Terra Informa

This episode originally aired on August 10, 2020: This week on Terra Informa, Sonak Patel and Skylar Lipman, joined by Morrigan Simpson-Marran from the Pembina Institute and Daniel Schiffner from the University of Alberta, discuss orphan wells in Alberta.The evidence of oil and gas development on Alberta's landscape appears in various forms across the province. Much of oil and gas extraction requires drilling a well into the ground to reach subterranean fossil fuels. Under provincial regulations, these wells are supposed to be reclaimed once they reach the end of their productive lifespan. But in some cases, reclamation doesn't happen, leaving a substantial number of wells dotted across the Albertan landscape.How many orphaned wells are there in Alberta? How does a well become 'orphaned', and why are they a problem? We find out the answers to these questions in this week's episode.Download program log here. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on September 23, 2019: This week on Terra Informa, we discuss the second part of a 2 part mini-series on youth education in the climate crisis. On September 20, 2019, Youth For Climate and other climate organizers staged a “die-in” in downtown Edmonton as a start to the International Week of climate action. Listen in for some audio from the protest, as well as interviews with organizers of Youth for Climate ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on September 16, 2019: This week on Terra Informa, we're bringing you part one of a two-part series on youth and the climate crisis. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on August 2, 2021: In this episode, Sofia speaks with Dr. Bill Adams about his article "How the search for mythical monsters can help conservation in the real world", and Curt speaks with Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler about his novel Wrist and short story collection Ghost Lake.Program log here. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on November 12, 2018: What is it like to be a plant? Do plants make choices? Do they...think? 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. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on November 18, 2019: Matthew Danyluik and Daniel Alexander from Renewable Energy Design (RED), a student engineering group aiming to make the 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.Find out more about RED here: https://alberta.campuslabs.ca/engage/organization/red★ Support this podcast ★ ★ Support this podcast ★

In this archive episode, we bring you some reading inspiration! This episode originally aired on February 13, 2017.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on March 9, 2020: This week on Terra Informa, we discuss climate grief; a term that has increasingly entered into the public awareness. We’ll take a look at what climate grief is and how it can manifest, then listen to advice from life coaches and personal instructors Sarah Connor and Michael James on how to cope. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on May 3, 2021: This episode, Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Liam Harrap guide you through some of the impacts that a warming world will have on our blue planet. Drawing from estimates and predictions made in the IPCC Special Report, in this episode we prepare ourselves for what global warming and the climate crisis will mean to Alberta, Canada, and the rest of the world. It's not a heartwarming episode, but we are in this together.Written by Sonak Patel, hosted by Liam Harrap and Sonak Patel, edited and produced by Elizabeth Dowdell.Program log. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on May 8, 2017:This week Terra Informer Shelley Jodoin interviewed Joshua Bénard, a sustainable housing project manager with the Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN). They discuss ARDN’s aim to create housing that is both sustainable and affordable. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on February 8, 2021: The power of storytelling gives us a way to cope with the uncertainty of our climate future. This week on Terra Informa we’re exploring those stories about the future worlds that are not so different from our own. While you may be familiar with science fiction, genres like speculative fiction, climate fiction, or cli-fi, Afro-futurism, and Indigenous futurism are reimagining oppressive realities and re-envisioning our climate future. In this discussion episode, Terra Informers Hannah Cunningham and Elizabeth Dowdell are joined by special guest and Terra Informa alum, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips to share why they find themselves reaching for these books, and what these genres mean to them. A reading list of the books mentioned in this episode plus some of our other favourites can be found here.Some of our favourite voices sharing visions of Indigenous futures include Cree poet and author Billy-Ray Belcourt, Cree author Larry Loyie, and Chelsea Vowel, Metis writer

