A&S scholars sharing their expertise in the media this week

From the effect of chemical pollution on global ecosystems to the challenges in getting self-driving cars on the road, scholars from a range of disciplines across the Faculty of Arts & Science are sharing their expertise on a variety of issues in the media.

Here’s some of what they had to say this week.

January 21, 2022

• Earth Sciences professor Miriam Diamond shares new research with CTV News online that shows how chemical pollution — particularly plastics — is exceeding global limits of what is considered safe.
• In the Montreal Gazette, Aurel Braun, a professor in the Department of Political Science and the Centre for European, Russian, & Eurasian Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, discusses the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Canada’s obligations. He continues commentary throughout the week with CGTN, CTV News online and Global News.
• The Toronto Star, CTV News online, Nikkei and The Guardian highlight new research by the Citizen Lab at the Munk School about security flaws in Beijing’s Olympics app.
• Rafael Gomez, associate professor of employment relations and director of the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, describes the factors that may drive a resurgence in organized labour in the U.S. with The Globe and Mail.

January 22, 2022

• The Times reviews Department of English professor emerita Rosemary Sullivan’s new book The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation.
• Ting Li, an assistant professor in the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and an associate at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, explains to SyFy how galactic archeology might assist in locating the unidentified dark matter believed to make up most of the Milky Way Galaxy’s mass.

January 23, 2022

• Jack Cunningham of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History at Trinity College discusses the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine on CTV News Channel, and later in the week comments on where the crisis may be headed and the U.S. response.
• Department of Sociology associate professor Jooyoung Lee, who is also a faculty member of the Centre for the Study of the United States at the Munk School, talks about hope, fatigue and the possible end of the pandemic on CBC News Network.

January 24, 2022

• Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert, who is also a professor in the Department of Political Science and at the Munk School, discusses the lab’s ground-breaking work in exposing digital espionage in a Q&A with The Washington Post.
• Deanna Horton, senior fellow at the Munk School, writes about how Canada can better manage its relationship with the U.S. for The Globe and Mail.
• Department of Computer Science professor Raquel Urtasun comments on the challenges and hype surrounding new technologies such as self-driving cars for The New York Times.
• Citizen Lab’s anti-Pegasus testimony leads to drafting new spyware laws in Poland, as reported by The Guardian.
• In Foreign Policy magazine, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and the Munk School’s Centre for European, Russian & Eurasian Studies Seva Gunitsky writes about the complexity of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and misplaced blame on the U.S.

January 25, 2022

• Citizen Lab exposes international Pegasus spyware hacks, as reported in The Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine and the Toronto Star.
• Rafael Gomez comments on the relationship between vaccine mandates and food supply issues for CBC News online.

January 26, 2022

• Department of Sociology PhD student Kayla Preston describes for Global News online how the trucker convoy taps into national frustration with the pandemic and far-right rhetoric.

January 27, 2022

• Department of History and Caribbean Studies program associate professor Melanie Newton notes Henry Dundas’s anti-abolitionist reputation in this Mississauga Times recap of city council’s decision to rename Dundas Street.
• Department of Political Science professor Andrew Sabl comments on the etiquette of gift-giving between political leaders with CTV News online.
• Department of Geography & Planning and School of Cities professor Matti Siemiatycki talks about changing timelines for provincial transit projects with the Hamilton Spectator.
• Miriam Diamond comments for The Weather Network on the impact of climate change on civil society with reference to a new World Economic Forum report.