updated: 14 January 2008

WebMaster: Zahid S. Mahimwalla

January 2008

Prof. David Green
Science vs. Policy in the Protection of Canadian Endangered Species
Monday, 28 January 2008
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Otto Maass Chemistry Building
Room 10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

December 2007

Sigma Xi
Party de Noël
et Lecture spéciale

Prof. M.A. Whitehead
A Roller Coaster Survey of the
History of Sigma Xi and
The McGill Chapter

Monday, 17 December 2007
Université McGill
Otto Maass Chemistry, Room 10
6:00 P.M.

Followed by the Party!!!
Ruttan Room 7:15 P.M.

November 2007

This month's lecture:

Prof. Alejandro Rey
Modeling Liquid Crystal materials and
processes in Biological Systems

Monday, 19 November 2007
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Macdonald-Harrington Building
Room G-10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

October 2007

This month's lecture:

Prof. Andrew Kirk
Metamaterials and Negative Refraction:
Is Harry Potter's Invisibility Coat Possible?

Monday, 29 October 2007
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Otto Maass Chemistry, Room 10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

September 2007

You are cordially invited to our Third Entin lecture:

Prof. Liam Durcan
On Narrative: Fiction and the Brain

Monday, 24 September 2007
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Macdonald Harrington Building
Room G-10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
Ruthan Room

 

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January 2008

28 January 2008

Prof. David M. Green

 

Science vs. Policy in the Protection of Canadian Endangered Species
Scientists and policy-makers have to find common ground for mutual co-operation on environmental issues such as biodiversity loss. The development of endangered species protection policy and the Canadian Species at Risk Act of 2002 provided an opportunity, and a challenge, for scientists to participate in a national policy debate. Yet the general scientific community erred strategically in assuming that the policy debate on what to do about endangered species had already been resolved in favour of strongly protective legislation. In consequence, scientists largely failed to have significant influence on the development of the law. Positions espoused by antagonists on both side of complex issues allowed compromises to be brokered and incorporated into the law. To be effective in policy development, scientists need to comprehend the role and limits of science advice in government thinking in terms of the mutual relationship between science and policy.
David M. Green is Curator of Vertebrates at Redpath Museum. He researches into ecology, behaviour, genetics, and systematics of amphibians, interpopulational divergence, hybridization, and genome evolution, determinants of species ranges and population declines.