This past year, five A&S students gained hands-on research experience working with Professor Donald Kingsbury on a Research Opportunities Program (ROP) project investigating the politics of mine reclamation and rehabilitation in the Americas.
The ROP allows undergraduate students to engage in an A&S professors' research, gaining insights, skills, and hands-on experience while collaborating with faculty and peers.
“We’ve been looking at questions of resource extraction, primarily in the Americas,” says Kingsbury, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the Department of Political Science. “I’ve worked with the ROP for a few years now; we’ve been focusing on critical mineral mining, in particular lithium mining in South America and Quebec.”
Kingsbury says that as the project has progressed, certain questions have begun to emerge. “What happens after a resource boom? What happens after a mine closes, and what happens in ecological, social and economic dimensions? We’re thinking about how communities and landscapes adapt to life after extraction.”
The students, all in their third year of undergraduate study, bring a diverse range of backgrounds and interests to the project.
Ireland Ryan-Bavis actually has first-hand experience with mining: for the past few summers she’s worked in the mines in Fort McMurray, Alberta, right at the centre of the Canadian oil sands industry.
“I’ve always been really interested in the mining sector, particularly looking at the transition to renewal energy,” says Ryan-Bavis, a member of St. Michael’s College with a double major in political science and criminology.
“This project went way beyond my expectations. It’s also been great to share my views with others, and to compare the situations in Latin America and Canada.”
Daniel Puente is also a member of St. Michael’s College, majoring in statistics and economics. “I wanted to try something in a different discipline, and to study Latin America in an academic setting,” he says. “One thing of real value about the ROP is that it allows you to be guided by an expert. In other settings, it’s more difficult to have such direct connection with professors.”
With what she describes as a strong political and ethical commitment to Latin America, Natalia Peña also appreciated the chance to explore community initiatives in the region.
“I’d always been passionate about the environment and political ecology through my schooling and involvement in different collectives,” says the member of New College, who’s completing a specialist program in political science with a minor in Latin American studies. “This course allowed me to extend my interests by learning about mine closures, which was fascinating.”
When Lia Iannarilli was in high school, she completed a project about environmental concerns and the fossil fuel industry in Canada
“So I was interested in pursuing the subject further, and looking at the ethical and environmental issues attached to mining,” says the Victoria College member, who’s majoring in political science and English. “Examining the cultural and social aspects of political projects is something that really interests me.”
And for Lilah Williamson, a member of Trinity College who’s pursuing a double major in economics and international relations, the course was a natural extension of her long-standing interest in the environment.
“I’ve been involved in climate activism in various forms for a long time,” she says. “I was drawn to this project for two reasons: one, looking at the environmental impact of mines after they close; and two, addressing the tension between the fact that while we do need to mine metals to transition to renewable energy, that can have a devastating environmental and social impact.”
The multidisciplinary team engaged in the kind of field research that, as Kingsbury notes, isn’t usually offered to students until graduate school. Their primary research included interviews with politicians, engineers and community leaders.
“They also went to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada meeting, which is the largest mining conference in the world,” he adds. “There, they were able to conduct participant observation, make new contacts, and interview government representatives from different countries.”
Building research skills is a core part of the undergraduate mission of the Faculty of Arts & Science, and ROP projects give students an opportunity to engage in work that is original, interdisciplinary, community-based and creative.
The program embodies many aspects of advanced scholarship: field experience, in-depth analysis, networking opportunities, new friendships and most of all, the chance to make a difference in the world. Since its inception in 1995, ROP courses have covered virtually every field in the faculty, from chemistry, economics, linguistics, history, psychology and many more.
“Working on Professor Kingsbury’s project, I received a lot of encouragement to go beyond what was asked of me,” says Peña. “I don’t think I’d have been able to find this level of intellectual stimulation, or meet such wonderful people, without a program like this.”