Terra Informa

This week on Terra Informa, we discuss the issues surrounding the Coastal Gas Link Project, that is being proposed to run through Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia. We give you a background on what the CGL project is and the current timeline surrounding its development, why this pipeline project is being opposed, actions of solidarity with Wet’suwet’en occuring around the world, and how the conflict has been being covered by the media.In this episode, we feature audio from the occupation by the youth for Wet'suwet'en at the Victoria legislature in Lekwungen territories and an interview with Jessica Mayhew. Thank you to Takaiya Blainey, Kolin Sutherland, Saul Brown, Jessica Mayhew, and all other Indigneous youth fighting for a livable future. To stay up to date and informed follow @gidmtencheckpoint and @tapiocastarch on Instagram, or the hashtags #alleyesonwetsuweten and #shutdowncanada. You can also find more information about donating to Indigenous folks on the frontlines on websites like

Sarah Connor and Michael James with the Rebel Life Project shared their presentation at the October 2019 Change for Climate Talks with three simple, but not so easy steps for managing climate grief. Their advice:  Figure out your purpose. Eat, sleep, and exercise. Make a plan We’ll hear from Terra Informers Sonak Patel, Andrea Miller, and Elizabeth Dowdell as they share thoughts on the talk, put this advice into practice, and cope with climate grief. If you're feeling climate grief, visit our website for a list of resources related to this episode.★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa we share the second part of an interview with Eriel Deranger, co-founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, where we talk about what it means to live in relation to each other and the environment.In Reject Teck Part 1: Who is Teck?! we shared background on the mining company Teck Resources Ltd and Eriel explained why the proposed Frontier Oilsands Mine should be rejected. Just before we aired that episode on February 25th, the RejectTeck campaign tasted sweet sweet victory.Sort of.Teck rejected itself in a letter published February 23, where it removed it's application for environmental approval.While that project has been shelved, the interview we share with you today is deeply relevant because it covers themes that include the ongoing way we approach resource projects, the environment, and each other across this country. Eriel is organizing and campaigning about more than one oilsands mine. Indigenous Climate Action is an Indigenous climate justice organization.

This week on Terra Informa we share the first part of an interview with Eriel Deranger, Executive Director and co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action, one of the organizations behind Reject Teck. Reject Teck a grassroots campaign challenging the Teck Frontier oilsands project and the Canadian government, that has made headlines at COP25, Fire Drill Fridays, and in other news. Eriel has a lot of knowledge to share about the Teck project, the larger resource development process in Canada and Alberta, and organizing to protect the environment and take climate action.Update: As of February 23, 2020, the Teck Resources Ltd has withdrawn the Frontier mine project from the environmental assessment approval process.★ Support this podcast ★

This week, Terra Informers Charlotte Thomasson, Andy Silva, and Shawn Hou discuss the different forms that climate action can take. What are the differences between collective and individual action, and is one more important than the other?★ Support this podcast ★

This week, we’re bringing you the second and final part of a two-part series on the Canadian Energy Centre Ltd., alternatively known as the Energy War Room introduced by Alberta’s UCP government. In this episode, Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Hannah Cunningham discuss what the CEC does, and its potential implications for environmental journalism. We also feature more audio from a talk on the Canadian Energy Centre done as part of the Parkland Institute’s 2019 Fall Conference by David Climenhaga and Dave Cournoyer.★ Support this podcast ★

This week, we're bringing you part one of a two-part series on the Canadian Energy Centre Ltd., alternatively known as the Energy War Room introduced by Alberta's UCP government. In this episode, Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Hannah Cunningham discuss what the centre is, why it was created, the funding and organization behind it, and its staff. We also feature audio from a talk on the Canadian Energy Centre done as part of the Parkland Institute's 2019 Fall Conference by David Climenhaga and Dave Cournoyer.Stay tuned for next week, where the second episode will focus on the work that the Canadian Energy Centre does, and the implications it has for environmental journalism.Program Log.★ Support this podcast ★

This week, we’re bringing you an archive episode from October 2018, featuring Terra Informer Dylan Hall and author Stephen Jenkinson. In this episode, they explore concepts related to elder-hood, age, grief and death, and what these evoke when viewed through eyes apprehending the relentless destruction of diversity.★ Support this podcast ★

To help celebrate the end of a brutal coldsnap here on the Canadian prairies, this week's episode features an archive that is all about green and growing things! We'll hear Terra Informer Amanda Rooney speak with Dr. Natasha Meyers, a professor of anthropology at York University, about our relationships with plants and how we might be able to re-conceptualize them.After reading an article entitled “How to grow livable worlds: Ten not-so-easy steps“, Terra Informer Amanda Rooney wanted to share the idea of the Planthropocene with listeners! Amanda got to speak with the author of the paper, Natasha Myers, about her relationship with plants, planthropology and how you might reconceptualize your relationship with plants.We will also hear from Terra Informers Sonak Patel, Hannah Cunningham, and new recruit Curtis Blandy about some of their most memorable chlorophyll-ed relationships.★ Support this podcast ★

