Thinking Like A Plant

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What is it like to be a plant? Do plants make choices? Do they have free will or personality? Do they….think? This week on Terra Informa, we turn to Charly Blais’ interview with Megan Ljubotina, a graduate student at the University of Alberta, to find out about the ways plants make decisions to improve their vitality, survival and fitness. Ljubotina focuses on plant behaviour and the ways plants make decisions to improve their vitality, survival and fitness.

 

Download episode now.

Headlines

The Government of Ontario is in the process of carrying out public consultation to hear citizens’ thoughts on permits that allow bottling of Ontario’s water, particularly used by multi-national corporation Nestlé. Share your thoughts on the proposed extension of the moratorium on new permits or permits for increased water quantities here. More on this story can be found here and here.

The City of Edmonton has released its climate change adaptation and action plan and will be presenting it to city council’s executive committee on November 13th. [click here]

In global news, research out of the United Nations says the ozone layer is showing signs of continuing recovery from destructive pollutants and is likely to heal fully by 2060.[click here]

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Photo: M. Martin Vicente (Flickr)

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The Most Terra-fying FunDrive Yet!

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This week we’re bringing you a ~ spooky ~ recap of our FunDrive episode that aired LIVE in Edmonton last week. FunDrive is CJSR 88.5fm’s annual fundraiser and thanks to you we surpassed our goal! For this show, we summoned the ghosts of past terra informers and reminisced with these apparitions about the best parts of community radio and podcasting!


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Headlines

A Toronto-based company called Genecis is hoping to make biodegradable plastics a reality, while keeping them cheap enough to use in throw-away items like coffee cups, straws, and other packaging.  [click here]

According to a map produced by researchers from the University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society, just five countries hold 70% of the world’s last wilderness including Australia, the US, Brazil, Russia, and Canada. [click here]

Ghosts of Terra Informa’s Past

Last week was our annual CJSR FunDrive! What a success! Thanks to all of you, we broke our $1500 goal and raised over $1600! 

The FunDrive is CJSR’s annual fundraising event where volunteers collect pledges from listeners, fans, friends, and family to help support this awesome local and independent radio station. It is because of your generosity that keeps community radio alive! The money raised during FunDrive goes towards running, maintaining or replacing the equipment we use at the station, and also helps to provide amazing training opportunities so that new volunteers with no experience can learn all sorts of skills like recording, interviewing, or mixing music.

What’s Happening

Green Drinks will be hosted by The Local Good at the Yellowhead Brewery on Wednesday, November 7 at 7:00pm. The evening’s theme, YEG Allies, will feature facilitated discussions around indigenous relations and treaties, supporting the LGBTQ2S+ community, feminism, antiracism, and mental health. [click here]

Photo: Carter Gorzitza and Amanda Rooney at the CJSR Headquarters for World Domination. Taken from the Terra Informa Facebook page. [click here]

Download program log here.

Sassy Bats and Boss Moss
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Photo Credit to Dasha Gaian (Flickr)

This week on Terra Informa, we get batty for Calgary Bat Week with an archive discussing the challenges faced by our flying furry friends, plus we re-air an interview with Edmonton’s resident Moss Man, Dr. René Bellend, about the boss that is moss!

Living with Bats

In the spring of 2017, Terra Informers Lauren, Charly, and Amanda attended an event called “Living With Bats”, put on by the Alberta Community Bat Program. The group of Terra Informers spoke with Erin Lowe of the Alberta Community Bat Program, and asked her about general bat info, how to attract bats to your neighbourhood, and to highlight some of the challenges being faced by bats today. 

Moss Mysteries

Let it not be said that that green fuzzy stuff you see around is less fascinating that other, more impressively plumed species of flora. Our second archive piece from March 2015 puts the spotlight on moss, the sometimes-unsung hero for many nature enthusiasts. Terra Informer Tasmia Nishat spoke with Edmonton’s own “Moss Man,” Dr. René Bellend, a professor in the department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta.  They chat about why Dr. Bellend is so passionate about these plants, and why it can be legally difficult to protect rare mosses.

What’s Happening

If you live in the Edmonton area, there’s a free documentary screening happening on Thursday, November 1st at the Princess Theatre. “Human Flow” is the title of a documentary by internationally-renowned artist Ai Weiwei that captures images of the astounding, and often tragic, journeys of human migration across the world fuelled by famine, war, and climate change. Doctors without Borders are hosting the event, and will lead a discussion before the film about the many challenges that people face when forced to leave the place they called home. RSVP via Eventbrite.

Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVZGyTdk_BY&feature=youtu.be

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/film-screening-human-flow-registration-50874855061?aff=efbeventtix&fbclid=IwAR356zH-dyZqtJY5_yx1IhM3KAm0Ym7rbwzaX6ZhxnOQMv7hFbmVTxMZA-k

Download program log here.

