Climatic Change, Environmental Research Letters, and Human Ecology, among others. Prior to joining McGill he completed his PhD in Geography at the University of Guelph, and holds an MSc in Environmental Change and BA in Geography from Oxford.
Current Lab Members
Former Lab Members
Maude BeaumierEmail
I am a student at McGill University, where I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Geography. I previously earned a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science with Honours from McGill. My research interests are focused on the human dimensions of climate change, more specifically looking at the adaptive capacity of vulnerable populations. My thesis examined the determinants of food insecurity among Inuit women in Arviat, Nunavut: the role of climate change and multiple socio-economic stresses. I have worked for Dr. Ford since the summer 2008 on different projects looking at climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Arctic regions. For these projects, I have conducted numerous interviews and focus groups with Inuit, health and educational professionals, researchers, and government representatives. Working in the Arctic and experiencing Inuit day to day life, I became aware of the pressing need to improve awareness about the impacts of climate change.
Marie-Pierre LardeauEmail
Marie-Pierre Lardeau holds a joint Masters degree in Human Nutrition and Parasitology from McGill University (2009). Her thesis examined, through a cross-sectional study, how the intake of coffee by indigenous Panamanian pre-schoolers was a contributor to poor growth and anemia in these children and their mothers. Her main research interests focus on understanding the determinants of health of vulnerable populations, which has led her to work in Central America and the Canadian Arctic. She is currently working on a project in the Canadian Arctic, working in various Inuit regional centers to understand urban food insecurity in the context of climate change. The project uses participatory research methods and focusses on marginalized populations who are relying on food banks and soup kitchens, which are relatively new approaches to alleviate food insecurity in the Canadian Arctic. She will also be working on the IHACC project, by advising on research design and methodology for the Peruvian case study. She is fluent in French, English and Spanish.
Will VanderbiltPersonal Website
Email
Will Graduated from McGill in 2011 with a B.A. & Sc in Environment, and has worked with the research group since the fall of 2009. He is currently leading a systematic review that will examine how adaptation is conceptualized in the popular press and scientific journals. As well, he assists the research group with its outreach activities to the general public, policymakers, and study communities through print design, web and multimedia development, and regular updates to this website. He is particularly interested in the links that exist between researchers, policymakers, and community members, and hopes to develop mechanisms through which scientific research can be made most relevant and applicable to the communities it engages with.
Sara
StathamEmail
Research Page
StathamEmail
Research Page
Sara is a second-year graduate student at McGill University pursuing a Masters degree in Geography. She obtained her Bachelors of Science degree with Honours and Distinction in Geography from the University of Victoria in 2005, which primarily focused on resource management, GIS, and remote sensing. Sara is interested in assessing the adaptive capacity of vulnerable populations, namely Inuit inhabiting the Canadian Arctic. Under the supervision of Dr. Ford, her thesis examines the vulnerability of Iqaluit’s traditional food system to climatic extremes during winter 2010/2011. Her research assesses how changing environmental conditions have impacted the ability of Inuit to procure country food, and how this has affected the food security of public housing residents in Iqaluit. She hopes that her research will present lessons that can be learned from winter 2010/2011 in terms of the future implications of the human dimensions of climate change.
Michelle MailletEmail
Michelle is pursuing her M.A. degree in Geography at McGill University with Dr. Ford, after having graduated in 2010 with a B.A. in International Development Studies, Environment and Geography, and having worked full-time with the team during the following year. She is passionate about issues relative to North-South relations, climate change impacts and adaptation, social justice, indigenous peoples, and the translation of science in mass media. For her Masters research, she plans to look at the discourse on indigenous peoples and climate change adaptation and the policy decisions made within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the past year, she has contributed to the development of the book “Climate Change Adaptation in Developed Nations: From Theory to Practice”, edited by Dr. Ford and Dr. Berrang-Ford.
Diana KingEmail
Diana is a Honours Geography undergraduate student. She joined the research group in May 2011 to develop an approach to track adaptation readiness to the effects of climate change in the Canadian North. She will be piloting the approach in Nunavut this semester. Her interests lie in the adaptation field, as well as in the use of participatory methods when carrying out research.
Diego
LindosoEmail
LindosoEmail
Diego graduated from University of Brasilia (UnB) in 2005 with a BSc in Biology. During his Masters research, he studied the trade-offs between agriculture expansion in Brazilian Amazon and climate change mitigation. Currently, he is carrying out his doctorate studies at the Center for Sustainable Development (CDS) at UnB. His dissertation examines the determinants of small farmers’ adaptation to climate change within Brazilian Amazon region and Brazilian Semiarid region. He is particularly interested in adaptive strategies available for small farmers’ population to cope with climate variability. Diego is also a research fellow in Rede Clima – the National Research Network on Climate Change, supported by Science and Technology Ministry and he is a contributing author in the first assessment report of the Brazilian Panel on Climate Change. From September, 2011 to August, 2012 he will be a visiting student in Climate Change Adaptation Research Group at McGill University, under the supervision of Dr. Ford, as part of an internship program supported by Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level (CAPES).
