Terra Informa

This episode originally aired on March 21, 2022: Have you ever come face to face with the majestic beaver? Have you ever thought about just how impactful the little dam-builders are to the ecosystems they inhabit? This week, Sara Chitsaz, Hannah Cunningham, and Dylan Hall (a Terra Informa alum!) discuss Glynnis Hood's book The Beaver Manifesto, as well as our general thoughts about the popular, and sometimes not-so-popular, rodent. At the end of the episode, Sara also gives us a run-down on what beavers have been up to in the Alaskan tundra.Link to the University of Alberta's free online Indigenous Canada course, as mentioned in the introduction of the episode.Program log.★ Support this podcast ★ ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on June 24, 2019: Terra Informer Charlotte Thomasson speaks with Mackenzy Albright, one of the founders of SNAQCS, a Slow Nice And Queer Cycloventure Squad based out of Victoria, British Columbia that creates a welcoming space for members of the LGBTQIA2S community who want to have fun and ride bikes! Tune in to hear Charlotte and Mackenzy share cycling stories, talk about businesses and queerbaiting, the binary of the outdoors community, and how SNAQCS is pushing the boundaries.Program Log. ★ Support this podcast ★

We're revisiting Terra Informa Investigates from 2021, where a suspiciously familiar detective digs into one of the oldest cold cases of our time - who killed the dodo?Scara Informa was produced as part of CJSR 88.5 FM's Fundrive, which runs from October 25th to November 2th this year! Terra Informa's home station is volunteer-run and listener-powered, and we rely on donations from listeners to keep us on the air! If you enjoy listening to Terra Informa each week, consider making a donation to CJSR here. We would be eternally grateful! Please note that you can no longer text to donate $10 anonymously but you can also text DONATE to 780-492-2577 to have a pledge form sent directly to your phone. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired July 25, 2022:It’s the most abundant material in the universe, it composes the majority of the sun, and it's number one on the periodic table. Now, some people think it could be the solution to decarbonizing energy systems. Welcome to Hydrogen 101!This week, Sonak Patel gives us a lesson on hydrogen, the element you might remember from the periodic table you reviewed in chemistry class. In this episode, Sonak guides us through what hydrogen technology is and whether or not it really is the silver bullet to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.Program log.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on October 7, 2019: This week, Terra Informer Sonak Patel sits down with Kenneth Tam to discuss the ins and outs of science communication, and nuances of working in that field. Kenneth is the communications associate for Future Energy Systems (FES) at the University of Alberta. FES is one of the largest research initiatives at the university, with 127 researchers, and about 506 graduate students.★ Support this podcast ★ ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode originally aired on July 20, 2020: In the film, acclaimed actor Elliot Page, inspired by a book by Ingrid Waldron that also lends its name to the documentary, travels across their home province of Nova Scotia to explore cases of environmental racism. This week, we are talking about environmental racism, which specifically refers to the environmental injustice that is based on race.We reached out to Dr. Ingrid Waldron, a professor and author of the book “There’s Something in the Water”. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Waldron to discuss environmental racism towards Black communities in Nova Scotia and what liberation could look like.Program Log ★ Support this podcast ★

This week we’re bringing you a radio documentary that originally aired on February 18, 2019: This documentary was produced by Roisin Graham. It was produced as a part of a CSL project for the course AREC 173 at the University of Alberta. This short documentary explores the challenges to Indigenous food sovereignty. Roisin interviewed indigenous activist, Nigel Henri-Robinson, and treaty 8 consultant, Jessica Cardinal. ★ Support this podcast ★ ★ Support this podcast ★

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 ★