The Bark Side of Radon sprouted from Dr. Anne-Marie Nicol’s health sciences class at SFU where the students came up with the health promotion marketing idea. Radon Environmental’s President, Alan Whitehead, loved the idea so much that they brought one of the students onboard the team to help develop it, and here we are with a full-blown collaborative radon awareness movement. 

The Bark Side movement is rapidly growing and wouldn’t be where it is today without the initiative of Dr. Anne-Marie Nicol and the imagination and creativity of her SFU students.

Dr. Aaron Goodarzi is the latest Bark Ambassador to join the movement. He is the Canada Research Chair for Radiation Exposure and the Chair of the Board and research lead of Evict Radon, a Canadian non-profit organization whose goal is to solve Canada’s substantial and worsening radon-gas exposure problem through interdisciplinary research for the benefit of all Canadians. The Evict Radon Study is now recruiting for the study and is open to all Canadians – tests can be purchased on the Evict Radon website.

In 2015, Dr. Goodarzi was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40. In 2016, he was made a University of Calgary “Peak Scholar” for innovation in radon gas and lung cancer knowledge engagement; in 2018, he was selected as a TEDx speaker and, in 2019, received one of the School of Medicine’s Education Awards for innovation in graduate training. 

The Evict Radon project helps researchers understand how our home environment influences our radon exposure. For instance, they found that newer Western Canadian homes have higher radon levels. Research also showed that 1 in 6 homes tested in Western Canada had dangerously high levels of radon gas.

Stay tuned for more profiles on the Bark Radon Ambassadors, including Janet Whitehead from Janet's Story, Anne-Marie Nicol (PhD, SFU health sciences professor), Mike Holmes and Mike Jr., hosts of "Holmes on Homes®." and Sherry Holmes, contractor & weekend DIYer!