FREE PUBLIC EVENT: Trinity Western University’s Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Trinity Western Environmental Club, and CSCA’s Vancouver chapter present an evening seminar with Barbara J. Astle (Professor of Nursing, Trinity Western University), Shane Durbach (Associate Professor of Chemistry, Trinity Western University), and Laura A. Onyango (Assistant Professor of Biology, Trinity Western University). This event is funded by a Supporting Structures grant from Scholarship & Christianity In Oxford) and CSCA.
Planetary Health: Impacts from Plastic Pollution and the Microbe Menace
Come hear about the emerging field of planetary health that encompasses many facets of planetary well-being, including human health, biodiversity and all that is needed to sustain God’s good earth. Barbara Astle (School of Nursing) will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience working in the field as she highlights the critical need for this approach at this moment in history. Two faculty fellows under Trinity Western University’s Supporting Structures grant sponsored by Scholarship of Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) will then present their research on threats to planetary health. Shane Durbach will speak on his efforts to turn waste plastic into useful materials in view of the scourge of plastic pollution. Laura Onyango will discuss how her research seeks to provide healing for human mishandling of microbial resistance to antibiotics. This sustainability event will then be completed by the perspectives of the next generation the students. The student panel will be comprised of Lauren Mckenna, President of the Trinity Western Environmental Club, Una Chang, who helped complete a Planetary Health Report Card on behalf of the TWU School of Nursing, and Portia McCracken, the Faculty of Natural Sciences representative on the TWU Student Association.
Barbara J. Astle (PhD, Nursing; RN) is Director of the Master in Science (MSN) program at Trinity Western University. Astle is recognized as a leader in global health education, research literacy, and for her involvement in numerous national and international organizations. Astle is co-editor for the Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing Undergraduate textbook, which includes a Global Health Chapter, a first in such a textbook. In addition, Astle co-authored an interdisciplinary textbook on research literacy for health and community practice.
Astle’s research focuses on areas of global health, planetary health, health equity, human rights, gender, and research literacy related to education, and population health. She is currently leading an international survey on the utilization of interprofessional global health competencies. Astle co-leads an international interdisciplinary research team studying mothering, albinism, and human rights in mapping patterns of resilience at the juncture of gender, colorism, and religion in Tanzania, South Africa, and Ghana. (more)
Shane Durbach (PhD, Chemistry) is Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, of Trinity Western University. His research interests include developing strategies for synthesizing shaped carbon nanomaterials from templates (i.e. soft, easy to remove or functional inorganic compounds) and various waste carbon sources (e.g. single-use waste plastics) for potential application as fillers in low-cost composites (for use in building materials) or as photocatalysts (e.g. water purification). (more)
Laura A. Onyango (PhD, Microbiology) is Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, of Trinity Western University. Her research interests include Staphylococci and small colony variants (SCVs) in nosocomial and community-acquired infections, Antimicrobial resistance and One Health, Waterborne infections, Metabolite profiling, and Wastewater reclamation and potable reuse. (more)