The AIHA BC Yukon Local Section is pleased to announce that the 2010 Conference and Annual General Meeting will take place on March 26th, 2010, at the Delta Grand Villa Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre. Join us for the Local Section’s annual premier professional development event with an informative and exciting panel of expert speakers as well as opportunities to connect with vendors and suppliers, and network with old and new colleagues. Safety, ergonomics, environmental, public health and industrial hygiene professionals are all welcome to attend. The AIHA BC Yukon Local Section is a non-profit professional association dedicated to the promotion, alliance and professional development of industrial hygiene and safety within the Yukon and BC, and includes professionals from across North America.
Details: AIHABC website

Dr. Montoya formed a team through BCEOHRN’s spring 2009 conference: “Developing Research Opportunities Around the 2010 Games: Focus on Public Health and Environmental Sustainability”. His team submitted a successful BCEOHRN Research Capacity Development grant application which funded his project, as spotlighted in MSFHR News: 

 “There’s no question Olympic athletes are highly motivated, training years in advance for the games. But results from the recently completed Vancouver 2010: Olympic Year Impact on Physical Activity study reveal that the iconic event is also a significant source of physical motivation for the average Canadian. "We wanted to look at whether the Olympics were having a positive impact on Canadian leisure-time activity levels, and if so, what was motivating people," said Dr. Montoya, an assistant professor of psychology at Thompson Rivers University, and lead author of the study. Through the MSFHR-funded BC Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network, Dr. Montoya and colleagues collected and analyzed data from numerous sources dating from 1994 to 2007.”

 Full story: MSFHR News

The IFSN Website Project is a web-based centre for increasing awareness of issues, concerns and strategies related to protecting, conserving and restoring the myriad of Indigenous food based cultures across Canada. The website provides an interpretive and interactive meeting place for: 1) networking and sharing information that promotes Indigenous food related action, research and policy reform, and 2) engaging individuals and groups in cross cultural dialogue and discussion relevant to Indigenous food sovereignty.

The strength of this project lies in the relationships built within these extended networks of which the partnership between Siska Traditions Society, the BC Food Systems Network -Working Group for Indigenous Food Sovereignty and the Indigenous Diet Project - BC Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network Seed Grant has resulted. With these extended networks of Indigenous peoples and allies working to promote and protect Indigenous foods systems across the country we believe a vast and diverse audience will use the IFSN Website.

For more details, visit the IFSN website.

Admin Data 101 workshop now online

This free online workshop explains the basics of what administrative data are, where they come from, how they can be used for research, what the data produced for a research project actually look like and what skills are needed to work with them. This workshop also provides an overview of the access policy / application process at Population Data BC. The free online workshop is at: http://www.popdata.bc.ca/etu/courses/popdata/admindata101/onlineworkshop

For more information on Population Data BC, visit: www.popdata.bc.ca.

The SSHRC-funded Canadian Environmental Health Atlas is aimed at producing a single coherent account of environmental health and public health practice in Canada and for raising environmental health awareness nationally. With this note we are asking if you can identify interesting work - whether your own or otherwise - that you can nominate to be part of this first-time collection.

We are seeking topics and case studies to fit into seven content themes: Air Quality, Water Quality, Climate, Built Environment, Environmental Contaminates, Rural and Remote Health Issues, and Social & Political Environments. The Atlas will present research at various scales (national, regional, and local) and be linked to specific health outcomes and public health practices important to Canadians.

The first chapter of the Atlas will explore the basics of environmental health and health mapping. Subsequent chapters will develop the themes noted above and contain maps of health relationships and specific case studies. Key environmental health concepts and terms will be explained throughout the Atlas.
Included in this call for contributions is a list of potential topics to be explored. We are seeking ideas about ongoing and past academic and public health projects as well as suggestions for other topics not yet listed. What do you think is important to include in Canada’s environmental health atlas? We are especially interested in projects that have a geographical and/or visual component.

The target audience for the final version of the project is anyone working at, or interested in, the intersection of environment and human health including the role of socioeconomic status. This includes municipal, provincial, and federal planners, decision-makers, policy-makers, health care providers, and public health departments.