Alexandra LesnikowskiEmail
Alexandra graduated from McGill University in 2010 with a BA in Political Science and Anthropology. A former Policy Fellow the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, her previous research has focused on community-based rights advocacy among marginalized groups. Currently she is collaborating on a project with the Vulnerability and Adaptation Research Group and IHSP that is assessing and characterizing the status of health adaptation among Annex I parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In developing a systematic methodology for comparing adaptation across these 38 countries, this work takes an innovative approach to examining national trends in adaptation. Her interests include advancing environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation in urban spaces, protecting human health in a changing climate, and developing creative strategies for engaging communities in these processes.
Anna
BunceEmail
BunceEmail
Anna Bunce is an International Development Honours student with minors in both Environment Studies and Field Studies. After completing a field study in East Africa, Anna carried out research in rural Kenya on the inter-generational perspectives of Maasai regarding charcoal burning and its effect on the environment. She is interested in how indigenous communities adapt and react to localized climate change as well as their perspectives and understanding of environmental change. She is currently assisting in a variety of projects for Dr. Ford and Dr. Berrang-Ford.
Peter
AdamsEmail
AdamsEmail
Peter joined the research group in Spring 2011 after completing his M.A. thesis in Geography at McGill. His project involves researching the history of adaptation in the Iqaluit region through a review of academic, non-academic and oral sources, compiling a report on modern examples of extreme disruptions to local systems with a focus on how the community adapted. Peter also provides logistical support to students performing field research in Iqaluit.
Amanda
CaronEmail
CaronEmail
Amanda works with communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region on adaptation planning for climate change. She graduated in 2008 from McGill University with a BA in Geography and has been working for ArcticNorth Consulting since the summer of 2009. She is particularly interested in the potential for traditional knowledge to enrich non-traditional institutions in the North, such as compulsory schooling, environmental management, and political decision- making bodies.
Graham McDowellEmail
Graham holds an Honours degree (First class) in Geography from McGill University. He is interested in the implications of climate change for human and ecological systems (Arctic and alpine focus), the structural determinants of environmental degradation, questions of ethics and justice in nature/society relations, and strategic, equity-minded environmental policy. Graham worked as a lead researcher on the Iqaluit Land-Use Mapping Project (ILMP), for which he was actively involved in project development and Arctic fieldwork. His Honours thesis (advised by Dr. Ford) drew on two months of community-based research in Nepal and examined the relationship between climate change, hydrology, and human well being in highland settlements of the eastern Himalaya. Graham is currently studying for an MSc in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford, UK.
KC
BoltonEmail
BoltonEmail
KC recently completed his M.A. thesis in geography at McGill. In June, 2010, he joined the research group to work on a systematic review of both academic and non-academic literature related to climate change in the Eastern Arctic. The review seeks to identify gaps in knowledge specific to human vulnerabilities that are associated with climate change, and its development incorporates input from a range of stakeholders.
Jaclyn PatersonEmail
Project Manager: Climate Change and Health System Adaptations in Canada. Our team studies actions taken (“adaptations”) to prepare for the health impacts of climate change. The project consists of an (a) international level climate change policy comparison (b) investigation of Canadian governmental action (policy review and case studies at the municipal, provincial and national level) and an (c) assessment of non-governmental initiatives (examples include NGOs, civil societies and private groups). I am involved in other climate change projects; my specific role is to assist in the design of research methodology (systematic reviews).
Maggie
KnightEmail
KnightEmail
I am an undergraduate at McGill, completing an Honours BASc in Environment. I have a passion for increasing societal awareness and understanding of the social justice implications of climate change, particularly for indigenous communities in Canada. My research interests include best practices in sustainability policy creation and implementation, with a focus on engagement of citizens, local experts, and marginalized groups to create local solutions. I bring experience in traditional, youth, and environmental media to improve dissemination of the climate change vulnerability and adaptation group’s research to the general public through better practices in science communication.
Carolyn PoutiainenEmail
I graduated with a BA&Sc in the Interfaculty Environment Program at McGill University in 2010. My studies focused on ecology and climate change, with a minor in economics. This past year, I helped copy-edit a forthcoming book on climate change adaptation in developed nations, which was edited by Dr. Ford and Dr. Lea Berrang Ford. I currently work on the project about climate change and health system adaptations in Canada, and will be researching adaptations taken by civil society.
Irene HofmeijerEmail
I graduated in May 2010 with a BSc. in Environment from the McGill School of Environment. My degree was focused on environmental health, with a particular interest for health in developing countries. Personally I’m passionate about plastics recycling and composting! My previous research for my honors thesis explored the environmental and social determinants of mental health in a group of urban poor women in the slum of Independencia in Lima, Peru. Since April, I have been working for the Drs. Berrang-Ford and Ford on the Indigenous health and Adpatation to Climate Change (IHACC) project as a field researcher. Working in collaboration with the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, I have been conducting the field research in the Peruvian Amazon using participatory methodologies, in particular PhotoVoice.
