I made a video for a class project once called Oil is Personal. It followed a character through his day while looking at the positive and negative impacts he had on oil production and use. I ended the video with a question about what your priorities for oil are. Oil impacts many aspects of health … Continue reading
For the second year, I’m riding to raise funds and awareness for kids cancer research as part of the Great Cycle Challenge Canada. On August 11, a family is matching all donations made up to $1 million. I appreciate my ability to participate in this initiative but I, of course, wish it wasn’t necessary. (My … Continue reading
I can name several current athletes competing for Canada and other countries at the Tokyo Olympics. I can’t, despite my support for and interest in, name any athletes who will be competing in the Tokyo Paralympics. This probably isn’t that surprising seeing as how athletes with disabilities aren’t featured as much in the media (Rees, … Continue reading
In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada we have an organization, Fresh Routes, that runs a mobile grocery store. One of the main goals is to increase access to fresh, healthy foods in low income neighbourhoods. This is necessary because these neighbourhoods often have reduced access to major grocery stores. The residents rely on public transit and active … Continue reading
Support for making a societal shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy is growing but one of the issues is where to locate things like solar and wind farms. These generation points don’t have the same ongoing emissions as fossil fuel run plants so there is potential to locate them closer to communities without the … Continue reading
I tend to set up the courses I teach in ways that students aren’t always used to. I do this based on research about effective strategies and I talk to my students about that research and the reasons why I have chosen a particular approach. I find these conversations are really important because, like most … Continue reading
As someone who takes personal action and supports policies to take wider action to combat climate change and as someone living in a province where the current government makes regular decisions that go in the face of the science and bet against the need for climate change action, I’m curious what would make a policymaker … Continue reading
I was speaking with a student who was a member of a First Nations group once about her language when she made a comment that has stuck with me for several years. She said that when she moved to the city to pursue school she had to give up part of her language. This wasn’t, … Continue reading
I live in a winter city. Potholes are a reality on our roads, splits on our sidewalks, and cracks in our foundations. The number of construction stories here that include some version of “they had to replace the materials because they warped or broke in the extreme cold” is plentiful. But the thing is, these … Continue reading
Yep, you read that correct, tree farts. I’ve been walking in Edmonton’s river valley a lot this year and I’ve noticed a lot of standing dead trees, often called snags. I don’t know if there’s actually more than normal around here but in coastal areas there has been an increase thanks to climate change. Climate … Continue reading