Rural research from the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development was on display at the recent Liminal Spaces: Two Days of Rural Canada conference. The interdisciplinary conference examined the world between the cities and the wilderness. The following students and alumni presented rural research at the conference:

• Danika Hammond (MSc Planning graduate): Defining rural: Advancing a place-based rural criteria matrix
• John Dale (Rural Studies PhD candidate): Social infrastructure in rural communities
• Damilola Oyewale (MSc Planning student): Assessing the interplay of immigration and housing in Ontario’s agricultural landscape for economic development
• Rana Telfah (Rural Studies PhD graduate): The early settlement experiences of Syrian families in Southwestern Ontario
• John Dale (Rural Studies PhD candidate): Optimizing local governance: How municipalities navigate the impacts of austerity in rural Ontario
• Jeff Reichheld (Rural Studies PhD candidate): (Dis)incentives in Canadian agri-environmental policy – missed opportunities from mis-fits

Prof. Sara Epp delivered the keynote address, titled “Reconceptualizing, reframing or restructuring rural: Understanding rurality and why rural research matters”.

Brock University’s Centre for Canadian Studies hosted the Liminal Spaces: Two Days of Rural Canada conference in St Catherines, Ontario on March 21-22, 2024.