CSALE is an interdisciplinary research institution located on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon. Established in January 1996 as a joint venture between the Colleges of Law and Agriculture, the Centre consists of a group of university faculty, staff and graduate students who integrate the life sciences, social sciences and legal knowledge in order to better understand environmental change and legal issues related to agriculture. CSALE conducts research on the relationships between ecosystem health and agricultural production and distribution. Researchers at the Centre investigate the assumptions of environmental analysis, stimulate discussion concerning the legal regulation of markets and the environment, propose integrative policy frameworks, and communicate with researchers, policy makers and industry participants. Core activities include the training of undergraduate and graduate students, and the distribution of research results through websites, conferences, workshops, manuscripts and publications in peer-reviewed journals. CSALE's Fellows program allows a diverse group of researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and elsewhere, who are interested in law, agriculture and the environment, to connect with each other.
Researchers at the Centre monitor trends in agricultural policy and alterations to biophysical and economic conditions emphasizing issues affecting prairie and Canadian agriculture. The Centre has established itself as one of the key locations for greenhouse gas research in Canada. CSALE Fellows participated in the national “tables” that prepared the launch of the National Action on Climate Change program. Graduate students with CSALE were among the first in Canada to focus on climate change, pursuing a variety of projects on associated economic and policy options and publishing the Climate Change Handbook 2000. CSALE has since produced materials on a wide range of issues including papers that analyze carbon emission trading schemes and large-scale agro-forestry projects, food safety, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability of agricultural production and marketing. Researchers at the Centre are interested in rural revitalization and in partnering with Saskatchewan communities to examine issues in need of attention to those communities.
Murray Fulton