Ecologies in Practice

Ecologies in Practice
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From the University to the community, we bring together thinkers, makers, and doers from art, science, theory, and practice in conversation around pressing environmental issues. Join us as we navigate these complex topics and hear from a vibrant mix of artists, experts, and community members, all united in their quest to tackle environmental challenges, aiming to inspire change.

Episodes

  1. 07/08/2025

    16. Lisa Hirmer

    Summary: In this final episode of season 1, Ashar speaks with interdisciplinary artist Lisa Hirmer. They discuss her contributions to the edited collection Ecologies in Practice, and Lisa also elaborates on her exploration of the atmosphere as a central theme in her work, with related projects such as We Are Atmosphere.  Bio:  Lisa Hirmer is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the collective nature of being, particularly in human relationships with the more-than-human world. Much of her recent work wrestles with what it means to be living within the reality of climate change and how to make sense of this planet-scaled emergency. She has shown her work across Canada and internationally including at Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Guelph, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Tom Thomson Gallery, Art Windsor-Essex, Doris McCarthy Gallery, Peninsula Arts, CAFKA, Queens Museum, and Flux Factory, among others. She has done artist residencies with Arts House Melbourne, the Santa Fe Art Institute, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, KIAC and Camargo Foundation, and was the 2022 Waterfront Toronto Artist in Residence. She has received grants from Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, musagetes and the Culture and Animal Foundation, and has a Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo. Transcript PDF Links:  Instagram: @lisa.hirmer  Website: www.lisahirmer.ca

    30 min

  2. 06/28/2025

    15. Atmosphere: Kiyoko Gotanda

    Summary:  In this episode, host Ashar interviews Dr. Kiyoko Gotanda, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University, whose research focuses on the intersection of ecology, evolution, and behavior. Kiyoko shares her unique journey; from a ballet dancer to a researcher, emphasizing the importance of creativity in scientific inquiry. The conversation explores contemporary evolution, including the  impact of human activities and colonialism on species adaptation, and more. Kiyoko Gotanda Bio:  I am a former professional ballet dancer who is now a researcher in the fields of evolution, behaviour, and ecology. After dancing with ballet companies such as the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, I hung up my pointe shoes and went to McGill University for my BSc. I received my PhD from McGill University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge and Université de Sherbrooke. I am currently an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University. My third passion after science and dance is photography, which bridges the gap between my interests in art and science. Transcript PDF Links: https://www.kiyokogotanda.com https://www.pidgephotography.com

    31 min

  3. 06/21/2025

    14. Christina Battle

    Summary: In this final series of the first season of the Ecologies in Practice Podcast, we are exploring the Atmosphere- the invisible world all around us. In the first episode on atmosphere, Ashar speaks with artist Christina Battle, who discusses her work and focus on the climate crisis, the intersection of art and science, and more. Bio: Christina Battle is an artist based in amiskwacîwâskahikan, (also known as Edmonton, Alberta), within the Aspen Parkland: the transition zone where prairie and forest meet. Her practice focuses on thinking deeply about the concept of disaster: its complexity, and the intricacies that are entwined within it. Transcript PDF Links:   insta @c_l_battle bluesky: @cbattle.bsky.social‬ Sites: Home seeds are meant to disperse

    35 min

  4. 05/26/2025

    13. Genevieve Robertson

    Summary: In this final episode of our series on the topic ‘Earth’, Ashar speaks with artist Genevieve Robertson, about materiality, walking, and interdisciplinary collaboration in understanding and addressing environmental issues. The conversation delves into her specific projects, including Slope and Rainbow Jordan, highlighting the significance of slowness, and the role of artists in environmental advocacy. Bio: Genevieve Robertson is a visual artist with an enduring interest in environmental studies. Her practice is grounded in drawing/painting, and extends to video, installation, and various forms of collaboration. Through the study and use of gathered materials (charcoal, paper, water, silt, ash, bitumen, plant and fungi dye, graphite etc.), her work explores anthropogenic impacts on ecology and the climate, and the intelligence and interconnection of the life systems of which we are part. Robertson holds a BFA from NSCAD University, an MFA from Emily Carr University, and has been supported through exhibitions, conferences and residencies internationally, and awards and grants nationally. Her work is featured in Outdoor School (Douglas and McIntyre), Art and Climate Change (Thames and Hudson), and Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada (Wilfrid-Laurier University Press). She is of mixed European settler ancestry and currently lives and works in the West Kootenays on the unceded territory of the sn̓ʕay̓ckstx Sinixt Confederacy Arrow Lakes and Yaqan Nukiy Lower Kootenay Band peoples. PDF Transcript Links: IG: @genevieve__robertson www.genevieverobertson.com