This episode originally aired on April 17, 2017: Have a DIY project you've been itching to do but just don't have the supplies? Striving to reduce consumerism? The Edmonton Tool Library has got you covered. We dive into what it's all about and how you can become a member! ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on February 27, 2017: In this week's episode, the Terra Informers travel to a grain terminal in the City of Edmonton to see some rare birds of prey and meet the folks who watch and photograph them there. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on March 22, 2021: On the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, K'atl'odeeche First Nation is taking steps to create opportunities for their members to make their livelihoods through fishing. In our second episode on Indigenous-led fisheries management, we are joined by PhD student Kristine Wray. We investigate the management structures that govern the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery, and identify pathways towards the coexistence of a sustainable commercial and livelihood fishery. Our thanks to Kristine Wray for her contributions to this episode. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this week's archive episode, we go back to warmer days to visit past Terra Informer Dylan Hall for a honeybee hive inspection and to talk about the impact of high heat events on beehives and other important pollinator insects.For the full episode description, visit the original show notes here. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on June 22, 2020: We are exploring the relationship between queer people and the natural environment. This week we are going to share with you an interview that Terra Informer Elizabeth Dowdell held with Kevin McBean. Kevin will share with us his experience as a gay man, an outdoor enthusiast, and a member of the board of directors of Camp Maskepetoon.A few queer members of the Terra Informa team had the chance to reflect on their relationship with the environment and their identities as sexual minorities. For some of us, urban spaces can bring comfort and familiarity. Seeing a rainbow sticker or a trans flag in businesses or as part of urban art is a reminder that this is our space too. But what happens when we explore the natural environment? We tend to still think of the environment as a very heteronorNmative space, but we need to actively work to change that and you’ll get to hear Kevin’s perspective on how we can do just that!Program Log★ Support this podcast ★ ★ Support

This episode originally aired on June 20, 2022: It's growing season baby! In this week's episode, Terra Informer Hannah Cunningham leads us through the process of how she started a vegetable garden on her own for the first time. Flowers more your thing? Edmonton flower farmer Mia Coco has you covered, as they describe what it's like to have 600 (yes, that many) flower seedlings in your living room, and why flowers are just the best.Wâposo-Wâti Park and Community GardenMia Coco on Instagram!Program log ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on June 10, 2019: We were so amazingly overwhelmed with bird-related content for our June 4, 2019 episode that we didn't have a chance to use all of it, so we're bringing it to you this week. This time, it's PERSONAL - that is, lots of lovely stories about why people love birds, which birds are their favourites, and wild encounters. ★ Support this podcast ★ ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on January 14, 2019: What if we could bring extinct animal species back from the dead? This week, Terra Informer Sofia Osborne brings us a story about de-extinction: Sofia brings us a story about de-extinction: the use of selective breeding, cloning, and genetic engineering to “resurrect” extinct species. This technology poses a lot of moral and ethical questions—would these “de-extincted” animal species be authentic? Could they ever be wild? Do we owe it to the species we’ve driven to extinction to bring them back? And who should decide whether we use this technology?Extra resources suggested by Sofia:How to Clone a Mammoth by Beth Shapiro"The Perils if De-extinction" by Ben Minteer The IUCN SSC Guiding Principles on Creating Proxies of Extinct Species for Conservation BenefitDownload the program log here. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on December 7, 2020:Science is cool. You may agree, since you're listening to a podcast that talks a lot about science of the environmental variety. But, science can be hard to understand, and research can be hard to access. Here at Terra Informa, we asked ourselves, how could we help track down, and break down, new scientific discoveries for our listeners, and make it fun to listen to and easy to understand?In this week's episode, we talk about a recent science communication workshop the team did with CJSR Podcast Coordinator and Terra Informa alumni, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips. Then, we dig into science - what is it? How does one... well, do it? Finally, we practice our science communication skills as we explain the science behind a very peculiar trait of an equally peculiar animal.If you enjoyed this episode, and want to hear more new research findings in the future, let us know by sending an email to terra@cjsr.com!If you’re passionate about environmental news and stories, cons