The Just Sustainability Podcast

I first learned about Patrick Moore from Theresa Peterson (who is featured on the first season of the Just Sustainability Podcast). Theresa suggested that I should record an episode with Patrick because of his extensive community organizing related to protecting the waters of Minnesota and his allyship in support of the Indigenous nations in the Upper Midwest. Theresa, as she often is, was right:...

In this episode we return to Amanda Corris’ conversation with Eugene Chislenko. Amanda and Eugene talk about Philosophers for Sustainability and the role of professional philosophers in social discourse and advocacy. Eugene is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Temple University and is one of the co-founders of Philosophers for Sustainability. His scholarship covers a broad range of top...

In this episode Amanda introduces us to Eugene Chislenko. Eugene is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Temple University and is one of the co-founders of Philosophers for Sustainability. His scholarship covers a broad range of topics related to moral philosophy and moral psychology, history of philosophy, and — most salient given the focus of this podcast — the role of professiona...

Julia Gibson often describes themselves as a farmer-philosopher. Her scholarship often weaves together themes such as palliative care ethics and remembrance, the impact and role of narratives and stories, resisting colonialism, and the rights and representation of non-human species in political discourse about environment and sustainability. Julia is core faculty in the Environmental Studies progr...

Julia Gibson often describes themselves as a farmer-philosopher. I would describe them as the author of some of the most exciting work that’s been recently published about environmental and animal ethics. Her scholarship often weaves together themes such as palliative care ethics and remembrance, the impact and role of narratives and stories, resisting colonialism, and the rights and represe...

Ray Burns is the Tribal Partnerships Manager for the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in North Dakota (ND EPSCoR). Moreover, at the time that the conversation featured in this episode was recorded, Ray was the President of Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, MN. During the second half of the conversation I had with Ray, he told me more a...

Ray Burns is the Tribal Partnerships Manager for the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in North Dakota (ND EPSCoR). Moreover, at the time that the conversation featured in this episode was recorded, Ray was the President of Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, MN. I first met Ray 7 or 8 years ago when he served as the Director for the Nati...

When I first met Simon Franco about a decade ago he was the Student Success Coordinator for Multi-ethnic Student Programs at the University of Minnesota Morris (which the precursor to the position that I currently hold). Soon after that initial meeting, Simon changed jobs and became the Assistant Director of Student Activities and Leadership (still at UMN Morris). In his Assistant Director role Si...

When I first met Simon Franco about a decade ago he was the Student Success Coordinator for Multi-ethnic Student Programs at the University of Minnesota Morris (which the precursor to the position that I currently hold). Soon after that initial meeting, Simon changed jobs and became the Assistant Director of Student Activities and Leadership (still at UMN Morris). In his Assistant Director role Si...

In the previous episode of Just Sustainability it was my pleasure to introduce you to Emily Brier and to share the first half of the conversation that I recorded with Emily. During that first half, Emily and I spoke mostly about how she thought about inclusive pedagogy and some of the steps that she has taken to make the courses that she teaches more accessible to students. In addition to being an...

There are at least two things about Emily Brier that would be of interest to listeners of this podcast. First, she’s innovative educator that has thought a lot about and built her courses around inclusive, accessible, and socially just pedagogy. Second, she’s a poet who writes about the relationships between food, women, and Queerness in Appalachia (she’s also done a lot of work...

On the finale of Season 2 of Just Sustainable, Julian Agyeman and I talk about a broad range of topics that include: (1) the importance of fostering a sense of belonging for work related to sustainability and social justice, (2) hiring and representation within universities and colleges, and (3) the steps that communities have taken to become more justly sustainable. Julian Agyeman is a Professor...

There’s an aphorism that suggests that one should not meet one’s heroes. That aphorism is without doubt incorrect when it comes to Dr. Julian Agyeman FRSA FRGS. Julian is certainly one of my heroes (indeed, the title of this podcast derives from the concept of just sustainabilities that — I believe — he coined roughly 20 years ago) and meeting him was very much a delight! D...

In the second episode featuring Gabe Desrosiers, Gabe and I discuss how institutions of higher-education within the United States might better support language and cultural reclamation by appreciating the full personhood of students. We also talk about what it means to live in a good way from an Anishinaabe perspective. Gabe Desrosiers is an award winning singer and dancer, he is a translator and...

I was initially acquainted with Gabe Desrosiers as a fellow Canadian amongst the faculty at the University of Minnesota Morris. Indeed, I first learned of Gabe as the result of one of our mutual colleagues saying something to me like: “Oh, you’re Canadian? You should meet Gabe. He’s Canadian too!” However, in the 9 years that we’ve been colleagues, Gabe has become a g...

On this episode we return to my conversation with Erika Bailey-Johnson. We talk about a workshop series at Bemidji State University aimed at providing students with a range of practical skills (many of which are related to sustainability and Indigenous lifeways), the hierarchies in higher-education, how we need to be conscientious of the effects of those hierarchies, and being better at change. Er...

I first met Erika Bailey-Johnson about 8 years ago when she chaired the organizing committee for the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (aka UMACS). It took one conversation with her to convince me of two things: First, Erika is a force of nature — if one looks up “change-maker” in the dictionary, one won’t find a picture of Erika in the entry but one reall...

When Cathy Jordan was previously on Just Sustainability, she mentioned that she was about to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 26th Conference of the Parties meeting in Glasgow. In this episode she tells us about her experience leading the University of Minnesota’s delegation to that meeting and some of her thoughts about climate governance. Links: http...

On the second part of Amanda’s conversation with Evelyn Brister, they speak about efforts aimed at reintroducing American chestnuts to the wild and some of the ethical questions underlying those efforts. Dr. Brister is an environmental philosopher and a philosopher of science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She’s written about a range of topics, including: climate governance,...

On the first episode of our new special series, Just Sustainability – Socially Engaged Philosophy at the Intersection of Sustainability and Social Justice, Amanda introduces us to Evelyn Brister. Dr. Brister is an environmental philosopher and a philosopher of science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She’s written about a range of topics, including: climate governance, the pro...

It’s my distinct pleasure on this episode to introduce you to a new contributor to Just Sustainability, Amanda Corris. Starting at the beginning of 2022, Amanda will start hosting a series of special feature episodes of Just Sustainability about socially-engaged philosophy at the intersection of sustainability and equity. Amanda is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Minnesota Center...

In the final part of our conversation, Cathy Jordan and I talk about the emphasis on addressing disparities and harms within much of the literature about environmental justice. Cathy suggests that those of us who work on environmental justice need for to be more aspirational and be better at envisioning a more utopic future. Cathy also tells me about the skills that she believes everybody should p...

Cathy and I had so much fun during our live-recording for the IonE Annual meeting that we decided to follow that discussion up with a longer conversation. Reconvening allowed us to take some more time to go into greater detail about scholarship that empowers communities. During the first part of our follow-up conversation, Cathy and I chatted about community-based participatory research (CBPR), ho...

This episode, where I have the pleasure of introducing you to Cathy Jordan, was recorded live as part of the 2021 annual meeting of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota. It was a really fun experience to get to record the podcast with a live (albeit virtual) audience and I must thank Courtney Peters, Julie Hanus, Sofia Leyva, Kellcee Baker, Ben Fink, and — o...

During the concluding half-hour of our conversation, Janiece Watts and I spoke about: finding common cause with one another across the silos of our work, what institutions of higher education might learn from activists, and the importance of the narratives and perspectives of marginalized folks. Janiece Watts is the Director of Culture and Partnerships at Fresh Energy, a board member of the Headwa...