    31 min

  5. 05/19/2025

    12. Earth: Renee Lemoyne

    Summary: Renee Lemoyne is a graduate from the Indigenous Relations Program at Western, and joins Ashar on the podcast to share her research on the benefits of learning the Anishinaabemowin language in an immersive course. The conversation explores Renee’s observations on the positive impacts of a land-based language course on participants’ health, and in relation to Indigenous language revitalization efforts. Renee’s Bio: Kwey Kwey, Bimijiwan ndow, je suis Renée Lemoyne, Migizy ndodem, Kebaowek ndonjibaa. I’m a first-year medical student at NOSM University in Thunder Bay, ON. I have a master’s in Indigenous Relations and a BSc. in Biomedical Biology, with a minor in Indigenous Studies. I’m a Francophone Algonquin Kwe from Kebaowek First Nation in Kipawa QC. I have been part of the Anishinaabemowin learning community in N’Swakamok for years. Through my time I was a witness to beautiful things which led me to pursue my master’s and conduct research to show others the benefits of learning this language in a wholistic and immersive way!  Transcript PDF Links: https://www.timminspress.com/news/local-news/indigenous-land-based-course-offers-life-changing-experience IG: @lemoyne28

    47 min

  6. 05/06/2025

    11. Earth: Genviève Metson

    Summary: In this second episode for the theme ‘Earth’, host Ashar speaks with Dr. Geneviève Metson, who discusses her current work and research. Dr. Metson leads the Sustainable Resource Management Lab at Western University, and is establishing a living lab on campus to monitor nutrient cycling and climate change impacts. In this discussion, Dr. Metson emphasizes the importance of understanding nutrient cycling in urban agriculture, the need for data collection and monitoring, and highlights the value of interdisciplinary collaborations, including artistic engagement, to communicate scientific findings and engage the public.  BIO: Dr. Metson is an Associate Professor at Western University in London Ontario in the Department of Geography and Environment. She uses both social and natural science methods to investigate how we can better manage phosphorus, and other resources, more sustainably across scales. Her research uses a systems perspective and views nutrients as a useful lens to examine how societies engage with the provision of food, clean water, and waste treatment. This broad lens has afforded her the privilege to work in the USA, Australia, Sweden, South Africa, Malawi, and Vietnam. She received her PhD from McGill University in Canada and qualified as a docent at Linköping University in Sweden. PDF Transcript Links: @genemetson https://www.srmlab.ca https://liu.se/en/research/urbanagriculture https://liu.se/en/article/digging-into-nutrients-via-urban-agriculture

    35 min

  7. 04/30/2025

    10. Earth: Dana Prieto

    Summary: In this conversation, we speak with multidisciplinary artist Dana Prieto who discusses the significance of working with materials such as soil and clay, and the role of art in environmental conversations. We focus on a recent project of Dana’s, Footnotes for an Arsenal, which examined the complex histories and entanglements of a munitions factory turned art space. Bio: Dana Prieto is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher, born in Buenos Aires and based in Tkaronto. Dana’s site-responsive work examines social, political, and chemical ties that connect us to the land. Transcript PDF Learn more about Dana’s work by visiting these links: https://www.instagram.com/dana___prieto Dana Prieto at Small Arms Inspection Building https://danaprieto.com

    48 min

  8. 04/07/2025

    Episode 9. Material Trouble: Lois Klassen

    Summary: In this episode of the Ecologies in Practice podcast, host Ashar speaks with artist and researcher Lois Klassen, to discuss the pressing issue of textile waste, and the outcomes of the Processing Textile Waste tour and seminar workshop that took place in October 2024. This workshop was part of the Ecologies in Practice podcast project, organized by producer Amanda White and presented in partnership with  the Centre for Sustainable Curating, and Goodwill Commercial Solutions. Lois shares her personal journey with textiles, her research focus on ethical engagement, and the importance of understanding both local and global perspectives around textile waste management.  BIo: Lois Klassen is an artist, writer, and researcher known for projects that engage participants in creative actions that deliberately face ethical demand by way of social, aesthetic, and material methods. The project, Reading the Migration Library, collaboratively produced small edition publications related to migration, displacement, and diaspora. Klassen’s small press, Light Factory Publications, follows her long-standing involvement in mail art and open social and cultural networks. Her current zine series, Practices of Everyday Ethics notates critical reflections on ethics and textile waste, middle or third positionalities, and the rights to labour. Klassen was a 2020 Fulbright Fellow at University of Texas in El Paso (Center for Inter-American Border Studies and the Ruben Center for the Visual Arts). She completed a PhD in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University, a Master of Applied Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, a Diploma of Art History from UBC, and advanced textile art studies at the former Capilano College. Lois Klassen serves as the coordinator of the Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board, and is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Interactive Art and Technology, SFU. Transcript PDF Links: Info about the Tour and Seminar project Info about the cushions made for the CSC as part of the workshop: https://sustainablecurating.ca/exhibitions-and-projects/cushions/ Further Resources Global Issue: The OR Foundation. The Best Resistance Is an Alternative. https://theor.org/ Ricketts, Liz, and Branson Skinner. Stop Waste Colonialism: Leveraging Extended Producer Responsibility to Catalyze a Justice-Led Circular Textiles Economy. The Or Foundation, 2023, https://stopwastecolonialism.org/. Podcast:  Serumaga, Nikissi, and Bobby Kolade. Vintage or Violence. project about fast fashion waste from a pan-african perspective https://www.vintageorviolence.com/ For Makers: Podcast: Check Your Thread. a podcast about sewing more sustainably https://checkyourthread.com/ Fabric Sustainability Index & Fabric Life Cycle Assessment EXPLAINED | Core Fabrics. Directed by Core Fabrics, 2024. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALfq_QynRpo. Canadian Fibreshed network. https://www.canadianfibreshed.org/ Lois Klassen, Practices of Everyday Ethics, Volume 1: Yoga Bolsters and Dog Beds“ (2022)  and “Practices of Everyday Ethics, Volume 2: Meditations on Textile Waste” (2023), Vancouver: Light Factory Publications. Both are also available for free download here – https://lightfactorypublications.ca/title/meditations-on-textile-waste/ Social Enterprise “recirculated textiles”: https://www.goodwillindustries.ca/commercial-solutions/ Our Social Fabric (Vancouver) – https://oursocialfabric.ca/ Textile Museum: https://textilemuseum.ca/education/our-textile-reuse-program Maker space in Hamilton: https://empiremakespace.com/

