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9:30am Registration

Centennial Centre Foyer 

Collect your nametag, sign up for the Honour Shield and visit the campus bookstore. Coffee and tea available.

10:00am Researchers Changing our Lives, Changing our World

Centennial Centre, CC1-163

Prof. Murray Humphries

Jackie Hamilton

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held in Montréal, Quebec, the seat of the UN CBD Secretariat, in December 2022. At that meeting, governments from around the world agreed to the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, a historic global framework to safeguard nature and halt and reverse biodiversity loss, putting nature on a path to recovery by 2050. As is the case for all global environmental issues, it is imperative that we think globally and act locally, while acknowledging the important roles and contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as custodians of biodiversity and partners in its conservation, restoration and sustainable use.

Macdonald Campus is the largest private land holding on the island of Montréal and one of the island’s largest and most biodiverse green spaces. Macdonald Campus and ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù are both biodiversity hotspots and global centres of biodiversity research, teaching and monitoring. This presentation will showcase what Macdonald Campus students and staff are doing to make our campus and our world a better and more biodiverse place. The presentation will also encourage us to act locally and globally, as a campus and a community, and in partnership with Indigenous peoples and local communities, in support of Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework commitments. 

Professor Murray Humphries, ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Northern Research Chair and Director of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment will kick-start our biodiversity themed programming with an interesting discussion—The Biodiversity of Macdonald Campus and ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù: From backyards to biomes and across the people-nature divide. PhD student Jacqueline Hamilton will then talk about how people interact with trees in and outside forests, including a brief foray into trees on the Macdonald Campus. 

Jackie Hamilton is a PhD candidate in the ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Department of Natural Resource Sciences. She is an arborist and forester with a Masters of Forest Conservation from the University of Toronto and several years of experience working at the interface of urban forest science and policy. She was a recipient of the Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award for her work in forest conservation. Her PhD research focuses on the relationships between people and trees, with the goal of informing methods of accounting for the benefits that nature provides to people and the benefits people provide to nature. She currently leads a committee of dozens of early career researchers as part of the Canada-wide ResNet network and co-leads a network of sustainability scholars working on social-ecological research at ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù. 

10:45am Macdonald Behind the Scenes/Sneak Peek 

Centennial Centre, Ceilidh

In keeping with our commitment made at COP15 with the adoption of a new set of international goals for biodiversity, this fair-style event will allow you to interact with professors, students and other key ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù units who are committed to our biodiversity plan. Learn more about the various research and campus initiatives undertaken in the faculty to further protect and coexist in our ecosystem.

Presenters include: Professors Murray Humphries, Cynthia Kallenbach, Kyle Elliott, and Jessica Gillung, to name a few.

Campus initiatives: Dr. Caroline Begg, Dr. Frieda Beauregard, PhD candidate Jacqueline Hamilton.

12pm Sir William Macdonald Luncheon

Centennial Centre Ballroom

Attend our signature event, hosted by Dean Anja Geitmann. The Sir William Macdonald Luncheon celebrates anniversary classes, recognizes our Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, and provides the perfect setting for classmates to reconnect. Featuring guest Speaker Principal Deep Saini.

Meal event: $80 per person, includes wine

2:30pm Biodiversity Bus Tour

This hop-on/hop-off bus tour will take you to three biodiversity stations on campus: Waterfront, Morgan Arboretum and Community & Pollinator Gardens. Each station will be hosted by Macdonald Professors/Researchers and they will provide hands-on learning opportunities about plant, mammal, bird, insect and fish biodiversity. You will have the opportunity to visit all three stations.

This is a family friendly event, but registration is required as the bus has limited seating.

5:00pm Happy Hour 

6:00pm Gathering of the Macdonald Clan BBQ 

Centennial Centre, Ceilidh

Join us for happy hour and then a relaxed BBQ in the Ceilidh to continue conversations, meet more old friends and unwind as another Mac Homecoming comes to a close.

Tunes will be played after the BBQ for those wishing to hit the dance floor.

Meal event: $40 per person (with cash bar)