For more information please contact Steven Reid at: steven.reid3@carleton.ca.
Updated Feb. 26, 2020
Business/Economy:
The coronavirus is resulting in millions of people around the globe working from home, with curfews in China, Italy and other countries. Is the mandatory work-from-home experiment coming to North America? What is the impact on businesses?
Deadline: ASAP
Politics/Business:
We’re interested in hearing from academics who can offer some political, business and environmental insights on the decision by Teck Resources Ltd. to withdraw its application to build the Frontier oil sands mine in Alberta.
Deadline: ASAP
Health/Medicine:
Daylight saving time begins March 8, when we set our clocks ahead one hour. I’m looking for a story about the potential health effects of “springing forward” and losing an hour of sleep, either on individuals or at the population level.
Deadline: ASAP
Energy + Environment:
The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that the federal government’s carbon tax is unconstitutional because it meddled with provincial powers. In his ruling, Justice Wakeling wrote that the intrusion into provincial jurisdiction could be justified if Parliament “validly claimed an environmental emergency that threatened life as we know it on planet earth.”
I’m looking for a story that explains the ruling or any of the following: Why was a different decision reached in Ontario and Saskatchewan? What can we expect from the Supreme Court ruling in March? Why doesn’t the June 2019 House of Commons motion to declare a national climate emergency in Canada meet the criteria? What’s the relationship between the ruling and Teck’s decision to pull out of its proposed multi-billion oilsands project in northern Alberta?
Deadline: ASAP
Last month, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, released a letter that underscored the links between climate risk and economic growth, and pledged that climate would be at the heart of its investment decisions. Jeff Bezos has said he would spend $10 billion on climate action. Are these promises purely in their self-interest? What are the next moves we need to see from corporations to know they are on the path to zero emissions?
Deadline: Mid-March
One of many solutions to climate change is to capture carbon directly from the air. I’m looking for an explainer on how these technologies work, and a brief overview of their potential and pitfalls.
Deadline: March
Updated Feb. 24, 2020
Special
The Conversation Canada is interested in hearing from academics who can offer some insight on the decision by Tech Resources Ltd. to withdraw its application to build the Frontier oil sands mine in Alberta. This development has political, environmental and energy implications and they are planning several articles that could be published as soon as possible.
Updated Feb. 21, 2010.
Science & Technology:
Considering the way we live our lives today, what happens after we die: to our stuff (e.g. Swedish death cleaning), to our online presence (e.g. digital afterlives, access to online archives) and to our bodies (e.g. cryogenic research, environmental consequences of burial choices)? We’re looking for stories about the new and novel ways science and technology engage with death in the 21st century.
Deadline: Ongoing
Arts:
Did students in your school create a performance or art show that showcases new exploration, insight or creative practices or are they working to do so? Seeking behind-the-scenes Arts story pitches. All the better if you can share high-quality images.
Deadline: Ongoing
Are you going to see the multi-artist exhibit ‘Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From’ at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto focused on “post-migrant experience”? Seeking commentary and analysis pitches from arts practitioners / researchers whose work has explored migrant realities.
Deadline: Now until mid-March
Selfies and portraiture: Increasingly sophisticated hand-held technology in an image-conscious society means the long-standing elite practice of portraiture is at everyone’s fingertips, even as the portrait as art form remains a unique artistic discipline and entire galleries are devoted to portraits. Seeking portrait pitches: What do depth or historic studies of portraiture reveal or say about today’s media environment? What makes a great portrait and why? What are the challenges for portrait artists?
Deadline: Ongoing
Culture + Society:
Wine mom culture and moms who use cannabis – why is it “cool” to be a wine mom and not a “pot mom”? What does this say about modern motherhood?
Deadline: Any time
Business/Economy:
Online shopping has a big carbon footprint in terms of packaging and shipping. Are there any Canadian companies that are trying to disrupt the shipping/online shopping model?
Deadline: Any time
Online shopping has a big carbon footprint in terms of packaging and shipping. Are there any Canadian companies that are trying to disrupt the shipping/online shopping model?
Deadline: Any time
Education:
Why is Canada lagging behind with early childhood investment and policy, or how and why have other countries managed to do better? An early years study from the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation highlights that Canada is 33rd out of 35 OECD countries for how many children aged five or younger who have regular access to an early childhood education program. Seeking stories that examine and explain international successes in early childhood education investment and policy.
Deadline: ASAP
What should you look for in seeking quality child care for your toddler or preschooler? Seeking a practical story for parents that explains the cornerstones of what quality early childhood education is, why it matters, and how to know if this is being provided, what questions to ask prospective providers, etc.
Deadline: ASAP
Great teachers: Seeking story pitches: How are they formed? What makes them great? We seem to know them when we encounter them, but can their impact be measured and assessed and if so how? What can be done to acknowledge their impact and foster their growth and success? Would love to see a story pitch that connects the personal experience of remembering a great teacher with theoretical reflection or research about teaching and learning theory and / or issues around educational infrastructure or resources.
Deadline: Ongoing