“Oh, the places you’ll go!” With thanks in part to some glorious autumnal weather, our incoming group of geography graduate students have been on the move the last couple of weeks. Organized by Neal Scott, the annual Elbow Lake Retreat took GPHY 857/801 north of Kingston to enjoy some hiking, swimming, canoeing, stargazing, cooking, and relaxing around a campfire – all of it allowing for some time to get to know this place and one another. PhD students Kim Hill-Tout, Hannah Hunter and Sandra Yaacoub gave a very helpful session on funding applications for both international and domestic students. Laura Jean led an active space/time/geography history game and screened some footage from GPPL’s past as well as Elvira Hufschmid’s 2023 short film “Encountering Enclosure” on the context of land dispossession in Katarokwi. Shyra and Rye Barberstock generously led a Sharing Circle entitled: “First Nations Perspectives on Land, Community Building, and Research.” The latter afforded a terrific opportunity to consider our proposed research in “all its relations.”
On the 27th of September the same group traveled by Kingston Public Transit (bus #802) to Belle Park, a riparian marsh that became the city dump and then a golf course. The place is full of life these days and the group encountered this site in all its complexity. Beavers, cattails, and humans make homes here. Organized by Belle Park Project member Laura Jean, we were joined by Dorit Naaman, PI of the https://belleparkproject.com/, and geophysicists Alex Braun and Jack Fitzgerald, who helped interpret Noah Scheinman’s art installation “Lawncare,” part of the recent “Unearthed” exhibition. Hilbert Buist, a member of the Belle Island Caretakers, led us onto Belle Island (co-owned and managed by the City and the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs), where we learned more about human relations with more-than-humans, particularly the tricky one involving the buckthorn and the oak trees. The #1 bus took us home. Thanks to everyone for your contributions to a great afternoon, and to the GPPL Field Trip Fund and the Geography and Planning Equity (I-EDIAA) Committee for support for these events.
