Rural Studies alumna Ashleigh Weeden (PhD '22) has been awarded a Canada Postdoctoral Research Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Considered one of the most competitive and sought-after awards for early-career researchers in Canada, the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program recognizes the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers at a pivotal tim...
The University of Guelph is home to a wide diversity of research on rural people, places, and environments. As a leader in rural research, this video series facilitates knowledge sharing across rural Ontario and beyond.
This video highlights recent research published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems examining how Ontario potato farmers adopt sustainable practices. It shows how several factors influence decisions, revealing the need for policies ...
Are you curious about rural data availability at Statistics Canada? Join the upcoming webinar “A Tour of Rural Data in Statistics Canada,” on March 24 at 1.00 pm ET. This free online webinar designed for anyone who wants to understand the rich statistical resources available on rural communities across the country.
In this engaging session, hosted by the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation, you’ll get an expert-led tour of the data products and tool
The March 2026 newsletter contains updates to graduate students working with Prof. Gibson and recent alumni. This newsletter shares information about academic programs updates, celebrates receive achievements, profiles an RPD alumni, and share insights on upcoming events. If you have information to share in the monthly update do not hesitate to let Ryan know via email.
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On February 26, 2026, Sarah-Patricia Breen (Selkirk College), Ryan Gibson (University of Guelph), and Ashleigh Weeden (Brandon University) delivered a workshop to Government of Canada staff titled Harnessing the Power of Place: Practical Strategies for Federal Policy and Program Success. The workshop focused on a simple but important idea: place matters in policy and programs!
Place-based approaches challenge assumptions that programs work the same ever
Researchers collaborated with Communities of the Williams Treaties First Nations: the Chippewas of Beausoleil, Rama, and Georgina Island First Nations, and the Mississaugas of Curve Lake First Nation. Their findings reveal perspectives on food security and sustainability and highlight the challenges and priorities for Indigenous communities to achieve and enhance their access. Read more about how this research aims to enhance the capacity for Community-led...
Ryan Gibson recently participated in the 42 Canada Podcast with Laurie Cook on rural community development. Laurie and Ryan talk about community wealth building and many of the creative ways rural and remote communities have always just 'got things done.' Check out the recording below or online.
The Inaugural Black Planning Symposium brought together planners, scholars, and community leaders in a generative space of dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collective imagination. As a Research Associate at the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, I left the symposium with deepened appreciation for the multiplicity of ways Black planning is reshaping the profession, and its resonance with my own research on hou
This video highlights recent research titled “Machine learning models for prediction of nutrient concentrations in surface water in an agricultural watershed,” published in the Journal of Environmental Management. Conducted by Ahmed Elsayed, Sarah Rixon, Jana Levison, Andrew Binns, and Pradeep Goel, the research examines how machine learning tools can improve predictions of nutrient levels in surface water, offering practical insights to support farmers, p...
Governments, researchers, and communities rely on definitions of rural places to decide where funding goes, how programs are designed, and which communities are eligible for support. Yet many existing definitions treat rural as simply the opposite of urban, missing the diversity of places that sit along a continuum. The new article A Rural Matrix: A Pragmatic Alternative Approach to Defining Rural for Policy and Practice, published in the Journal of Rural
