{"id":4451,"date":"2016-09-20T08:16:39","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T12:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/?p=4451"},"modified":"2016-09-20T08:16:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T12:16:39","slug":"catching-past-cfice-students-michael-lait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2016\/catching-past-cfice-students-michael-lait\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching up with past CFICE Students – Michael Lait"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michaelby Mitchell White-Richard, CFICE Volunteer<\/em><\/p>\n

As CFICE\u00a0is now entering into Phase II<\/a> of its seven-year SSHRC-funded action research project, it is important to look back in reflection and recognize how far we\u2019ve come, and some of the people who have helped in getting us to where we are today.<\/p>\n

Michael Lait is one of those important figures. As a PhD student, he\u00a0joined the CFICE project in 2014 as a research assistant for the Community Environmental Sustainability<\/a> (Ottawa) Hub of CFICE. His primary task involved working as an “embedded RA” with the Ottawa Eco-Talent Network<\/a> (OETN), an organization that provides a network of advisers to communities working in\u00a0environmental sustainability, by way of mentoring and offering research and assistance where necessary. He worked with them for nearly 2 years.<\/p>\n

While working with OETN, Michael\u00a0helped establish a business case for the OETN, highlighting organizational\u00a0issues that required more planning and development. Following this, Michael\u00a0worked with OETN’s\u00a0Board of Directors in completing a grant application for the Ontario Trillium foundation for a $160,000 three-year grant. This grant application was successful and enabled OETN\u00a0to move from a pilot phase into full implementation, bringing the organization to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunding is important to what we could do,\u201d says Micheal,\u00a0who spoke about the grant. He\u00a0explains that through this grant the OETN was able to pursue\u00a0new opportunities and ensure its goals were being met through its projects.<\/p>\n

\"(Left

(Left to right) Carleton professor Patricia Ballamingie, Jason Garlough of the Ottawa Eco-Talent Network, and doctoral research assistant Michael Lait (Justin Tang Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Speaking about his time as a research assistant, Michael\u00a0described the embedded experience as something new and educational. \u201cIt was a new learning experience; we learned by doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

His experience with the OETN allowed him to step out of his comfort zone and dive into new material. As a sociology major, Michael\u00a0says he never saw himself working on business cases. Unlike other research positions, Michael\u00a0said that his time with CFICE was focused not only on achieving results, but also developing long-term community partnerships.<\/p>\n

Michael also said that his experience as a research assistant helped him discover new viewpoints. \u201cIt brought out new perspectives in understanding how complex sustainability really is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike other research jobs, this was less about publication and more about collaboration,\u201d he\u00a0notes. Michael describes his experience with CFICE as the opportunity for communities to support one another and collaborate on issues that would perhaps otherwise be too daunting or difficult for a single\u00a0group to manage.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0learn more about the OETN and their current projects, please visit their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mitchell White-Richard, CFICE Volunteer As CFICE\u00a0is now entering into Phase II of its seven-year SSHRC-funded action research project, it is important to look back in reflection and recognize how far we\u2019ve come, and some of the people who have helped in getting us to where we are today. Michael Lait is one of those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[89,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCatching up with past CFICE Students - Michael Lait - Community First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michael Lait joined the CFICE project in 2014 as a research 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