Emerging Environments Emerging Environments

In this episode, we connect with Dr. Natalie Ban and PhD student, Jade Steel. Natalie Ban is a professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. Natalie’s research encompasses the broad field of marine ethnoecology. Specifically, her group focuses on coastal and marine conservation and fisheries and the social-ecological systems that connect them. Her group’s work integrates natural and social sciences, and bridges western and traditional ecological knowledge. Jade Steel is a doctoral candidate in Natalie’s research group. Her research focuses on Indigenous-led salmon monitoring along the Central Coast of BC. 

We had a great conversation with Natalie and Jade, exploring the range of research projects happening in Natalie’s lab. We spoke about their work on fisheries reconciliation in British Columbia, including the centering of Indigenous perspectives in marine protected area network planning, and also supporting fisheries monitoring efforts by First Nations, which is the focus of Jade’s PhD. Jade and Natalie talked about the importance of the local scale expertise held by First Nations, which is highlighting some gaps in climate change modeling for marine environments. We also talked about the interactions between Indigenous rights, justice and fisheries management, where declining fish populations resulting from commercial overharvesting is now being rightly characterized as an infringement on the rights of Indigenous communities. We closed out our conversation with some thoughts on how to find positivity as individuals working within, and thinking deeply about, the environmental crisis.

Today we are chatting with Dr. Hansi Singh, climate scientist and co-founder and CEO of Planette, a climate tech start-up. Hansi was formerly an Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria. During the pandemic she began working on a research project that evolved into Planette and she recently decided to leave academia and dedicate her time to growing her business.

In our conversation with Hansi, we talked about her past research program at the University of Victoria and her transition to the private sector. Planette’s aim is to provide decision-ready probabilistic seasonal to decadal climate forecasts for business, so we also spent some time talking about the evolution and growing academic and societal interest in decadal climate prediction in recent years. Hansi encouraged more climate scientists to consider entrepreneurship to help ensure that the private sector makes use of the best science for adaptation and transitional planning and action. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Hansi Singh.

In this episode, we are speaking with Andrea Olive, a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her primary research and teaching interest is in environmental policy and politics, primarily with respect to wildlife conservation in the prairie regions of Canada and the US. She is the author of multiple books - and, in this episode, we chat with her about her two most recent books that both came out in 2023: the first is entitled, Protecting the prairies: Lorne Scott and the politics of conservation and the second is a collection that she co-edited entitled, Transformative politics of nature: overcoming barriers to conservation in Canada
We had a wide ranging conversation with Andrea. We first covered the life of Lorne Scott, and how his early fascination with nature set the stage for life long journey into environmental politics. And by reflecting on Lorne’s life, we were able to explore the unique socio-ecological context of the Canadian prairies. It was fascinating to learn that the impetus for a lot of our current federal environmental policy can actually be traced back to the assessment of major resource development projects in Saskatchewan. So there’s some important history there that gives some perspective on the trajectory of environmental management in Canada. Andrea also reflected back on her time putting together her other recent book, transformative politics of nature, noting the importance of the social connections that were made among authors and also how the book was likely influenced by the variable experiences that authors had through the Covid-19 pandemic. The diversity of authorship and topics covered in the book really set it apart from traditional conservation textbooks, and despite acknowledging some of the hard truths about where we are now for biodiversity and how we got to this point, there’s a thread of hope throughout the book that will likely catch the eye of the next generation of conservation scientists.

We are thrilled to have Dr. Faisal Moola as the first guest for our 4th season of the podcast. Faisal is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph in the Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics. As a professor, his research focuses on forest conservation and management, Ecology and ethnoecology of plants, environmental policy and Indigenous-led conservation, and he has been publishing extensively in academic journals on these topics. Prior to his arrival at the University of Guelph, he spent 16 years at the David Suzuki Foundation, first as a forest ecologist and eventually in the positions of Director of Science and then Director General. Faisal is also the lead for the Biological Outcomes and Indicators Research Stream of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership, which is a Canada-wide initiative that aims to support and promote Indigenous-led conservation.  

We talked about his path from the non-governmental world to academia, where he now has a vibrant interdisciplinary research program. He shared how his lab has moved towards a rights-based approach to conservation, exploring the connections between the health of Indigenous communities and their access to traditional lands and resources, with recent focus on urban environments. We also spoke about his work as a conservation educator where he is adamant about the importance of policy literacy in emerging conservation scientists, as well as the necessity of building meaningful connections with Indigenous communities. It was a pleasure to speak with Faisal and we’re excited to have this conversation kick off our 4th season of Emerging Environments!

Welcome back to the final episode of Season 3 of Emerging Environments.

In this episode we continue exploring the power of story-telling with award-winning film producer and director, Caitlin Starowicz. Caitlin has over 10 years of experience in television and film, from comedy to drama to documentary. Her extensive documentary work spans broad environmental themes including conservation and climate change. In our conversation, we chat about three of Caitlin’s recent projects. 

Her 2018 film She Walks with Apes follows the work of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas, sometimes known as the “Trimates”, who studied great apes in the wild. The film also introduces the next generation of young women scientists who were inspired by them and discusses the current state of great ape conservation. It premiered on BBC America on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

​Recently, Caitlin has worked on two climate change documentaries. Her 2020 documentary about Greta Thunberg and the youth climate justice movement, entitled Rebellion, was the season premiere of the 60th anniversary CBC’s The Nature of Things, and, most recently, her 2023 documentary, entitled Apocalypse Plan B investigates the potential perils of climate geoengineering to mitigate global warming.

Documentary film-making is such an integral vehicle for science communication and it was so inspiring to have Caitlin share her insights with us. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Caitlin Starowicz and we look forward to reconnecting with you for Season 4!

On this episode we connected with Dr. Anne Toomey. Anne is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist with interests in how people connect to their natural environment and the role of scientific research in supporting that connection. Currently she holds the post of Assistant Professor at Pace University’s Department of Environmental Studies and Science, where she teaches courses on sustainability and multiple environmental perspectives. Her most recent research focuses on science communication in conservation, citizen science, civic environmental stewardship, and sense of place along urban waterfronts. Anne received her Ph.D. in Human Geography from Lancaster University in the UK, her Masters in Sustainable Development and Natural Resources from American University, and her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from the University of Rhode Island.
In our conversation, we chatted about Anne’s early forays into environmental science. As a graduate student she spent a significant amount of time in Nicaragua studying sustainable farming practices, and then in Bolivia investigating the impact of local scientific studies, and the subsequent transfer of knowledge to local communities. We wanted
to connect with Anne after coming across her recent article titled “Why facts don't change minds: Insights from cognitive science for the improved communication of conservation research”, which was published in the journal Biological Conservation earlier this year. In our chat, we walk through the different sections of Anne’s article to explore some of the barriers and pathways for effective communication of conservation science. These included the role of the individual vs. collectives for engaging with science and making systemic change, tapping into alternative science communication channels and focusing on authentic interactions as opposed to strategies of persuasion.
It was a very engaging conservation about a challenging topic, and we hope you’re able to find some insights to carry forward in your own interactions with science.
So with that, we bring your our conversation with Dr. Anne Toomey.