Terra Informa

Is plant parenthood a big part of your life? Have you acquired some recent plant purchases to spruce up your new virtual workplace or classroom? This week on the show, our guest is Eric Gibson, co-owner of the Little Plant Shop. We're asking, how do our houseplants and all things green make us feel? We explore the connection between our houseplants and our health, along with the effects of spendin...

This week, we're bringing you our annual Terra Misinforma episode! A mysterious tape has been found in the woods, and its origins and contents remain a mystery. However, they might suggest some shocking insight into the very nature of life on planet earth. April fools! Download program log here. ★ Support this podcast ★

Spring has sprung, and it's time for another news roundup episode! This week, the Terra Informa team covers some of the environmental news you may have missed from the month of March. We start with the introduction of a new bill that aims to address the legacy of environmental racism in Nova Scotia, as well as a story on conflict between First Nations and Ducks Unlimited over water control structu...

On the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, K'atl'odeeche First Nation is taking steps to create opportunities for their members to make their livelihoods through fishing. In our second episode on Indigenous-led fisheries management, we are joined by PhD student Kristine Wray. We investigate the management structures that govern the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery, and identify pathw...

In the management and conservation of resources, what does it mean to coexist? This week on Terra Informa we are joined by PhD student Krista Tremblett to bring you a story on Indigenous-led approaches to fisheries management in Atlantic Canada. We explore the historical precedence and Treaty commitments that guarantee Indigenous rights to fish for a moderate livelihood. And we investigate the rec...

In this episode, we speak with urban beekeeper David Whitaker about how he picked up this unique hobby and the benefits of bees in the City. Learn more about beekeeping from the City of Edmonton and how to avoid the hype of bee-washing . To get your hands on some sweet, sweet, local honey email davesurbanhoney@shaw.ca! Thanks to: Sonak Patel for research + writing + hosting Andrea Miller for music...

It's time for our monthly roundup of environmental news and stories. This week, we start with an update to a story we brought you last month on coal exploration and mining in the Rocky Mountains. Next, you'll hear about a pipeline spill in Richmond, California and devastating blackouts to power grids across the United States. We'll head to Alberta's northern boreal forest and hear about the propos...

Dear Listeners, My most sincere apologies but I could not secure the interview I needed for the new episode we had planned this week. Instead, we'll keep working on new content and invite you to listen to a deep dive on the Canadian Energy Centre, better known as the Alberta War Room. While you listen, maybe look at the news, and ask yourself what happens when an Emperor goes to war without his cl...

This week Charlotte Thomasson hosts us on a cross-country ski tour around Edmonton, Alberta. Elizbeth Dowdell joins with some facts about the Canadian Birkebeiner and the two inspire you to get outside and explore the beauty of winter. Small-town rivalries, poetry, and the origin of two classic Canadian winter past-times are shared in this episode. P. S. the second past-time is snowshoeing, and Li...

The power of storytelling gives us a way to cope with the uncertainty of our climate future. This week on Terra Informa we’re exploring those stories about the future worlds that are not so different from our own. While you may be familiar with science fiction, genres like speculative fiction, climate fiction, or cli-fi, Afro-futurism, and Indigenous futurism are reimagining oppressive realities a...

New year, same environmental headlines! Listeners, we're back from our break with a brand new episode. We're bringing you an update on some of the evolving environmental headlines we brought you in 2020, and a roundup of new stories we're following closely. We're covering the Biden administration's decision around the Keystone XL pipeline, a clickbait-worthy headline about river otters and contami...

It's the last week of our winter break! We're re-airing an archive episode from May 2019 that asks what treaty means for our relationships to land, the more-than-human, and to each other. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode! Interested in volunteering with Terra Informa? Fill out our volunteer application form! Download program log here.   ★ Support this podcast ★

In this week's archive episode, we're airing a piece from July 2019, where we focus on the proposed climate action policies of each major federal party in the upcoming 2019 election, and speak with Stephen Buhler of Our Time, the group who organized "CBC Change the Debate" rallies across Canada just two weeks ago. We talk about the importance of climate action at the federal scale, why Canadians s...

While we're on break, Sofia Osborne and Olivia deBourcier of the podcast Beyond Blathers (and previously of Terra Informa!) are back to teach us about scorpions! To listen to more episodes of Beyond Blathers, check out their website , or look them up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Download program log here. ★ Support this podcast ★

We're on a break this month! So this week, we're re-airing one of our favourite archive episodes produced by Terra Informa alum, Sofia Osborne.  Sofia brings us a story about de-extinction: the use of selective breeding, cloning, and genetic engineering to “resurrect” extinct species. This technology poses a lot of moral and ethical questions—would these “de-extincted” animal species be authentic?...

This week we explore the meaning and significance of the winter solstice, reflecting on both the dark and the light so prominent at this time of year. The Terra Informa team shares what has made them thankful in the past year, and for inspiration we share " Praise Song for the Unloved Animals " by Margaret Renkl. Terra Informa will be rebroadcasting some favourite episodes for the next four weeks,...

This week on Terra Informa, Sonak Patel and Hannah Cunningham talk all about Christmas trees. When and where did this tradition begin? What was used to decorate the trees before electricity? And, to bring it all home, Elizabeth Dowdell regales us with a childhood tale of making the harrowing journey to harvest the family Christmas tree Download program log here.   Are you passionate about environm...

Listeners, we know you're all very upset that Eurovision was cancelled this year due to COVID. So, we decided to host something similar ourselves on the radio. This week, we bring to you the first ever EuroBirdoVision Identification Competition. You'll hear Terra Informers Charlotte Thomasson, Elizabeth Dowdell, and Sonak Patel try to guess the difference between the names of European birds and ba...

Science is cool. You may agree, since you're listening to a podcast that talks a lot about science of the environmental variety. But, science can be hard to understand, and research can be hard to access. Here at Terra Informa, we asked ourselves, how could we help track down, and break down, new scientific discoveries for our listeners, and make it fun to listen to and easy to understand? In this...

For this edition of our monthly news roundup, we’re covering the natural disasters that may have slid under our radar due to a certain global pandemic. While hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and ice storms may not have received front page media attention, these natural disasters are still taking place, in Alberta and globally. And last time we checked, climate change is undeterred by the state of th...

At Terra Informa, we've talked trash before. Back in 2017, we even went on a tour of the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. But, one thing we haven't talked about are the people who do the incredibly important job of sorting and processing our garbage. This week at Terra Informa, we interview filmmaker Anthony Goertz about The Line, a film that focuses on the employees of Quality One Training and S...

This week we’re talking about the Nintendo video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Or, at least we’re going to start there. A few weeks ago we caught up with Terra Informa alumni Sofia Osborne for an episode about the computer game, the Sims. While she’s not busy writing and winning community radio awards, Sofia actually makes another podcast.  Because we’re such great pals, and go way back, we...

This week, we're bringing you a super special edition trivia episode! Listen in to see how we stacked up against questions on plants (fictional and non-fictional), animals, and.... our own show? Grab a piece of paper and get ready to test your knowledge! This special episode was originally produced for Fundrive, an annual fundraiser in support of our home station, CJSR 88.5 FM. To learn more about...

Do you feel that? The chill in the air, the feeling of a hand brushing your shoulder? Scara Informa is back and it's spookier than ever! This year, the Terra Informers will take you on a haunted tour of the world as we visit haunted forests around the globe - apparently there's lots of them. Download the program log here. ★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa, Elizabeth Dowdell, Charlotte Thomasson, and Hannah Cunningham discuss the 1984 Hayao Miyazaki film Nausicä of the Valley of the Wind.  ★ Support this podcast ★