very first volunteer newsletter

 Summer 2016 Issue 1 In this issue: Welcome to our first newsletter! E4D staff and volunteer updates Campaign updates Past event highlights Featured Volunteers What’s up and coming? First newsletter! Welcome to Evidence for Democracy’s first volunteer newsletter! We hope you find this quarterly publication interesting and informative. This is a work in progress, and we are looking forward to seeing the newsletter evolve over time! We’d love to get your feedback ­ what works, what doesn’t, and what information do you think we should include? As well, ​
our newsletter needs a fun, catchy name (no, we’re not just going to call it “newsletter”) ​
— send in your suggestions to suman@evidencefordemocracy.ca! Staff and volunteer updates Introducing Kathleen Walsh, E4D’s interim ED Kathleen (Kat) recently finished her Masters degree in Development Studies at the London School of Economics, and also has a degree in Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University. She brings a strong background in policy advocacy and campaigning to E4D, and has worked with a number of non­profit organizations including the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Rideau Institute, Nobel Women’s Initiative, and Equal Voice. We have confidence that Kathleen will excel at building on Evidence for Democracy’s great work in the last few years. As always, Evidence for Democracy will be continuing to ensure that evidence, science, and the best available data are front and centre to the new government's decision­making and public policy processes. Welcome to the team, Kat! https://evidencefordemocracy.ca/ P.O.Box 87004 Ottawa, Ontario Canada K2P2P1 info@evidencefordemocracy.ca 1­844­335­3339 (toll­free) ​
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ttps://www.facebook.com/E4Dca @E4Dca Introducing...Dr. Westwood! We’re excited to announce E4D’s Research Coordinator Alana Westwood recently completed her PhD work at Dalhousie University! Alana’s work investigated the habitat of bird species at risk at multiple scales, including stand­level characterization and species distribution modeling in the Canadian Maritimes. Congratulations, Alana! Update from Katie Gibbs Volunteer updates! Do you have exciting news you’d like to share with the E4D volunteer community? Maybe you’ve recently graduated, started a new job, had a new addition to your family, or are going on an exciting trip or sabbatical! We want to know: send a note to ​
suman@evidencefordemocracy.ca and we’ll include it in our fall newsletter! There's been an exciting addition to the E4D team: Executive Director Katie Gibbs welcomed Benjamin Bagler into the world on May 27th! Katie, Ben and family are all doing well. Campaign and project updates
Science Integrity Petition Cochrane Campaign Chief Science Officer Over ​
4400 people have signed our Science Integrity Petition since it was launched this spring! We are continuing to work closely with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) to help ensure the right of government scientists to speak about their work is safeguarded from future attacks. Our Save Cochrane Canada petition has amassed over 2000 signatures since being launched in January, and the petition was recently featured in the Canadian Medical Association Journal! Last year, we campaigned heavily for the creation of a governmental Chief Science Officer position. Our new government appears to recognize the importance of such a role for maintaining the integrity of Canadian science, and although a CSO position has yet to be announced, we are hopeful it will happen this fall. Local Chapter Building Our volunteers have been working very hard to build local chapters of Evidence for Democracy across Canada! Check out where we are currently established, and what locations we are working on right now: ●
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Where we are…. University of Victoria Metro Vancouver University of Guelph University of Ottawa Carleton University ●
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Where we’re going... City of Victoria University of Northern British Columbia City of Calgary Greater Toronto Area City of Ottawa Montréal Past event highlights
Science Rendezvous On Saturday, May 7th, scientists and researchers across Canada came together to celebrate Science Rendezvous ​
— an annual festival celebrating the amazing feats of science and engineering happening right here in our country! Evidence for Democracy joined in the festivities this year, by launching a series of Science Pub Nights from coast to coast. Turn​
out was amazing! Canadians packed rooms on a Saturday night to talk about how important science, facts, and evidence are to our democracy. Discussion included, among other topics: research funding, muzzling, innovation, and transparent government. It is clear that these issues are still of importance to Canadians months after the federal election. In Ottawa (​
top left) ​
the University of Ottawa and Carleton University chapters of E4D organized an engaging panel discussion featuring Dr. Scott Findlay and Dr. Kristin Baetz. Middle left​
: organized by our volunteers at Queen’s University, the folks at this Kingston pub event brainstormed how, among other issues, early­career researchers can better navigate the intersection between policy and research to ensure their research is impactful. Bottom left​
: the folks who attended the Guelph Science Pub Night (organized by the University of Guelph chapter of E4D) went over the federal budget and dissected its funding for science. Not pictured: Science Pub Nights were also held in Vancouver (organized by the Vancouver chapter of E4D) and Halifax (organized by one of our dedicated volunteers). Almost­summer­get­together Right: To celebrate the hard work and dedication of our local volunteers, in June we hosted an “almost­summer get­together” at E4D’s headquarters in Ottawa! We ate, drank, laughed, and hatched many a plan ​
— learn about what we are going to be working on (​
p. 6​
), and how you can get involved! Featured volunteers — summer edition Did you know: nearly 1000 people from all across Canada have signed up to volunteer with E4D over the years? This includes Science Pledge Ambassadors, those who joined our Network of Experts, organized Stand Up For Science rallies, worked on our True North Smart & Free webportal, and so much more. Highlighted here are just a few of our volunteers whose incredible hard work and dedication helps Evidence for Democracy accomplish its many goals. Trevor Charles​
