In 2022, two project streams were created as part of the Pathways to Professions (P2P) experiential learning program to conduct research on New Brunswick-relevant tourism topics and recruitment over a 13-week summer period.
Read moreVitalSignsNB & P2P+: Using Data to Investigate Health and Healthcare in New Brunswick
Pathways to Professions (P2P) is a 13-week experiential education program run by the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT) in partnership with the Government of New Brunswick’s Future GNB program. P2P provides university students with the opportunity to participate in New Brunswick-relevant research.
Read moreRethinking Inequality and Young Adult Care In New Brunswick
New Brunswick has a diverse population and multiple social issues – two teams of students spent their summer taking on research projects that could help make a difference.
Read moreThe People Behind the Numbers: A Look at New Brunswick’s Economic Status and New Brunswickers’ Quality of Life
Have you ever wondered what factors influence your daily life? That is, your income or the cost of your house, the healthcare system, or even your well-being? Or how your life in New Brunswick compares to the rest of Canada?
Read moreThe Union Advocate and the Shape of New Brunswick Radicalism, 1917-1925
“In his seminal 2005 survey of left Canadian history, Rebels, Reds, Radicals, Ian McKay further developed a new theoretical framework for understanding radical, left, and liberal politics in the country. McKay’s book drew from prior work, most notably his influential essay, “The Liberal Order Framework: A Prospectus for a Reconnaissance of Canadian History.” McKay, a current Professor of History at McMaster University and the chair of the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History wears his influences on his sleeve…”
Read moreHealth, Socioeconomic Status, and Policy: A Conversation with Dr. Hajizadeh
“Dr. Mohammad Hajizadeh is an associate professor in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University and is a Canada Research Chair in Health Economics”
Read moreHomelessness: Finding A Solution That Works
Laura Kabbash originates from Montreal and has called Fredericton her home for the last four years. She is a fourth-year Ph.D. student enrolled in UNB’s clinical psychology program and is passionate about working with and aiding at-risk youth. Kabbash plans to work with children either through community work or private practice. In the future, she hopes to supervise graduate students and has an interest in teaching.
Read moreHow to Avoid Disaster: The Importance of Responsible Data Management and Education
“From photographers losing thousands of original photographs to the programmers of Toy Story 2 nearly deleting the entire movie file with an incorrect command, the impact of poor data management and education can be both far-reaching and irreversible…”
Read moreExploring the Gap: The Gender Pay Gap Amongst Psychologists
“Over the years, the number of women pursuing psychology as a career has greatly increased (Sentell et al., 2001). Despite the growing number of women in the field of psychology, there is still an evident pay gap depending upon gender. The same is true with many other professions (Sentell et al., 2001). The gender pay gap is defined here as the difference in women’s earnings in relation to the earnings of men (Pelletier et al., 2019). It is derived from outdated societal attitudes and beliefs about the place and value of women in the workplace (Government of New Brunswick, n.d.).”
Read moreEffects of Social Media on Body Image in Young Adults
“Society is used to the negative impacts of impossibly thin, airbrushed models on the covers of magazines. Even if people know it is not realistic, it sets a precedent for beauty standards - it feels like something people should strive towards. But what happens in a digital age with consistent opportunities for comparison?”
Read moreThe Importance of Blue Skies Research
“With blue skies research, you cannot predict when an application is going to occur. But it’s definitely going to occur. We are here with all the technology we have because of blue skies research. If there was no blue skies research, the world would look very different today.”
Read moreVitalSignsNB: Expanding the Immunization Role of New Brunswick’s Pharmacists
VitalSignsNB is the health-based research stream in the Pathways to Professions (P2P) experiential learning program at the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT). P2P brings together students from different educational backgrounds to work on NB-relevant research projects in a multitude of fields. Over 13 weeks, students participate in a variety of training and mentoring sessions on research and employment skills, in addition to engaging in their assigned research topics.