Inside the IPCC with Debra Robertson

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Photo by: The Conversation

This week on Terra Informa, we look back at the past two weeks of climate change news with the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ’s most recent “Special Report,” which discusses the impacts of an increased mean global temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius. We follow this with an archived interview with an IPCC working group co-chair from last March when we covered the panel’s cities and climate change conference here in Edmonton.

Download episode now. 

A Conversation with IPCC Co-Chair Debra Robertson

To provide us with some insight into the IPCC, how it works and what challenges the panel faces, this week we bring you an interview from March 2018 when we covered the IPCC conference on Cities and Climate Change. Terra Informer Dylan Hall speaks with Debra Roberts, Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s second working group, titled ‘Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability’. The two discuss the IPCC as an organization, bridging science and practice, the importance of informality, and encouraging activism.

Resources from this week’s episode:

Trudeau Government Urged to Step Up Climate Action In Emergency Debate [click here]

Transcribed Notes of the Emergency House of Commons Debate [click here]

IPCC Special Report [click here]

Download program log.

Advice from Buffy Sainte-Marie

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This week on Terra Informa, we hear some of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s advice for young people – words of wisdom for young activists, how music can be an expression of play, and how creativity is a connection to the Creator. Terra Informer Sydney Karbonik and three of her friends get to choose one question each to ask Sainte-Marie at the Edmonton Folk Fest this past summer.

Then we get to dig into the archives and hear from Eriel Derange, an indigenous rights advocate and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. Deranger highlights the climate crises faced by Indigenous peoples of Alberta and the moral and legal obligation of governments to work with Indigenous peoples in building progressive and aggressive climate change solutions.

Download episode now. 

Headlines

On the evening of Tuesday, October 9th, a natural gas pipeline operated by Enbridge ruptured, starting a large fire just north of Prince George, BC. [click here]

A massive oil refinery explosion, operated by Irving Oil, has caused a thick black smoke to cover the east side of the Saint John’s, NB. [click here]

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Exploring the Strange and Wonderful

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This week on Terra Informa we explore the relationship between place and language with Nicholas Bradley, a Victoria based poet and educator. Bradley’s collection of poetry encourages readers to consider the  strange, wonderful and concerning ways that humans across Western Canada and the pacific Northwest relate to the places we travel and inhabit.

Download episode now. 

What’s Happening

In Edmonton on October 12, check out Carbon Tax Rebate Weekend. The award-winning youth environmental blog The Green Medium are hosting this all-ages, dry event with The Absurd Collective to celebrate local environmentalism, music, and art. There will be a series of short lectures from climate change leaders in Alberta, live music, and local art on display. The event is taking place at the Sugar Swing Ballroom. Doors open at 6 pm. Tickets are 10$ at the door.

Download program log.

Photo by: Pavel P.

Stephen Jenkinson on Death, Grief, and the Withering World Tree

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In this episode, listen to culture worker Stephen Jenkinson speaking about death, age, and grief, particularly in relation to this time of environmental loss and trouble.

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What happens when we live in a culture that rejects aging, death, and any kind of frailty or limit? Why is grief largely absent, at least publicly, as a response to climate change, species extinction, and environmental devastation? Is there a relationship? This week on Terra Informa, Dylan Hall spoke with Stephen Jenkinson, the author of Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul, and more recently Come of Age: A Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble. 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. Stephen has also just embarked on a ‘Nights of Grief and Misery’ tour with the Gregory Hoskins band, across the U.S. and Canada. For ticket information, click here. For a more complete biography on Stephen Jenkinson, his work, and Orphan Wisdom, the school he helped found, click here.

Terra Informa Program Log

Headlines

Teara Fraser is an awesome indigenous woman who started an airline to serve remote communities [click here]

The G7 Environment, Energy, and Ocean Ministers Meetings are coming up in Halifax, and despite big promises, the Canadian government persists with the largest fossil fuel subsidy of all G7 members. [click here]

Whats Happening

Tanya Tagaq with LitFest on her new book, Split Tooth [click here and here for more info]

photo by: Beryl_snw

Following in Dad’s Low-Impact Footsteps

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Photo by: Sofia Osborne

This week on Terra Informa, we invite you to listen in on a chat between Terra Informer Sofia Osborne and her dad, David Osborne, who leads a low-impact life in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia.

Download episode now. 

You can often learn a lot from your parents if you take the time to listen to their stories and experiences. Sofia Osborne calls up her dad, David Osborne, and the two of them talk about living an environmentally-conscious life in a place where the natural world still seems relatively untouched. David’s actions and thoughtfulness have left Sofia (and the rest of us at Terra Informa) inspired, and we hope this interview makes you feel the same!

This Week’s Headlines

Alberta NDP’s pro-pipeline advertisements [click here]

Permafrost and CO2 University of Alberta study [click here]

Investor Agenda [click here]

What’s Happening:

EENU River Lot 11 – Edmonton’s first Indigenous art park is now open. Click here for more information.

‘A Night of Grief and Misery’ – music from the Gregory Hoskins band and chatting about grieving the state of our world with author Stephen Jenkinson. For ticket information, click here.

Download program log here.