The devastating bushfires in Australia have been front and center in the news this month, with a total area of around 8.4 million hectares burned as of the 6th of January. The images of smoke plumes visible from space and eerie orange skies reminded us here at Terra Informa of the wildfires in the Amazonian rainforest this past summer. So, this week we are revisiting an archive episode from August 2019, where we discussed the state of the wildfires and Terra Informer Elizabeth Dowdell interviewed interdisciplinary scholar Cristiana Seixas about her work on socio-ecological systems and protecting the environment in Brazil. ★ Support this podcast ★

This week, Terra Informers Elizabeth Dowdell, Carter Gorzitza, and Hannah Cunningham sit down to reflect on 2019. What inspired us? When did we feel the most connected to the environment around us? How many animal carcasses did we each see?We here at Terra Informa are very excited to be planning some excellent episodes for the new year! Do you have an idea for a story that you'd like to hear on the show? If so, shoot us a message at terra@cjsr.com!★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa, we revisit a timely episode from this past summer's coverage of the 2019 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Listen as Terra Informer Dylan Hall interviews fashionista and not-for-profit educator Jess Montgomery of Think The World Differently. Montgomery holds an MA in the History and Theory of Contemporary Art from the San Francisco Art Institute, where she wrote her thesis on the role that fashion can play in perpetuating or challenging over-consumption. She is also a contributor to Not Just A Label, a designer platform for upcoming artists.We wanted to revisit this story over the holiday season because a central theme of the interview is the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry.  This time of year we are bombarded with messages to "buy this" and "consume more", and while there is a growing trend in waste- and gift-free practices, we still have a long and complicated system to unravel if we want to mitigate the negative impacts of over-consumption.

This week on Terra Informa, we're bringing you the first of two weeks of archive episodes as we take a brief break for the holiday season. In this episode, we revisit our 'All About Birds' episode that originally aired in June of this year, where Terra Informer Charlotte Thomasson talked to resident Nature Nut, John Acorn, about local bird songs and birding stories, with audio captured by Terra Informers live in Edmonton, Alberta, near Drumheller, Alberta, and on Saturna Island in British Columbia.★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa we’re talking about renewable energy and how students from across campuses, disciplines, and countries, are exploring what sustainability means to them, and to our shared future. In this episode, you’ll hear us chat with Janina Fuchs, a student from Ludwig Maximillion Universtat in Munich, Germany, about her research on student energy perspectives in Munich and Alberta. We’ll also give you some background on energiewende, the German renewable energy transition strategy, and ABBY-Net, a research exchange between German and Alberta students that Janina Fuchs and our very own Terra Informer Sonak Patel participated in this past summer.https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Publikationen/vierter-monitoring-bericht-energie-der-zukunft-kurzfassung.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=16https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/12/11/media/time-person-of-the-year-2019/index.htmlhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/21/across-the-globe-millions-join-biggest-climate-protest-everhttps://www.climatechange

This week on Terra Informa we bring you a recap of the 4th annual Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy & the Environment (CABREE) Electricity Symposium - The Future of Alberta’s Electricity System. Terra Informer Andy Silva catches up with Benjamin Thibault (@thibault_ben) from Solar Alberta, to clarify questions you might have had about the electricity market in Alberta. We also hear from Dr. Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach), an Associate Professor of economics at the University of Alberta, about his thoughts on the future of electricity generation in the province.★ Support this podcast ★

This week, we’re bringing you more of the City of Edmonton Change for Climate Talks. On October 3rd, Terra Informers Elizabeth Dowdell and Sonak Patel attended that event. On this episode, we bring you talks by Shannon LeBlanc talking about the sharing economy, Andrew Bell talking about the adoption of electric vehicles, and Connie Stacy talking about green innovation.

This week on Terra Informa, Charlotte Thomasson sits down with Grace Wainaina and Dalyah Mouallem with the not-for-profit Apathy is Boring. The two worked on the project GROUNDED., a portrait series shared through social media that highlights environmental injustice and resilience in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) communities in Edmonton. The series focuses on the intersection of relationship with land, identity, and culture. An art show featuring the portraits will be held on November 29 at the Naked Cyber Cafe Downtown at 6pm. For more information, check out GROUNDED. on Instagram at grounded.yeg or on Facebook. Come out and support BIPOC artists and the community!★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa, Matthew Danyluik and Daniel Alexander from Renewable Energy Design (RED), a student engineering group aiming to make university a greener place through developing net-zero products, talk about the inspiration for starting the group and current sustainability design projects such as a solar phone charging station scheduled for installation in SUB.★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa we listen to speakers at the City of Edmonton’s Change for Climate Talks discuss the challenges and opportunities for transformation that the climate crisis brings to our cities. Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Elizabeth Dowdell attended the event on October 3, 2019 and caught up with a few speakers after. We picked two talks that focus on how our homes and urban environment can be more sustainable. We’ll hear from Jocelyn Crocker about her experiences as an urban farmer, and from Kenton Zerbin, and his ideas about the potential of tiny houses.★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Terra Informa we share highlights from our annual Fundrive show, recorded live from the CSJR studio! Even though we are now post Halloween, I hope you’re not done with spooky stories because Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Charlotte Thomasson are gonna be bringing you some chills and thrills from beneath the earth - and no I’m not talking zombies. Special guests include Margarete Detzlaff, a PhD student at the University of Alberta, and Robert Rogers of the Alberta Mycological Society. Welcome to Scare-a Informa!★ Support this podcast ★