AESN seeks to meet its goals through collaboration.  Recent highlights include:

Events

Rural Summit

The Atlantic Rural Centre hosted a Rural Summit at Dalvay, PEI from June 10^th to 12^th, 2009.  The purpose of the event was to discuss the mid-term review report along with feedback from CIHR and to provide guidance and direction regarding the future of the Rural Centre.  In attendance were Rural Centre Advisory Council members, Centre staff, investigators, students and affiliates.

Rural Centre Environmental Health Laboratory

On November 24^th, 2008 the Atlantic Rural Centre opened a new Environmental Health Laboratory located in the National Research Council’s Institute of Marine Biosciences in Halifax, NS. 

The laboratory is the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada and will provide an increased capacity to conduct research relating to the physical environment and human health.  It will be home to a variety of highly specialized equipment designed to analyze and monitor compounds found in the human environment.  The laboratory will also be used in training students.

For additional information please refer to http://www.theruralcentre.com/?page_id=714 (facts) or http://www.theruralcentre.com/?page_id=776#50homes (current projects).

Proposals

CFI Application – Rural Centre (July, 2009)

The Atlantic Rural Centre has been awarded funding through CFI for a total of $15 million to create the Canadian Aerosol Research Network.  The network will be led by Jonathan Abbott and Greg Evans from UT.  Dalhousie University will receive a portion of the funding for a total of $4.2 million and a guarantee for a tenure stream faculty position in environmental health chemistry.  AESN has been a founding member of the Atlantic Rural Centre and continues to provide support for the various the Centre’s initiatives.

Workshops 

GIS and S & T Workshop

A GIS and S &T Workshop was held on November 27^th, 2008 at Halifax Citadel Historic Properties.  The workshop was the first in a series of Atlantic Environmental Science and Technology Fora designed to determine S&T opportunities and priorities within the various sectors of the environment, and to identify opportunities for collaboration among the research community, government and industry.  The workshop was sponsored by Environment Canada / Atlantic Environmental Sciences Network (AESN) in partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and in collaboration with the Environmental Services Association of Nova Scotia (ESANS) and the Atlantic Federal Science and Technology Council (AFSTC).