Governance Team – Introduction and Update
Meggie MacMichael here – Team Support for the RPLC Governance Team! The other Team Supports and I will be blogging to share news, introduce team members, highlight events, and discuss topics relevant to the RPLC and our theme teams. In my first post, I will introduce myself and the Team Lead and let you know what we’ve been up to.
Team Support: Meggie MacMichael
I’m from rural Nova Scotia, currently living in Halifax, where I recently completed my Masters in Environmental Studies. My research focused on young people who recently returned and moved into rural Nova Scotia. I’m interested in rural community development, community engagement, sustainability, and youth. Outside of my professional and academic interests, I am an avid Ultimate Frisbee player and love the outdoors!
Team Lead: Kathleen Kevany
Originally from Ontario, Kathleen now calls Truro, Nova Scotia home. She teaches at the Dalhousie Faculty of Agricultural in the Business and Social Sciences Department and is also Director of Caribbean Development Projects and Director of the Rural Research Centre. Her research is on rural wellbeing; intersections between agriculture, food, and well-being; and increasing plant-based, whole-food practices. Kathleen is curious about and engaged with many things and focuses much of her energy to build her health and happiness, along with those around her and her students. She maintains a high level of physical activity as a way of life, and eats to be strong and healthy, and enjoys building community relations with similar qualities.
Team Update:
The big project of the Team Supports over the last few months has been gathering profiles of all RPLC team members to publish on the website. The purpose of these profiles is to help facilitate connections and potential collaboration between RPLC members and with other interested individuals and organizations. Profiles will highlight members’ past, current, and future research interests, as well as the RPLC teams they are involved with. Through collecting the profiles, I have spoken to a dozen academics at universities across Canada. Governance team members have a fascinating variety of research interests including community theory, agricultural land-use planning, regional governance, aboriginal governance, community collaboration, social network analysis, and community forestry. More on this in a future post. If you haven’t been contacted to complete a profile, contact a team support! It takes less than 15 minutes.
The governance team is also looking to host a number of webinars in the coming months. If you are interested in presenting your research or if you have a topic you would like covered, please contact me.
Finally, the RPLC is always looking for relevant news and events to share with our members. If you are planning a conference or workshop, receive a research grant, or publish a book or article, let us know!
That’s it for this post!
Until next time,
Meggie