Read morePopNB: Analyzing the Impact of New Brunswick’s Aging Population
PopNB aims to characterize New Brunswick’s demographics by analyzing open-source data. With these analyses, we hope to inform data-driven policy for government and community stakeholders. PopNB operated this summer with the help of Dr. Ted McDonald, the Director of NB-IRDT and the principal investigator for the project, and Madeleine Gorman-Asal, PopNB’s student mentor. We explored the implications of New Brunswick’s aging population by first conducting a literature review to gain a solid understanding of the current scope of NB’s aging problem before beginning our analysis of Statistics Canada data.
Read moreBoostNB: The Future is In Our Hands – BoostNB’s Economic Indicators for the Province of New Brunswick
This summer, our student-led team (Tashi Dorji, Sandra Rafeh, and Caroline Pietroski, all third-year undergraduate students in Economics) were hired by the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data, and Training (NB-IRDT) to participate as student researchers in the 2021 Pathways to Professions (P2P) program and comprise the BoostNB team for the summer of 2021. P2P is a 13-week experiential learning program developed by NB-IRDT that allows post-secondary students to work as part of a research team while attending sessions on research methods and job readiness skills.
Read moreConnectNB: Creating Networking Opportunities for Student Researchers
For the summer of 2021, our small student-led team worked on a research project called ConnectNB through the Pathways to Professions (P2P) program at the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT). P2P is a 13-week experiential learning program that provides post-secondary students with an opportunity to work on NB-relevant research projects while completing workplace and professional development training. The goal of the ConnectNB research stream was to create a networking program to provide experiential education opportunities to post-secondary students in NB.
Read moreExperienceNB: How Can We Make UNB a University of Impact? Students Take the Lead in Assessing Community Engagement in Experiential Learning
Experiential education (i.e., a direct experience with content and environment) goes beyond listening in a classroom – it allows students to actively engage and reflect on hands-on experiences, make connections to existing knowledge, and apply their learning to new opportunities. As the world modernizes, new skillsets are needed, making experiential learning one of the most important investments for a university. This is where Pathways to Professions (P2P) comes in.
Read moreSocial Determinants of Health, Indigenous Communities and COVID-19: How has physical environment and access to healthcare influenced Indigenous health & wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic?
“The rise of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed many barriers to healthcare experienced by Indigenous people and emphasized the “Social Determinants of Health.” COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted marginalized Indigenous communities, resulting in poorer overall health outcomes. This includes Indigenous peoples who live on-reserve or off-reserve and who might be status or non-status.”
Read moreThe need to better understand the interactions of legalized cannabis and mental health
“Cannabis is one of the most commonly used recreational substances globally and the second-most used in Canada (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2007). Since its legalization in 2018, which permitted the sale (from government sanctioned locations), growth and recreational use for citizens of legal age (Cannabis Act, 2018), its recreational and therapeutic usage has increased (Statistics Canada, 2019). Pain, anxiety, and depression are the most common indications for the therapeutic use of cannabis (Sexton et al., 2016). However, the existing body of literature only supports cannabis’s efficacy in alleviating pain – not symptoms of anxiety and depression (Kosiba et al., 2019).”
Read moreForest Bathing: Nurturing Mental Health with Nature
“Though COVID-19 has led to psychological distress for many, there are a multitude of strategies to cope with stress and anxiety, such as reaching out to friends and family, physical activity, deep breathing, and even taking up a hobby (Canada, 2008). One unique strategy that has shown to have benefits for elevated levels of stress and anxiety is forest bathing. We are blessed in New Brunswick to be able to make use of this emerging strategy in our expansive green outdoors to improve our mental health.”
Read moreElasmobranch Exploration: The Turning Tide of Shark Research
“For the vast majority of Atlantic Canadians—affectionately referred to as “East Coasters” and “Maritimers”—it is no surprise that waters off the coasts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are home to a wide variety of shark species. Fisheries and Oceans Canada provides a list of over 20 of these species that have been identified in Atlantic Canada—ranging from the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) to the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), and of course, the world’s most notorious ocean predator: the great white (Carcharodon carcharias).”
Read more