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Accessibility in Downtown Peterborough Businesses
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By Kathleen Walkter & Shannon Shillinglaw, Completed for: Big IDeA; Supervising Professor: Mark Skinner; Trent Community Research Centre, GEOG 4030 -, This summary is a synthesis of our project and the main outcomes we have discovered through our research. The attitudes and decisions of Downtown Peterborough Business Owners in relation to disability accessibility and inclusion were explored. We conducted our study on the stores that were accessible from the sidewalk on George and Charlotte Street. Our research design consisted of a literature review of accessibility legislation and scholarly sources to help inform and analyze our research. We conducted a stakeholder consultation with the Council for Peoples with Disabilities to hear their perspectives and experiences with Downtown Peterborough businesses. Thirty-six surveys from a variety of Downtown Peterborough businesses were collected and interviews with four business owners were conducted. Through our research design we were able to determine many findings about accessibility in Downtown Peterborough.
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Turtle Admission Records Analysis for Identifying High Risk Locations and Analyzing the Value of Ecopassages
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By Lilliam Hamlin, Completed for: Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre; Supervising Professor: Julian Aherne;
Trent Community Research Centre, ERST 4830Y -, The purpose of this research was to assist the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre
(OTCC) in analyzing their intake records and identifying the locations and details of mitigation
measures that have been implemented in the province to reduce the mortality of turtles on roads.
This project was complete by analyzing and mapping four years (2014–2017) of OTCC intake records
to determine patterns of turtle mortality. Climate data, including temperature and
precipitation, was also compared to determine potential drivers for the trends that arose in
intake numbers. Through interviews conducted with individuals and organizations, locations of
ecopassages were determined, and then examined to discuss their effectiveness. The results
indicate that 84% of the turtles brought into the OTCC have been hit by cars, and that in 2017
the intake totals for the OTCC more than doubled. It is predicted that a decrease in
precipitation in 2016, may have resulted in a population rebound when seasonal weather returned
in 2017. In addition, a growing awareness about the OTCC appears to be a significant factor in
these trends, as the spatial distribution of turtles in the OTCC intake records has increased by
16 km on average, and over 40,000 km in total over the past four years. In regards to mitigation
measures, 80 different locations were identified and the features and effectiveness of these
structures were discussed through a comparison with literature. It is recommended moving forward
that the OTCC continue to monitor annual intake patterns and compile the locations of
ecopassages in the province. It is evident that turtle populations are suffering as a result of
habitat fragmentation from the development of road networks. The information presented in this
project will help the OTCC become better prepared for years to come, and also assist in
improving the communication and collaboration among stakeholders to increase the conservation of
turtle populations in Ontario.
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How Much Can We Grow? Determining a Best Method to Measure Sidewalk/Frontyard/Backyard Garden Harvests
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By Jennifer Boesche, Completed for: Nourish; Supervising Professor: Stephanie Rutherford; Trent Community Research Centre, ERST 4830Y -, Food insecurity is becoming a growing issue within the city of Peterborough. Food insecurity can be generally defined as having a lack of physical and economic access to an adequate quantity of both affordable and nutritious food. Nourish is a non-profit organization in Peterborough which seeks to improve food security within the Peterborough community by determining a single method which can be used to measure local homegrown garden harvests, in a project known as “How Much Can We Grow”. Information that can be collected from the chosen method is significant as it can help determine to what extent homegrown gardens are contributing to improving food security within the area, and encourage more individuals to become involved with gardening in the future. The following report will discuss the research results for the project and will cover the social benefits of gardening, motivations for gardening, and a single method that can be applied to the Peterborough area for measuring garden harvests. These results are based primarily on local survey responses, for a survey which was distributed throughout the Peterborough community.
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Understanding the Increase in Mental Health Calls to Peterborough Police Since 2010
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By Scottie Jean Curran, Completed for: Peterborough Police Service; Supervising Professor: Sharon Beaucage-Johnson; Trent Community Research Centre, FRSC 4890Y -, In 2010 there was a spike in the calls that the Peterborough Police Service (PPS) received and classified as mental health related. There has not been a significant decline in mental health calls since this rise in 2010. To understand why there was an increase in calls, this project investigated how the PPS currently classify the calls they receive and changes that may have occurred in the system for classification around 2010. Fact-finding meetings were set up by the host agency (PPS) to answer these internal questions. Online literature reviews were done and fact finding meetings with mental health service providers were requested via email. This was to determine whether mental health issues increased in 2010, whether other services knew of changes in the Peterborough community around 2010, whether similar increases in demand were experienced by the Peterborough mental health services, and whether there was a change, reduction or disappearance of services provided prior to 2010.
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