    39 min

  9. 03/31/2025

    08. Material Trouble: Pramila Choudhary

    Summary: In this episode host Ashar speaks with Pramila Choudhary, a designer and researcher specializing in sustainability and textile design. Pramila shares her journey from a small village in Rajasthan, India, to her work in textiles and current PhD research in Canada. The conversation explores her early influences in textiles, the transition from corporate fashion to community-centered practices, and the critical role women play in preserving craft knowledge and fostering sustainable practices.  Bio: Pramila Choudhary is an interdisciplinary artist and designer working at the intersection of craft, art, design, and sustainability. Trained as a textile and industrial designer at the National Institute of Design (India) and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Switzerland), her practice is rooted in material culture, community-based research, and embodied knowledge. With over a decade of experience in the textiles and clothing industry, Pramila has collaborated with corporations, non-profits, artisanal communities, and design institutions across India and internationally. Her work explores craft as a way of thinking through materials, and examines how practice-led, experiential knowledge can inform and shape academic design research. Currently a PhD candidate in Geography, Urban, and Environmental Studies at Concordia University, Tiohtiá:ke/ Montreal, Quebec, her research focuses on sustainability through generational craft practices, ecofeminist perspectives, and material culture. She is actively engaged with the Textile and Materiality Cluster at the Milieux Institute and the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, where her research-creation practice contributes to local and global conversations on climate justice, community resilience, and decolonial approaches to design.  Transcript PDF Links: Instagram: @pramilach & @projecthandstitch   Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pramila-choudhary https://www.behance.net/Pramilachoudhary https://icelandfieldschool.ca/blog

  10. 03/24/2025

    07. Material Trouble: Kirsty Robertson

    Summary: In this episode Ashar interviews Dr. Kirsty Robertson, Canada Research Chair in Museums, Art and Sustainability at Western University. They discuss Kirsty’s curatorial practice, and her work with the Synthetic Collective, and establishing the Center for Sustainable Curating. Kirsty shares insights on the future of museum practices and sustainability, her research on synthetic textiles, and the need for a shift in how we perceive and handle plastics. Bio: Dr. Kirsty Robertson is Canada Research Chair in Museums, Art, and Sustainability and Professor and Director of Museum and Curatorial Studies in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University where she also directs the Centre for Sustainable Curating (CSC). Robertson has published widely on activism, visual culture and museums, culminating in her book Tear Gas Epiphanies: Protest, Museums, Culture (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019). Robertson is a founding member of the Synthetic Collective, a group of artists, scientists and cultural researchers working on plastics pollution in the Great Lakes Region and project co-lead on A Museum for Future Fossils, an ongoing “vernacular museum” that responds curatorially to ecological crisis. Transcript PDF Links:  Book: Tear Gas Epiphanies www.kirstymairirobertson.com www.syntheticcollective.org www.museumforfuturefossils.com Centre for Sustainable Curating

    36 min
  • 10 Episodes

About

From the University to the community, we bring together thinkers, makers, and doers from art, science, theory, and practice in conversation around pressing environmental issues. Join us as we navigate these complex topics and hear from a vibrant mix of artists, experts, and community members, all united in their quest to tackle environmental challenges, aiming to inspire change.

Information

  • Creator
    Ecologies in Practice
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © ecologies in practice 2024
  • Show Website
    Ecologies in Practice