Email: nmfoster[at]mun[dot]ca

Supervisor:
Dr. Arn Keeling

Previous Education:
BA History, UNBC

Research Project Description:
After completing his undergraduate degree in history at UNBC, Nolan Foster moved from Prince George, BC to St. John’s, NL to pursue a Master’s in Geography at MUN. His current research focuses on community development and identity is towns that once economically relied on nearby asbestos mines. Throughout this project, Nolan will be working with the people of Baie Verte, NL to gain broader understandings of how asbestos mines impacted the way the community perceived mining, occupational health and safety, and how it may have affected any sense of community identity. Nolan’s interest in this subject started during an undergraduate project that examined the connections between environmental hazards, asbestos mining, and labour activism in Cassiar, BC, another small community that once relied on asbestos extraction. The intention of this research is help locate Baie Verte’s place within the controversial history of Canada’s mining and export of what was once known as the “magic mineral.” Though asbestos is no longer mined in Canada, the industry’s legacies continue to affect human health, local communities, and environments for those that live in the shadow of these mines. Additionally, by engaging directly with community members within Baie Verte, NL, Nolan’s project will also act as a form of heritage collection and preservation for rural resource communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.