Nova Scotia Community College
AC-10: Support for Research

NSCC is engaged in research programs that are focused on sustainability, in particular the College operates a Sustainable Energy research laboratory facility, with a team of 5 staff currently mid-way through a 5-year 2.5 million dollar research grant funded through Canada’s Natural Science and Engineering Research Council. In addition, NSCC’s Ocean Technology Research team is engaged in a 2.4 million dollar 5-year program to study ocean-mapping and habitat issues for sustainable resource management. Both of these research programs actively engage students for paid work (approximately 15 students per year) and offer mentorships for senior technology students’ projects. NSCC uses the ‘Research as a Form of Teaching’ model to encourage students in all program to undertake capstone projects and benefit from research opportunities. A variety of positive outcomes have been derived from student activity ranging from co-authoring research publications to a number of ‘firsts’ including devising one of the first Electric Vehicle-to-Grid demonstrations in Eastern Canada earlier in 2016. Sustainability research projects have been implemented within international projects in Africa and the Caribbean.

NSCC Faculty are encouraged to engage in research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. As a Portfolio College, NSCC faculty work closely with students on real-world problem solving and investigation that includes a cross-curricular sustainability theme. Faculty led research has developed water-quality and solar energy monitoring solutions to assist a college and surrounding community in Tanzania Africa.

NSCC maintains a staff of interdisciplinary researchers and supports the positive recognition of research that crosses disciplinary boundaries.

Through the Novanet (consortium of all university and college libraries in Nova Scotia) shared library catalogue, NSCC Library services is able to provide access to over 10,000 books (print and electronic) and audiovisual materials directly related to sustainability topics with over 3,300 of these held specifically by NSCC Libraries. In addition, consortia resource sharing is in and of itself an economically sustainable model. Through the Libraries Nova Scotia (a partnership of post-secondary and public libraries) Borrow Anywhere/Return Anywhere Program, resources in NSCC collections are freely accessible to any resident of Nova Scotia regardless of their location. Database Resources • Environmental Studies and Policy Collection (includes more than 700 environmental-related periodicals, as well as e-books) • GreenFILE (A database that focuses on the relationship between human beings and the environment.) • Science Database (applied and general sciences including a wide range of content related to sustainability) • Achieving Sustainability: Visions, Principles, Practices (online encyclopedia) • Streaming video packages licensed by the library include a wide variety of videos on sustainability topics. One example is the Residential Energy Efficiency Projects Video Series (via Films on Demand). • Agriculture Collection (database of more than 400 agricultural periodicals and e-books including content related to sustainability) • Gardening, Landscape & Horticulture Collection (database of more than 50 specialized horticulture and landscape periodicals, as well as e-books including content related to sustainability) Research Subject Guides: Energy Sustainability Engineering Technology http://subjectguides.nscc.ca/eset Environmental Engineering Technology http://subjectguides.nscc.ca/environmental Community & Environmental Planning http://subjectguides.nscc.ca/coep Natural Resources Environmental Technology http://subjectguides.nscc.ca/Natural_Resources Sustainability Literacy Promotions NSCC Libraries participate in the Better World Books Discards & Donations Program.  Better World Books is a social enterprise that receives and resells discarded library books at no cost to the institution to reuse/recycle materials and raise funds for literacy projects. This partnership allows our discarded library books to find a new home, BWB donates a book for each one sold on BetterWorldBooks.com, and a portion of any revenues from book sales will return to NSCC Libraries to purchase new resources for collections and a portion will also go to Literacy NS.  NSCC libraries provide targeted promotions with book displays and resource lists that highlight sustainability. These often occur in support of specific events, activities, class assignments or commemorative months (e.g., Earth Day, World Water Day, etc.). A sustainability newsletter called “The Apple” was produced by the Annapolis Valley Campus Library in collaboration with the Energy Sustainability Engineering Technology (ESET) students in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years. The creator is presently on leave so the publication is on hiatus. Burridge Campus Library staff along with the campus Sustainability Committee organized a meet and greet with the Yarmouth Environmental Think Tank.  This meet and greet was to determine in what ways the two groups could support one another.