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

From Canada’s role in NATO to the Russian concept of oligarchy, 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.

March 4, 2022

• Department of Earth Sciences professor Miriam Diamond shares recent research on high levels of hazardous chemicals in nail salons with CBC’s The Current online.
• Wesley Wark, associate professor emeritus in the Department of History, writes about the need for an inclusive public inquiry into the Emergencies Act in the Toronto Star (paywall).
• In the New York Post, Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton explains the potential cybersecurity threat against Starlink users in Ukraine.
• The Department of Geography & Planning and School of Cities professor Matti Siemiatycki tells CTV News online that new development plans along downtown Toronto’s rail corridor must prioritize green space.
• Department of Physics professor Pekka Sinervo comments on the risks of a nuclear accident in Ukraine for CTV News online.

March 5, 2022

• Peter H. Russell, Department of Political Science professor emeritus, writes about the federal government’s handling of the Emergencies Act for The Globe and Mail (paywall).
• Randall Hansen, director of the Centre for European, Russian & Eurasian Studies (CERES) at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and professor of political science, discusses the checks and controls behind Canada’s immigration policy for The New York Times (paywall).

March 6, 2022

• Thomas Weber, senior fellow at the Munk School, writes about strengthening the relationship between the United States and Germany in the context of Russia’s invasion for CNN Online.
• Mark Kersten, fellow at the Munk School, discusses martial law and what defines a war crime with Deutsche Welle and CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup.

March 7, 2022

• Olga Chyzh, assistant professor of political science explains the impact of sanctions on Russia for CBC News Network, and how the West needs to better understand the Russian concept of oligarchy for The Guardian.
• In The Washington Post (paywall), John Scott-Railton comments on how Russia’s fake news law will impact access to information.
• Seva Gunitsky, associate professor of political science and CERES at the Munk School, discusses Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations behind the Ukrainian invasion on TVO’s The Agenda.

March 8, 2022

• Raquel Urtasun, professor in the Department of Computer Science, shares her experience founding self-driving startup Waabi with The Globe and Mail (paywall).
• For CTV News online, Timothy Andrews Sayle, assistant professor in the Department of History and director of the International Relations Program at Trinity College, explains the strategy behind Russia’s refusal to define the conflict in Ukraine as “war.”  
• For the Toronto Star (paywall), vice-president international and professor of political science and the Munk School, Joseph Wong, and Munk School communications officer Adrienne Harry write about social media coverage of the war in Ukraine.

March 9, 2022

• Political science and Munk School University Professor Janice Stein writes about NATO’s role and the risk of starting a war with Russia in Foreign Affairs (paywall) and The Globe and Mail (paywall).
• For TVO Online, Stephanie Mayell, PhD candidate in the medical anthropology program at the Department of Anthropology, writes that new guidelines are not enough to protect migrant workers in Ontario.
• In an op-ed for the National Post (paywall), Timothy Andrews Sayle explains why now is the right time for Canada to set a new defence policy.

March 10, 2022

• Dan Breznitz, University Professor at the Munk School and in the Department of Political Science, talks to CBC Ideas about his Balsillie Prize-winning book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World.
• Department of Statistical Sciences professor Jeffrey Rosenthal tells the Toronto Star (paywall) that sampling would be a key step in determining whether there are more doors or wheels in the world, a question that has gone viral online.