Revisiting The Wildfires in the Amazon and Conservation in Brazil

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Photo by Yolanda via Pixabay

With the devastating bushfires in Australia dominating headlines recently, this week on Terra Informa we are revisiting an episode from August 2019 that was made when a different part of the world was up in flames. In this archive episode, we discuss the wildfires that were devastating the Amazon rainforest at the time, and Terra Informer Elizabeth Dowdell talks to interdisciplinary researcher Cristiana Seixas about her work on socio-ecological systems and protecting the environment in Brazil.

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For more information on the richness of the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest and some of the other biome types mentioned in this week’s episode, check out the Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Americas, which Cristiana Seixas was a part of creating through the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Check out the sources that were used for the archive episode’s introduction to the Amazon rainforest and Brazil for more information:

Encyclopedia Britannica: Amazon Rainforest
WWF: Amazon

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The Best of 2019: Environmental Connections, Hope, and Resolutions

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Photo by Hannah Cunningham

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!

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Download program log here.

Revisiting The Less-than-fabulous Footprint of Fashion
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Photo by TheUglySweaterShop.com on Flickr

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 new and contemporary and 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”. While there is a growing trend in zero-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. Another reason to re-air the interview is the pressure to dress ‘fashionably’ at holiday parties and social events. As Montgomery explains, this doesn’t mean you have to mean buy something new. There are many ways to be an ethical and sustainable consumer while still getting your fashion fix.

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Download program log here.

All About Birds Revisited

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Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash

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.

Stay tuned next week for another archive episode as we ring in the new year!

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Find out your bird name!

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Bird name generator by The Moore Laboratory of Zoology

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I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas with Special Guest Janina Fuchs
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Christmas market in Munich, Germany. Photo credit: Mark Pegrum.

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.

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https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Publikationen/vierter-monitoring-bericht-energie-der-zukunft-kurzfassung.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=16

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/12/11/media/time-person-of-the-year-2019/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/21/across-the-globe-millions-join-biggest-climate-protest-ever

https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/09/19/millions-expected-make-friday-climate-protest-largest-history/

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The Future of Alberta’s Electricity System
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Photo credit: public domain

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.

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The Sharing Economy, Electric Vehicles, and Green Innovation: Change for Climate Continued

 

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This week, we’re bringing 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 recorded at Edmonton’s Change for Climate Talks. 

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Headlines

Energy Efficiency Canada

ICA Press Conference Against Teck Frontier Mine

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BIPOC in Edmonton
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Photo credit: GROUNDED.

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!

https://share.transistor.fm/e/784a029d

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Finding an Afterlife for Electric Vehicle Batteries

The Second Life of Electric Vehicle Batteries

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/recycling-electric-vehicle-batteries-1.5352030

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-27/where-3-million-electric-vehicle-batteries-will-go-when-they-retire

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REDesign Engineering

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Photo from Travis on Flickr

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.

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Headlines

Warren Buffet’s New Wind Development in Alberta

SaskPower’s New Net Metering

 

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Climate Change at Home
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Photo credit: hsvall

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.

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Jocelyn Crocker and the food revolution

YEGBeesYEGBees founder, Sunshine Community Garden coordinator, and Sustainable Citizen of the Year 2019 Jocelyn Crocker delivers a talk titled ““The Revolution is local: Why you should grow food not lawns” about climate change and urban agriculture.

Kenton Zerbin living big in a tiny house

International teacher, permacutlure designer, and entrepreneur Kenton Zerbin delivers a his talk “Living Big in a tiny house while saving the world”.

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