Sync into the Earth

15. Nature vs. infrastructure? Understanding the socio-ecological landscape of proposed peri-urban highway development

Episode produced by Whistler Brown, Lauren Daniels, Michael Homsi, and Flaka Zahiri. On this episode of Sync into the Earth, the hosts discuss the ongoing struggle to strike a balance between infrastructural development and environmental protection, considering the proposed Ontario Highway 413 as an exemplary case of this struggle. They are joined by Dr. Ryan Norris from the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph to discuss these issues, and to shed some light on the current and future direction of conservation science within this scope. Ryan also shares his thoughts on some of the current research being conducted in relation to Highway 413, and how this could impact future policies, actions, and motivations. The hosts then follow the interview with a round-table style discussion, discussing some of the ongoing research relating to Highway 413, and more generally speaking, conservation science in Ontario. Topics relating to social sustainability, economics, wildlife management, forestry, and human health are explored, all tying back to the main theme of infrastructural development co-existing with adequate environmental protection and conservation measures. References: Alamenciak, et al. (2023). Ecological restoration research in Canada: Who, what, where, when, why, and how? FACETS, 8, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0157 [https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0157] Heide, K., & Norris, R. (2022). The Road to Our Ruin – How Highway 413 would impact threatened and endangered species. Environmental Defence. https://environmentaldefence.ca/report/highway_413_road-to-our-ruin/#:~:text=If%20built%2C%20the%20highway%20would,streams%2C%20supporting%20important%20aquatic%20communities. Laurance, et al. (2015). Reducing the global environmental impacts of rapid infrastructure expansion. Current Biology, 25(7), R259–R262.

14. The wildlife in our backyards: human-wildlife coexistence in urban environments

Episode produced by Chloe Fortune, Ava Shultz, Meera Mohindra and Alicja Zator. In this episode of Sync into the Earth, we explore the topic of human-wildlife conflict in urban environments with a North American perspective. Encounters with wildlife are nothing out of the ordinary in urban city centers like Toronto and Edmonton, but do we ever stop to think about how our actions are impacting the wildlife with whom we share our cities? Throughout this episode we give focus to raccoons, coyotes and birds, as well as discuss recent peer-reviewed literature which investigates how living in cities impacts local wildlife. This includes studies on the physiological response of raccoons whose diets mainly consist of human food waste, the impact of diseases from bird feeders and our on-going problem with bird-window collisions. Included in this episode are special guest speakers Dr. Colleen Cassidy St. Clair from the University of Alberta, who discusses her work on the “Edmonton Urban Coyote Project,” and Victoria Badham from the Toronto Wildlife Centre, who discusses human-wildlife interactions and the work currently being completed by the Toronto Wildlife Centre to help local wildlife. References: Adelman et al. (2015). Feeder use predicts both acquisition and transmission of a contagious pathogen in a North American songbird. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282:20151429. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1429 Kummer, J. A., & Bayne, E. M. (2015). Bird feeders and their effects on bird-window collisions at residential houses. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 10(2):6. https://doi.org/10.5751/ace-00787-100206 Schulte-Hostedde et al. (2018). Enhanced access to anthropogenic food waste is related to hyperglycemia in raccoons (Procyon lotor). Conservation Physiology, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coy026