Project authors include Drs. Kate Bassil (SFU), Mike Buzzelli (UWO), Bruce Lanphear (SFU) and Paul Peters (Statistics Canada). We expect to complete this project by December 2010. Please send your suggestions or contact the Project Coordinator, Hannah Moffatt, for more information.

See .pdf file below for more information.

Thank you!

Hannah Moffatt, BSc, MPH
Project Coordinator
Faculty of Health Sciences, SFU
Tel: 778-782-2017 Fax: 778.782.5927
Email: hcm5@sfu.ca

New BCEOHRN Mentorship Special Interest Group!
Workplace Bullying SIG

This Special Interest Group is created to seek participation and initiate discussion from researchers, students and professionals interested in the topic of workplace bullying and to find solutions for the problem of workplace bullying. Workplace bullying is a leading cause of ill health and reduced safety and well-being for people on the job in all sectors and at all levels of employment in the province. In health science related fields these include study of people who bully and the effect their behaviour has on targets, on bystanders, and on the workplace environment overall in terms of physical and psychological illness, absenteeism, disability, return to work obstacles, and the potential for violence. As well as study in these areas, there is a need for data, diagnostics, and metrics to measure the negative effects and then the effectiveness of remedies.

Details: Workplace Bullying SIG webpage

Everything you ever wanted to know about health geomatics – and weren’t afraid to ask!

PopDataBc’s Education and Training Unit has launched a health geomatics discussion forum to connect people working with health data and GIS, with experts in the field. Questions will be reviewed weekly by a health geomatics specialist who will address unanswered questions.

Details: http://forum.popdata.bc.ca/

Sponsored by BCEOHRN

If you are a grant facilitator or are otherwise involved in the grants process, this website is meant for you. This site will help you through the planning, preparation and submission of grants. The goals of this site are to:

- develop resources to help new facilitators become oriented to the grant facilitation role
- provide templates and tools for all stages of the grant facilitation process
- teach facilitators how they can harness technology to stay informed on funding opportunities and agency news
- provide resources for facilitators to develop their administrative and project management skills
- create a virtual network and a sense of community among grant facilitators

Details: Grant Facilitation at UBC & Beyond website 

In September a paper newsletter and flyer for the AGM being held in November in Vancouver was mailed to select groups and members. Mailing a paper newsletter is part of BCEOHRN’s communications strategy, aimed at raising awareness of the Network and its operations by encouraging recipients to post these materials for others’ interest. BCEOHRN materials are printed using water-based inks on recycled content paper to reduce their environmental footprint.

BCEOHRN endeavours to reduce its impact on the environment to the greatest extent possible through all of its operations: by encouraging the use of web-based technologies to reduce carbon emissions created by travel; by reducing the use of paper and encouraging members to likewise do so; and by managing events and meetings using green principles.

For BCEOHRN’s green tips, download "Going Carbon Neutral for HoPNs" (pdf).

The BCEOHRN Resource Centre includes audiorecordings, WebEx recordings, PowerPoints and other resources from BCEOHRN activities or programs. If you’re looking for a resource from a past event, this is the central repository to check for downloads.

Details: BCEOHRN Resource Centre webpage

BCEOHRN member Midori Courtice is blogging her experience in Bangladesh and we’ve created a page on our site to link to her blog. BCEOHRN members interested in linking to their blog, or in setting up a blog, are invited to visit this page.

BCEOHRN members are encouraged to participate in this new shared resource for use by all members. A wiki has been developed to be a companion to the BCEOHRN Grey Literature database. The BCEOHRN Grey Literature Database is composed of materials created by British Columbia researchers. This wiki goes beyond the limits of the database by including sources from non-academic researchers globally. Throughout the wiki you will find many useful links, including: government websites and publications; library catalogues; industry websites and newsletters. Please visit the wiki and add your contributions of resources you access in carrying out your research, study or practice. Wiki Link

BCEOHRN is pleased to announce its inaugural initiative under the Mentorship Program. Visit the Mentorship Program pages for details.

The centralized Facilities and Research Equipment Database (FRED) has been established to provide researchers from all disciplines access to high-tech equipment, services, expertise, software, specialized rooms, and training. As equipment/services will be added to the database on an ongoing basis researchers are encouraged to check back regularly for updates.