About Ainslie Cruickshank
Ainslie Cruickshank is a political reporter for the Whitehorse Star, a daily paper in the Yukon, and enjoys writing about the environment and other social issues.
She graduated from Carleton University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Journalism and a minor in geography. She has interned with Canadian Geographic and The Tyee, an independent online magazine based in Vancouver.
Posts by Ainslie Cruickshank (21)
Yukon Conservation Society Executive Director Karen Baltgailis canoeing down the Wind River with Mike Dehn, the former CPAWS Yukon executive director. Photo: J. Pangman
The Government of Yukon is holding public consultations on its land-use plans for the Peel watershed as the debate continues over how much of the pristine land should be available for industrial development.
The Yukon government manages more than 97 per cent of the Peel watershed, but four First Nations from the Yukon and the Northwest Territories also control regions of the Peel, an area encompassing 67,000 square kilometres.
The Peel Watershed Planning Commission released its final recommended ...
View of the cast of Tyranausaurus Rex at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Alberta, Canada. Credit: Pierre Camateros/Wikimedia Commons
Most of us are pretty aware of the existence of geological fakes and frauds even if we don’t call them that. These are hoaxes that are undertaken or uncovered using geological materials or common earth science procedures. Things like forged art, salted mine claims, and fake fossils (salting a mine means to make it appear more valuable to potential investors by planting bits of gold, for example).
According to a recent paper in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, the earliest examples of geological ...
A new report by the United Nations Environment Program has outlined the top 21 environment issues we’re facing as we continue moving through the 21st century. While all 21 issues are relevant in Canada and to Canadians, as climate change is relevant to every global citizen, issue number four stands out.
“Broken Bridges: Reconnecting Science and Policy,” as the UNEP report calls it, discusses the importance of opening-up communication between scientists, policy makers and the general public. “Meeting ...
Posted by Ainslie Cruickshank
on Thursday, February 02, 2012
When it comes to protecting the biodiversity of our oceans, Canada has fallen behind most other developed countries according to the final report by an expert panel convened by the Royal Society of Canada.
The report, released Feb. 2, examines the effects of fisheries, fish farming, and climate change on Canada’s oceans, and assesses the Government’s response to these threats.
Speaking at an online press conference, Jeffrey Hutchings, the chair of the expert panel and the Canada research ...
Posted by Ainslie Cruickshank
on Saturday, January 28, 2012
Source: CleanFARMS
It may be illegal but burning agricultural waste plastics, like grain storage bags and twine, is still a common occurrence in Canada. In a lot of cases farmers just don’t have a lot of other options.
Earlier this month an article published in the journal Science listed banning the burning of agricultural waste as one of 14 methods that could significantly reduce global warming by 2050.
The article suggests that by targeting greenhouse gases methane and black carbon, more commonly known as ...
Posted by Ainslie Cruickshank
on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A monitoring site for alpine vegetation set up in Garibaldi Provincial Park (height: 2,260m), with the Blackcomb Glacier in the background. Photo: Kristina Swerhun.
In the not-so-distant future, mountaintops across the world may look a lot more like mountain bases.According to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change last week, alpine plant communities may be changing more quickly than expected as a result of warming temperatures.
Researchers from across Europe catalogued 867 different plant species from 60 peaks across the continent, first in 2001 and again in 2008. They discovered that plants generally found in warmer areas of a mountain are ...
The CBC recently posted a photo essay based on a report released by the Census of Marine Life. The census says that 17,650 species live below 200m of water where sunlight can't reach them. Of those species, 5,600 have been recently discovered.
The Census of Marine Life is a ten year exploration of the diverse creatures inhabiting the earth's marine waters. The Census team is comprised of scientists from 80 different countries and is sponsored by groups such as the UN Environment Programme and ...
I realize that sometimes hair gets dirty... but there's no way it gets dirty enough to require industrial strength chemicals to clean it. However, according to an article on the Davide Suzuki Foundation website chemicals including carcinogens and pesticides are all too common in personal care products.
The article gives 12 ingredients to watch out for, including
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene. BHA and BHT are used mainly in moisturizers and makeup as antioxidants ...
Posted by Ainslie Cruickshank
on Wednesday, April 28, 2010
In line with Earth Day last week on April 22, the CBC created a photo essay called The Environment. This collection of photos looks at the effect people have had on the environment since the creation of Earth Day in the 1970s. The CBC uses some of the worst instances of human caused environmental destruction as a reminder of how much harm we cause.
The essay begins with a photo of a crying First Nations man who participated in a commercial that aired in the United States in 1971. The commercial ...
Choosing the top 40 nature photographs of all time can’t have been an easy task, even for professional conservation photographers. Yet, The International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) rose to the challenge.
The top 40 picks were chosen in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and a number of them have been donated to Christie’s for the company’s green auction, which takes place today on April 22 — Earth Day 2010.
The proceeds of the auction will go towards Conservation ...
