HWI Connected Research Centres
Centre of Lifestyle Studies
COLS coordinates and supports interdisciplinary research and community engagement activities which increase our understanding of lifestyle choices contributing to health and wellness. The primary purpose of the Centre is to understand the personal, social, economic and environmental benefits associated with pursuing healthy lifestyles, and provide a variety of services and programs.
Red Spruce Mental Health Centre
Founded in 2023 in response to the growing awareness of the unmet mental health needs of rural Nova Scotians, and specifically the Annapolis Valley, Red Spruce Mental Health Centre is a community-serving counselling centre run through the M.Ed. Counselling Program at Acadia University. Red Spruce offers free counselling services to individuals ages 13 and up who do not otherwise have access to mental health care. Our highly skilled graduate interns provide all services at the Centre under supervision, including individual, group, and couples counselling, while strengthening their competencies and development as counselling professionals.
Red Spruce Mental Health Centre is named after the red spruce tree, which has long been a symbol of Nova Scotia as its provincial tree and speaks to the province’s landscapes & public spaces. The red spruce tree also represents Nova Scotia’s quietly determined people and their ability to thrive under any condition. It makes for a fitting symbol for the Centre, as Red Spruce Mental Health Centre will become central to the communities it serves, supporting individuals towards their resiliency, and speaks to the land it calls home.
Acadia Institute for Data Analytics (AIDA)
The Acadia Institute for Data Analytics was formed in 2014 to advance knowledge in data analytics and to foster the commercialization of data analytics solutions to challenges facing industry, government, and society in rural Canada. Situated in Acadia's Rural Innovation Centre, this unique technology-based Institute has worked with a wide range of start-ups and established companies interested in using data analytics and machine learning to create new products and services and build a competitive advantage.
Rural Canada feeds our nation literally, economically, and environmentally. It provides the food, fiber, minerals, water, and other bio-resources and natural resources on which our country depends and the arteries of transportation by which they are delivered. Digital technologies and data analytics can help us shape how we work with these resources and their impact on our local communities and our planet.
Fed Family Lab
The Fed Family Lab is a space for training and collaborative social research for food and health justice. Using mixed methods, and partnerships across disciplines and sectors, we advance the study of family and childhood food insecurity and share evidence for policy change to strengthen the well-being of families.
Centre for the Sensory Research of Food
The Centre for the Sensory Research of Food at Acadia University provides opportunities to the food industry for developing and reformulating products. Sensory analysis measures the human senses including taste, texture, appearance and smell in a controlled environment. Sensory evaluation is essential for developing new products and assessing product characteristics. We can help to ensure consumer satisfaction and market success. We design questionnaires, recruit consumers, conduct sensory tests and work with the food industry on sensory studies. Whether it is a brand new product or a product that has been on grocery store’s shelves for years, we can help.