UPEI GeoREACH Lab

Please share with undergrads and others seeking a funded research opportunity. We are recruiting excellent students for a Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position studying "Island Metabolisms and the Genesis of the Canadian Agri‑Food System."
This position offers up to two years of funding ($20,000 per year) for a highly motivated graduate student in the UPEI Master of Arts in Island Studies (thesis stream) to join the GeoREACH Lab and undertake original, research-intensive work on islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and lower St. Lawrence River regions. Apply by 1 July, 2026 for September start. Full details at:
https://www.upei.ca/programs/island-studies/scholarships

Thanks to the Acadiensis blog for sharing this reflection about an exciting new resource that my lab recently added to GeoPEI: the Prince Edward Island Historical Map Viewer. "Motor Lodges, Mourners, and Upward Mobility: An Introduction to the Paul Sharpe Aerial Photograph Collection, 1947-1952."

And thanks to the Sharpe family for sharing this collection with the Island! My entire Digital Humanities class has been working with the new images this semester, but this reflection was written by Fabian Wegner, Abigail Fenton, and me to help launch this collection of oblique aerial photos for the public.

This is another new layer that adds a unique resource for historians studying Atlantic Canada's society and environment in the mid-twentieth century. The layer, titled 1950 PFS for the photos taken by Paul's Flying Service circa-1950, captured a province at the beginning of the so-called "Great Acceleration" period in modern environmental history.

In some ways the Island hasn't changed, but in many other ways these sites are radically different today. Trains at full steam (see Summerside) and even some ships at full sail (Murray Harbour) are now long gone. So are the fox farms (Emerald, Victoria, Keppoch/Stratford). Airports grew (Charlottetown YYG) and roads and parking lots paved almost everywhere (especially Capital Drive and Royalty Crossing areas in Charlottetown). Tourism infrastructure shifted (Winsloe, Marshfield, Cavendish, Stanhope). And suburban growth exploded (eg. Sherwood, Cornwall).

Enjoy the new layer on GeoPEI, and take in the Island from 30,000 feet, or just above the tree line!

Motor Lodges, Mourners, and Upward Mobility: An Introduction to the Paul Sharpe Aerial Photograph Collection, 1947-1952 Joshua MacFadyen, Abigail Fenton, and Fabian Wegner Introduction The UPEI lab for Geospatial Research in Atlantic Canadian History (the GeoREACH Lab) recently added a new layer of aerial photograph…

Another "Lunch in the Lab," this time with Gwen Vessey, of the Prince Edward Island AgriWatershed Partnership. Gwen is a retired Soil Conservation Specialist and I was able to share that it was through visiting her at the PEI Department of Agriculture (waaay back during my PhD) I was inspired to use historical GIS to study Atlantic Canadian land use changes and the larger question of sustainable food systems. We're both still using GIS to map social and ecological vulnerabilities in our current systems.

Always fun to reconnect with someone who has inspired you, and even more when you learn what amazing work she is doing for the Island's agriculture and environment, in her retirement.
https://peiawp.com/

And there's the lab. A little messy. A little mappy!

Congratulations to a great friend of the GeoLab and of Island History and Atlantic Canada Studies, Dr. Edward MacDonald (1st on left, back row), on being invested into the Order of Canada today!

Dr Ed has contributed so much to Atlantic Canadian history (and Atlantic Canada Studies), it was great to see this reflection on the history of the conference in the lead up to the 2026 ACSC at UPEI.

Come Together: A Reflection on the Atlantic Canada Studies Conference By Edward MacDonald The bi-annual Atlantic Canada Studies Conference will soon be rolling around again, and I have fallen into anecdotage. Actually, it is someone else’s anecdotage. A friend of min…

Along with colleagues at UPEI (in the Faculty of Arts and Robertson Library) and a program committee with scholars from across the region, I am excited to share the call for papers for the 2026 Atlantic Canada Studies Conference which will meet in Charlottetown, PEI from 3-5 June. The call is hosted (and translated) thanks to Acadiensis, and the lovely poster is courtesy of ActiveHistory (the photo courtesy of PEI Govt -- it's sunrise on Opening Day of the PEI lobster fishery). Abstracts are due by 19 December.
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/acsconf
Yes, the meeting falls right after the Canadian Historical Association (CHA~SHC), the Canadian Catholic History Association, and the Canadian History & Environment Summer School (CHESS) events, all held at UPEI during the week prior to ACS. Look them up and join us for all four, if possible! Please share the Atlantic Canada Studies call widely.