13. Caring for the hive: a life in apiculture

Episode produced by Gurpreet Bedi, Madeline Loman, & Sully Nessa We have all seen bees. We have all heard bees. But how much do we actually understand these buzzing pollinators and the relationship we have with them? In this episode, we took a slightly different approach to our fuzzy friends’ crisis by focusing on the narrative, the story, and the relationships. We decided to speak to Dr. John Wood, a storyteller and anthropology professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville. He is also a former professor of one of our hosts, Madeline, who interviews him for the majority of this episode. The interview covers everything from dairy farms to living in Africa and focuses on our interactions with nature. The takeaway is about noticing that the world around us, that our lives are intertwined with the lives of other beings, and their challenges, especially the plight of productive pollinators like bees, are very personal to our own. In Dr. Wood’s words, “And we're part of a kind of family and that if we start to cultivate that capacity of thinking of ourselves, as in relationship to that world, then we're more likely to look out for it, and to be careful in our own behaviors with it.” References: Berenbaum. M.R. (2014). Bees in crisis: colony collapse, honey laundering, and other problems bee-setting American apiculture. American Philosophical Society. 158 (3) 229-247 Cruz & Grozinger (2023). Mapping student understanding of bees: Implications for pollinator conservation. Conservation Science and Practice, 5(3), e12902. Johnson et al (2014) Bee-wild about pollinators! An interdisciplinary study introduces primary students to the importance of bees. Science and Children. 52(4) 44-48. MacInnis et al. (2023). Decline in wild bee species richness associated with honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) abundance in an urban ecosystem. PeerJ (San Francisco, CA), 11, e14699–e14699 Pope et al. (2023). The expansion of agriculture has shaped the recent evolutionary history of a specialized squash pollinator. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(15). Van Vierssen Trip et al. (2020) Examining the public’s awareness of bee (hymenoptera: apoidae: anthophalia) conservation in Canada. Conservation Science and Practice. 2(12) 1-12.

12. Embrace your wild side - Rewilding cities

Episode produced by Maia Mortimer, Victoria Mushka, and Annika Wong In this episode of Sync into the Earth, we discuss the concept of “wild cities” and what it means for the future of conservation. As urban sprawl continues to cover our Earth, we need to start thinking about how we can incorporate conservation into cities rather than treating it as a separate issue. Wild cities, an idea based on “rewilding”, aim to redesign urban infrastructure to support coexistence with nature. We delve into numerous studies as we try to answer the question, “What’s so great about wild cities?”. We discuss wild cities’ importance for both human and environmental health. We talk about the major challenges that come with creating wild cities, and how they can be addressed. To help us dive deeper into this topic, we speak with Usman Haque, a renowned architect and artist whose work incorporates the natural environment, urban technology, and human interaction. Haque talks about strategies to incorporate nature into the city through his experience working as the creative director of Re: Wild Royal Docks, where he seeks to connect people and nature (like with talking trees!). References: Carver et al(2021). Guiding principles for rewilding. Conservation Biology, 35(6), 1882–1893. Fischer et al (2018). ‘Wild’ in the city context: Do relative wild areas offer opportunities for urban biodiversity? Landscape and Urban Planning, 170, 256–265. Olive, A. (2014). Urban awareness and attitudes toward conservation: A first look at Canada’s cities. Applied Geography (Sevenoaks), 54, 160–168. Zhou & Rana (2012). Social benefits of urban green space: A conceptual framework of valuation and accessibility measurements. Management of Environmental Quality, 23(2), 173–189.

11. From Tide to Table: Seaweed Farming's Role in Carbon Capture

Episode produced by Phillipe Edde, Jeanine Fernandes, and Yuying Chen. This episode explores potential solutions for climate change, focusing particularly on the topic of seaweed farming as an innovative method for carbon sequestration. We are joined by experts in the field, Dr. Lisa Levin and Dr. Thierry Chopin, to delve into the complexities surrounding ocean-based climate interventions (OBCIs) technologies and their implications for climate change mitigation. Climate change is a widely discussed subject and has ignited global concern. Behind the scenes, the emission of greenhouse gases serves as a primary catalyst for this phenomenon. From greenhouse gas emissions to the urgent need for action, we're embarking on a journey to understand how OBCIs, particularly seaweed farming, can help mitigate the rising levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. We explore both the potential co-benefits of seaweed farming, such as its uses as fertilizer, animal feed, and biofuels, as well the challenges involved in seaweed farming, including nutrient depletion, algal blooms, and disruption of marine ecosystems. We acknowledge that seaweed farming is a pilot strategy, and there are many complexities and uncertainties associated with this method. References: Chopin et al. (2024). Deep-ocean seaweed dumping for carbon sequestration: Questionable, risky, and not the best use of valuable biomass. One Earth, 7(3), 359–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.01.013 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.01.013] Levin et al. (2023). Deep-sea impacts of climate interventions. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 379(6636), 978–981. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade7521 [https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade7521]