When the opioid epidemic met the coronavirus pandemic

Opioids are prescribed as painkillers. Over prescription can lead to addiction or worse. Photo by Halacious, on Unsplash, CC0.

Sonja Soo, Communications, Education & Outreach editor The opioid crisis in Canada has been a public emergency since 2016. According to the Government of Canada, there have been more than 22,000 opioid toxicity deaths in the last five years. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened opioid-related deaths in Canada – in the months that followed the […]

Continue reading


Small but mighty: How citizen science can have a positive impact on the planet

hoto by Mount Rainier National Park, NPS, CC BY 2.0

Silvie Harder, Policy and Politics editor The Anna’s hummingbird is a tiny, bejewelled bird with shimmering fuchsia and lime green feathers. It weighs about as much as a cherry or grape, between three and six grams, and measures around 10 centimetres in length, about the same length as an apple. Their nests are four centimetres […]

Continue reading


Planting cleaner air: Can roadside plants reduce air pollution?

Image by Pexels from Pixabay, CC0

Katie Compton and Silvie Harder, Policy & Politics editors If you’ve gone shopping for a houseplant recently, you might have noticed that some species, like spider plants and peace lilies, are identified as having air-purifying qualities. This labelling isn’t just empty marketing. A study done by NASA 30 years ago tested the air-purifying capacity of […]

Continue reading


Who owns the heavens? Improved satellite communications come at a price

SpaceX, CC BY-NC 2.0

Chenoa van den Boogaard, Physics & Astronomy editor When our ancestors looked up at the night sky, they used the patterns of twinkling light they saw as inspiration for stories that connected their communities. The newest constellation in our sky, created by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, promises a similar story of connectivity. However, it may […]

Continue reading


Ecosystem services: Determining the full value of the land

Image by Free-Photos, Pixabay, CC0

Jenna Finley, Biology & Life Sciences editor   On January 5, 2021, researchers at the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and the universities of British Columbia, Carleton, and McGill released a ground-breaking study that expands our understanding of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are important but overlooked aspects of conservation and protection research. Ecosystem services are […]

Continue reading