Emerging Environments

Today on the podcast we welcome Dr. David McLagan.  David is an Assistant Professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He specializes in environmental geochemistry with a focus on mercury dynamics, but his work is thoroughly interdisciplinary, drawing from the fields of atmospheric chemistry, dendrochronology, and human health. David is part of a team of researchers that recently received...

For this 1st episode of season 3, we welcomed author, scientist and activist, Alexandra Morton. In 2021, Alexandra published her book entitled Not on my watch: how a renegade whale biologist took on governments and industry to save wild salmon to great interest and acclaim. Her book details the history and controversy surrounding the impact of salmon farming on wild salmon populations on the coast...

Éliane Ubalijoro is the Executive Director of Sustainability in the Digital Age, the Global Hub Director Future Earth in Canada and a Professor of Practice for Public-Private Sector Partnerships at McGill University’s Institute for the Study of International Development. Eliane has decades of experience spanning academia, and working at the science-policy interface in the non-profit and internatio...

For episode 26, we welcome Chelsea Rochman. Chelsea is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. She studies the sources, fates and ecological implications of anthropogenic pollutants in freshwater and marine ecosystems, with a large focus on microplastics. Her work has been highly impactful in the developing field of microplastics r...

In today’s episode, we are speaking with Professor Rebecca Rooney of the University of Waterloo. Rebecca is a wetland ecologist who specializes in studying the influence of human disturbances, such as the introduction of invasive or non-native species, on wetland ecosystem function. Her research includes both fundamental, curiosity-driven science as well as policy-relevant field work and applicati...

 In this episode, we are speaking with Professor Laura Tozer. Laura is a social scientist who studies environmental politics and governance focusing on actions that address the climate crisis and also drive transitions to sustainable energy use. Her research explores mitigation and adaptation actions at a variety of jurisdictional scales: including international, federal, provincial, municipa...

This week on the podcast we’re speaking with Professor and author Thomas Homer-Dixon. Thomas has a background in political science, but his research and writing over the years has been incredibly interdisciplinary and expansive. He “uses complexity science to examine threats to global security—especially economic instability, environmental stress, ideological polarization, and mass violence—and ho...

Our guest on this episode is Marney Isaac. Marney is a Professor at the University of Toronto-Scarborough and Canada Research Chair in agroecosystems and development. Marney conducts interdisciplinary research on plant strategies and the nutrient economy of agroecosystems. Her lab investigates practices that improve the efficiency of nutrient cycles, optimize plant-soil interactions, and promote l...

Today we are speaking with Prof. Soren Brothers, the Allan and Helaine Shiff  Curator of Climate Change at the Royal Ontario Museum. Soren is a limnologist by training and spent several years as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University before beginning his new position at the ROM and the University of Toronto less than a year ago. The Curator of Climate Change is a new curatorship at the RO...

On today’s podcast, we are speaking with journalist and author Michelle Nijhuis about her beautiful new book, “Beloved Beasts: Fighting for life in an age of extinction ”. The book traces the conservation movement’s history from the late nineteenth century to today and explores the evolving science and philosophy of conservation and the major milestones along the way. But it also shines a light on...

Today on the podcast we’re speaking with Joe Bennett and Audrey Turcotte. Joe received his PhD from the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia in 2012. He held a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Queensland in Australia, and is now an associate professor at Carleton University, where he is the co-director of the geomatics and landscape ecology laboratory. As...

In this episode, we’re speaking with Dan Kraus. Over the past 25 years, Dan has been working as an ecologist, environmental planner and conservation scientist in public, private and non-governmental organizations. Dan has recently joined Wildlife Conservation Society-Canada as the Director of National Conservation. In this role, he is working to advance the Key Biodiversity Areas initiative, or KB...

In this episode we are speaking with Rick Smith, the President of the Canadian Climate Institute (formerly the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices). Rick has had a long career in environmental activism and spent many years as the Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada. Prior to his time at Environmental Defence, Rick received his PhD from the University of Guelph, where he worked wi...

In our season 2 premiere, we are speaking with Severn Cullis-Suzuki. When Severn was only 12 years old she warned world leaders about the cost of their inaction on environmental issues at the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, or more commonly known as the Rio Earth Summit. Severn’s words are not only still relevant today, but are now a devastating reminder of the d...

Welcome to our 2nd COP26 episode where we’re speaking with researchers involved in the climate science and policy landscape. For this episode we’re speaking with Raul Salas Reyes. Raul, who attended this year’s COP, is a senior PhD candidate in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at UTSC. He is currently researching the evolution of the differential treatment norm in the internat...

Although we’re taking a break while we get ready for Season 2 of the podcast, we wanted to shine a light on the science of the recently published 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as the COP26 meeting that’s taking place this week in Glasgow scotland for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. So, we are releasing a couple of special episodes de...

For this final episode of the first season of the podcast, we're speaking with with Professor Marc Cadotte. Marc completed his PhD in Ecology at the University of Tennessee in 2006. Following some postdoctoral work at the University of California, he joined the Department of Biological Science at U of T-Scarborough. Throughout his academic career Marc has been a prolific researcher, receiving seve...

For episode #12, we speak with Dr. Melissa Lem, who is a family physician located in Vancouver, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia and the president elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the environment. Melissa started her career as a physician in northern BC, and then moved to Toronto where she started to explore the scientific evidence that examines the lin...

In episode 11, we speak with Dr. Simon Donner, a climatologist and Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia. Simon’s research focuses on the impact of climate change on coral reef ecosystems. Simon also studies the intersection between climate change, marine science and public policy and is actively involved in research and outreach related to sea-level rise a...

In episode #10, we sit down with Dr. Ian Mauro, an environmental scientist, film-maker, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Winnipeg and the Executive Director of the Prairie Climate Centre. Ian wears many hats and is involved in a variety of Canadian climate change science and advocacy initiatives. We spoke with Ian about his connection to the north and how he got into film-maki...

In episode #9 we speak with Drs. Patrick Keys and Elizabeth Barnes of Colorado State University. Patrick is a lead research scientist in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability where his work focuses on a broad range of global sustainability challenges, including climate change impacts, anthropocene risks, and social-ecological teleconnections. Pat is a true interdisciplinary scientist a...

In episode #8 we speak with Dr. Jodi Hilty. Jodi is the President and Chief Scientist of the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Initiative. She is a wildlife corridor ecologist and conservationist with over 20 years of experience managing large-scale conservation programs. She has co-edited or been lead author on four books, the most recent of which is titled Corridor Ecology: Linking Landscapes for Biodi...

In episode #7, we speak with environmental journalist, Emma Marris, whose new book, titled Wild Souls - Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World, is being published on June 29th (see link below). Emma has been writing about environmental issues for over 20 years in publications such as the journal Nature, National Geographic, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and many others. A common thread...

In episode 6, we speak with Eli Enns, a Nuu-chah-nulth Canadian political scientist and internationally recognized expert in bio-cultural heritage conservation. Eli is the Co-Founder & President of the Iisaak Olam Foundation, which works to support indigenous leadership in the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. Ultimately, Isaak Olam aims to support the establishment of Indigen...

In episode #5, we explore a local story from southern Ontario involving a proposed development of a wetland habitat in the town of Pickering, the fast tracking of development opportunities in Ontario and recent changes to the role of Conservation Authorities. At the time when this was all taking place, the story got a significant amount of media coverage, which was in large part due to the activis...