, professor of Biology at Waterloo, is a member of the Network of Experts who has been volunteering to help E4D conduct surveys on Canada’s academic community, and helping us refine our approaches to policy. He’s quite the world­straddler: a basic scientist who examines the interactions between plants and microbes, he also heads up a microbiology start­up. He actually became involved with E4D when he challenged our staff on an article we published, encouraging us to examine the issues from angles we hadn’t previously considered. As he said, “Science is how we get closest to the truth… scientists and the science­minded need to stand up more often, and especially challenge the pseudoscience and woo that is often prevalent in society.” His career, and his volunteer work, is plenty of evidence that he walks the talk Maria Giammarco is one of our lead volunteers at University of Guelph, where she has been working hard to build a campus based chapter of E4D! This past spring alone Maria single­handedly coordinated a movie screening as well as a Science Pub Night in order to raise the profile of the UGuelph chapter of E4D. Maria is currently is finishing up her PhD in the fascinating field of Cognitive Neuroscience: “​
My research focuses on the visual system ­ how our brains are able to process, make sense of, and navigate through the complex visual environments we live in ­ and the particular roles that interacting processes of long­term memory and attention play. In a nutshell: when you see an ad for a car you want to buy...why do you then see that car everywhere?” Maria first stumbled across E4D on Twitter, and immediately signed­up to volunteer, finding it a great mesh of her interests in science and social justice: “Working in a demanding basic science program, although extremely rewarding, had left me discouraged about my limited role in not only my local community, but the larger Canadian community.” In her down time, Maria enjoys reading, playing piano, being outdoors, and cooking ​
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and dreams of someday winning Chopped Canada! “Conservation Biology nerd” and “informatics junkie” ​
Pamela Zevit has been our lead west­coast point person since 2013, when she helped organize our Vancouver Stand Up for Science rally. These days, Pamela delivers E4D talks, acts as one of our media spokespeople, organizes local events, and so much more, including helping us to build a Vancouver chapter of E4D. “[E4D] has a unique role to play as a voice for science and evidence­based decision making in this country,” says Pamela. “I don’t think the average citizen, or many scientists in Canada, realize how important having a dedicated voice to stand up for science and scientists is.” Pamela is a strong advocate for recognizing and working with Canada’s regional diversity. “In BC, E4D’s presence arose out of a more community­based or social/conservation movement rather than strictly an applied science or academic one. Part of that had to do with the background of founding volunteers like myself who feel science needs to be a resource and shared with heart and passion across multiple citizen interests.” Between teaching, working with species at risk, and volunteering with a number of other non­profits, Pamela still finds time to volunteer with E4D ​
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and we are ever so grateful!
Meet ​
Eric Zinman​
! Eric helps keep our Ottawa office running smoothly. When not volunteering for E4D, he’s working out at the gym, checking out science websites and podcasts, going for long walks, and re­discovering Ottawa. He was born in Montreal and raised in Ottawa, but lived in BC for 25 years. Eric’s retired, and despite never having worked in the field of science, he has always had an interest in it ­­ which drew him to E4D. We asked Eric what he wished other people knew about Evidence for Democracy, and he said “despite science being supported by the present government, there is still a big need for E4D to ensure that we get and maintain written protections for governmental science and scientists.” We couldn’t agree more! What’s up and coming?
Do you remember our ​
Can Scientists Speak ​
report that documented cases of federal government muzzling, and helped us raise the alarm on federal policies preventing evidence­based decision­making? Well, now we’re about to begin the arduous task of researching and documenting cases of scientists being muzzled at the provincial and territorial level. It’s a big job ​
— stay tuned to learn about how we’re progressing, and how you can get involved! It’s true what they say — many hands make light work! Is there an organization in your community whose interests overlap with our work? Tell us: we might want to partner with them on upcoming campaigns and projects! E4D is excited to announce we are participating in Science Literacy Week (Sept 19th ­ 25th) again this year! To learn more about Science Literacy Week, check out their website: http://scienceliteracy.ca/ So, what do we have in the works? Science Pub Night 2.0 The feedback from our May 7th Science Pub Nights was so overwhelmingly positive, we’re going to launch the pub nights again — this time in cities that didn’t get a chance to participate the first time! These ​
events will range anywhere from informal “meet­ups” to formalized panel discussions with guest speakers, and some volunteers have opted to organize daytime science cafes instead of a pub event. Interested in participating? We’re working on hosting these events in Victoria, Northern BC, Calgary, Winnipeg, London, Toronto, Peterborough, and Montreal! Stay tuned ​
for more info in the coming months — and let us know if you want to help plan one! Science Trivia Night! Are you interested in meeting like­minded people by joining a local E4D chapter (see ​
p. 2​
), or would you like to build a chapter in your area? Let us know, and we’ll get the ball rolling! Science Literacy Week! Which Canadian geneticist was the first to link radiation exposure to birth defects? If you answered Dr. Irene Ayako Uchida, then you should definitely be coming to one of our Science Trivia Nights! Our Ottawa volunteers are working hard to put together nerdy trivia questions about Canadian science, research, and innovation (with a few questions about policy­making thrown in, for good measure!). Location for the trivia nights are yet to be determined — keep an eye on your email or E4D’s social media for details. Want to organize a Science Trivia event for Science Literacy Week? Get in touch, and we’ll make sure you’re equipped with the nerdiest Canadiana we could find. Do you like talking to people? We need you to help us with outreach: specifically, we are looking for tabling opportunities in your community! This can include conferences, campus events, annual general meetings, educational Questions, comments, or want to know more events, festivals, and more! If you about the projects and campaigns we’ve are interested in helping with this, let mentioned here? Drop us a note: us know ­ we’ll send you E4D swag, info, and any current petitions we suman@evidencefordemocracy.ca have on the go. We look forward to hearing from you!