Emerging Environments

This week we are speaking with Na’im Merchant, Co-founder and Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada. With over 10 years of experience in social impact and international development in health and environment, Na’im brings his expertise in building policies and programs in partnership with governments and stakeholders to the growing carbon dioxide removal technology space in Canada. Carbon Removal Canada is dedicated to advancing inclusive policies and innovations to scale up carbon removal.

In our wide-ranging conversation with Na’im, we talked about the fundamentals of carbon dioxide removal, the diversity of emerging CDR technologies and the policy landscape in Canada and elsewhere that can and will shape the development and deployment of these technologies. As CDR becomes an increasingly important dimension of decarbonization in the coming decades, it was fascinating to discuss its opportunities and challenges within the Canadian context with Na’im.

https://carbonremoval.ca/

Welcome back to Emerging Environments. This week we are speaking with, Amber Bennett, one of Canada’s top climate communication strategists and capacity builders. Over the past five years she has worked to bring groups and leaders together to build a growing and diverse network of more than 4,500 climate communicators. As Executive Director of Re.Climate at Carleton University, she helps lead a national team to deliver research, resources, training and strategy around climate change communication and public engagement. 

In our conversation with Amber, we explored the complexities of climate change communication and how Re.Climate breaks this down using analysis and synthesis of recent polling on climate change perspectives in Canada. We talked about Canadians' overwhelming concern about climate change, but we also talked about the disconnect between this concern and declining climate change literacy and growing support for oil and gas pipelines. We also talked about how climate change communication is changing and how climate change communicators are adapting to a challenging media and geopolitical environment. It was great to talk to Amber and we hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

In this episode, we are speaking with Dr. Kristy Ferraro and Dr. Adam Meyer. Kristy is an ecosystem ecologist working at the intersection of biogeochemistry, animal movement, and conservation ethics. She completed her PhD at Yale University, focusing on the ecosystem ecology of animal reintroduction. She’s currently a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan and was previously a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.  

Adam is a field and mathematical ecologist who just finished his PhD at Memorial University and starting in September, will be a Research Excellence post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto. His research seeks to understand the impacts and management of moose in Newfoundland forest ecosystems. Kristy and Adam both take interdisciplinary approaches to their science, continually integrating cultural and ethical perspectives into their work. 

We reached out to Kristy and Adam after coming across their article titled “Beyond Hero and Villain Narratives in Ecology and Conservation Science,” which was recently published in Bioscience. Drawing from their article, we talked about how morals and storytelling shape both conservation science and public understanding of nature. We also revisit the topic of invasion biology, considering how the language implicit to the discipline acts as a double edged sword, raising awareness but also polarizes and oversimplifies. Ultimately, Kristy and Adam are calling for a thorough examination of how we talk about these things in conservation, and challenge us as scientists and consumers of media to keep a critical lens as we confront the issues and how they’re being portrayed. It was a pleasure to explore this connection between the humanities and conservation science with Kristy and Adam, and we hope it sparks some deep reflection for those listening.

https://theconversation.com/the-cost-of-casting-animals-as-heroes-and-villains-in-conservation-science-263883

In this episode, we connected with Toronto-based artist, community builder, and urban rewilder, Jode Roberts. For over fifteen years, Jode has been developing national programs and campaigns at the David Suzuki Foundation. As the leader of the organization's Rewilding Communities program, he has led the development of dozens of engaging initiatives like the Butterflyway Project, the Rewilding Arts Prize, and he has engaged in collaborations with amazing groups, like the National Healing Forests Initiative. These projects have inspired thousands of Canadians in hundreds of communities to take action and reconnect with nature in their neighborhoods.

With Jode, we talked about the various scales and meanings of the term rewilding, which for Jode isn’t just about native plants and pollinators returning to a neighbourhood. It’s also about encouraging people to remember that they’re part of an ecosystem and how a love of local biodiversity can build connections in a community. We also talked about the tensions that can arise when conservation and restoration of biodiversity don’t necessarily align with some people’s expectations of what a community should look like. Jode thinks a lot about the different ways that people respond to nature, and he knows that conservation isn’t just a scientific endeavour. By drawing from science, community building, art curation and creative communication Jode’s work asks us to reflect on our relationship with nature in our communities and to bring more nature into our lives.

https://www.joderoberts.com/

In this week’s episode we are speaking with Dr. Mike Wotton, a Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service. He is currently stationed at the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design under the Institute of Forestry and Conservation. Dr. Wotton's research focuses on developing process-based models of fuel-moisture exchange, fire ignition, and fire spread. His research also involves developing the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System, which is used throughout Canada and in a growing number of countries globally. 

We spoke with Mike about his early work at the Petawawa National Forestry Institute and the Great Lakes Forest Centre before completing his PhD in Forestry at U of T. We then shifted to unpacking the fundamentals of wildfire dynamics and how these fundamentals inform the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System. We asked Mike about whether there has been an increase in the frequency or magnitude of wildfires in Canada and globally under global warming and what communities and property owners can do to reduce their wildfire risk. This episode was recorded last year, so there may be references to the upcoming 2025 wildfire season. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Mike Wotton!

https://firesmartcanada.ca/

In this episode we are speaking with Professor Steve Cooke of the Department of Biology and the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science at Carleton University. Steve’s research group engages in both science and social science approaches to developing solutions to problems facing fish and other aquatic organisms. This work includes perspectives from integrative biology, freshwater ecology, conservation science and natural research management and involves a large network of diverse collaborators including practitioners, policy-makers and local communities.

