BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Jennifer Babin was visibly excited Thursday morning when Laurentian University launched its fourth PhD program.
The 28-year-old LU biology research associate and master?s graduate hopes to be one of the first students to begin working on a PhD in boreal ecology this spring. Two other students - one from France and another from Columbia, also plan on starting the degree.
?Talking to my boss (Dr. Madhur Anand), she is interested in being my research supervisor for potential projects. We know that it will be entemology with insect population dynamics,? said Babin.
The new program, which is unique in Canada, will be housed in the department of biology and will receive support from the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and earth sciences.
The three fields of specialization will be stressed aquatic ecosystems, sustainable terrestrial ecosystems, and conservation and restoration ecology.
Babin, who is originally from Nova Scotia, said Sudbury is a good place to have a PhD program in boreal ecology.
?I like Sudbury...I think its great with all the lakes and the wildlife that?s around, and the restoration that has been going on for the past few years.
Laurentian is well known for its restoration projects,? she said.
The creation of this PhD program is a remarkable achievement, said Rizwan Haq, dean of Laurentian?s faculty of science and engineering.
The timing of this degree is impeccable, said Haq. A report was recently released by the Royal Society of London showing that human activity has irrevokably damaged the earth.
?This is a report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries. The harmful consequences of this degradation would grow significantly worse in the
next 50 years. Something has to be done. We have to turn this situation around.?
Biology professors and other Sudburians have the expertise to help because of what they learned while re-greening this community, said Haq.
This PhD program will help us to learn how to heal nature and live within our means.
Frank Mallory, chair of the biology department, said Laurentian University has come a long way since he was a student there in the late 1960s.
?When I look at Laurentian back in the 1960s, we were basically an undergraduate university. At that time, we had no fourth-year programs, no
master?s programs, virtually no professional schools, and no PhD?s. Over the last 30 years, we?ve come a very long way indeed.?