Our conversation with Steve explores his career path and the evolving landscape of conservation science. We talked about the emerging role of A.I. in conservation, the loss of hands‑on field skills, and we talked in depth about the notion of inclusive scientific evidence and how evidence can inform environmental policy. We spend time reflecting on some of Steve’s science, including one study that examine the structure and effectiveness of invasive‑species awareness campaigns. We finish up by considering how all of these themes can be brought into the classroom through innovative and experiential teaching approaches that prepare students for a career in conservation. Steve is a prolific researcher and active communicator, and it was a pleasure to spend some time with him thinking about these complex conservation science issues. So with that, please enjoy our chat with Steve Cooke.

Steve's website: https://www.fecpl.ca/

Welcome back to another episode of Emerging Environments. In this episode, we are talking with wildlife veterinarian and conservationist, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. Dr. Gladys, as she is known, is the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, an award winning NGO that protects endangered gorillas and other wildlife in Uganda while promoting sustainable tourism using a One Health approach. After receiving her veterinary training at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London in 1996, Dr. Gladys returned to Uganda and established the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s first veterinary department. Her subsequent Master’s research on the human-wildlife interface at North Carolina State University laid the foundations for what would become Conservation Through Public Health.

Our conversation with Dr. Gladys recounts her journey as a scientist and conservationist. We talked about the making of her fantastic book, Walking with Gorillas, and how its impact has been felt beyond Uganda. Her passion for finding connections between gorilla conservation and community livelihoods shined light on the significance of Uganda’s mountain gorillas, their health, and the complexity of gorilla trekking as a form of ecotourism. We invite you all to find Dr. Gladys’ book in your local bookstore, or download the audiobook to learn about Gladys’ story and the enormous impact that her work has had on Uganda’s gorilla populations and the livelihood of the communities that steward the engagement with them. So with that, we’re thrilled to share this conversation with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka as the first episode of season 6 of Emerging Environments.

In this episode, we are speaking with Dolf DeJong, Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Zoo. Dolf has had an exciting career at the intersection of conservation, public spaces and education. Dolf joined the Toronto Zoo in 2018 after acting as Vice President and General Manager of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. At the Toronto Zoo, Dolf has focused on strengthening the zoo’s relationship with the surrounding community, and finding new and creative ways to connect the public with animals and conservation science to help raise awareness and fight extinction.

Chatting with Dolf, he reflected on his personal journey into conservation and how it relates to the scientific and strategic work happening at the Toronto Zoo. We explore how the Zoo's location within Rouge National Urban Park informs its partnerships with Parks Canada, and the exciting plans for the Zoo’s upcoming Conservation Campus, which is being built in collaboration with the University of Toronto Scarborough. We also talked about the emergence of so-called “de-extinction” technologies and their implication for both wildlife conservation and zoos. We then reflect on a recent trip to East Africa that Dolf and I took part in with some colleagues and unpack some of the ethical and ecological complexities of ecotourism in developing nations. In the wildlife conservation world, Zoos are sometimes portrayed as relics of an outdated conservation ethos. But we hope our conversation with Dolf works to dispel that view, highlighting the vibrant science happening at the zoo, and the deep connection to applied conservation biology.

Today we are speaking with Joseph Romm, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media. Joe holds a PhD in physics from MIT and has authored numerous articles and 10 books on climate change, clean energy, and communications. In the 1990s, he worked on climate solutions at the US Department of Energy, and helped to run the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He then became very active in climate change communications, founding the influential blog, Climate Progress, and was recognized by the AAAS and Rolling Stone and Time Magazines for his efforts.

One of Joe’s signature books is his 2003 book entitled: “The Hype about Hydrogen: False Promises and Real Solutions in the Race to Save the Climate”, which he has recently revised and updated. In the book, Joe made the case that hydrogen did not live up to the hype at the time - it was not going to be an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels. We chatted with Joe about whether anything has changed in the 20+ years since the book first came out and about his thoughts on the renewed investment in hydrogen. We also spoke to Joe about his work as a science communicator and his new endeavours to share what he has learned about how to connect with an audience.

Buy the new revised edition of Joe's book here: https://www.amazon.ca/Hype-About-Hydrogen-Revised-Solutions/dp/1642834025

In this episode we are speaking with Adam Sobel, Professor of Applied Physics, Mathematics and Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. Adam is an atmospheric and climate scientist and his research focuses on tropical meteorology and extreme weather events, particularly hurricanes. Adam is also actively engaged in public outreach through media interviews, op-eds, podcasting and his popular science book about Hurricane Sandy that made landfall in New York in 2012. 

In light of the current and proposed US funding cuts to science and climate science specifically, Adam and others have been raising awareness about the potential harm to American science and society more broadly. In our conversation with Adam, we talked about his own research program, his journey to becoming a more public-facing scientist, and the scale of the funding cuts facing US federal agencies and academic institutions. America is a leader in science and innovation and Adam stressed that this is not by chance; it is the result of a curiosity-driven, highly productive and government-funded science ecosystem established in the US post-World War II. It was a difficult conversation, but an important one. So, with that, here’s our conversation with Adam Sobel.