Terra Informa

The devastating bushfires in Australia have been front and center in the news this month, with a total area of around 8.4 million hectares burned as of the 6th of January. The images of smoke plumes visible from space and eerie orange skies reminded us here at Terra Informa of the wildfires in the Amazonian rainforest this past summer. So, this week we are revisiting an archive episode from August 2019, where we discussed ...

This episode originally aired on June 7, 2021: This week we’re bringing you a documentary where CSL students Brook Kelela and Ashley Krehut explore the significance of outdoor gardens in our communities. Listen in for discussions of food security, food sovereignty, and more!

Original broadcast: 5 May 2021

Prairie Urban Farm: http://www.prairieurbanfarm.ca/ 

Veg in YEG: https://veginyeg.ca/ 

Further listening: 

Seeds! https://te...

This episode originally aired on July 12, 2021: Have you ever considered feeding insects to your dogs? Maybe that's too easy, how about purchasing a cricket muffin for yourself at a local cafe? Producers Nhu Ho and Bethany Godreau take a dive into the world of insect protein close to home. Bringing perspectives from Brad Ewankiw of Enterra Corp on the impacts of insect protein production and Serge Boutet, a Montreal-based ...

This episode originally aired on September 18, 2023: This week on Terra Informa, we explore the industry of cellular agriculture (cell-ag), and its impacts on farming, the environment, and people. Megan Posyluzny and Jenny Kim interview Dr. Yadira Tejeda Saldana, director of Responsible Research and Innovation at New Harvest to learn more about how biotechnology is shaping the future of food systems – beginning with the ne...

This episode originally aired on July 19, 2021: This episode we visit Aspen Ridge Greenhouses to talk with former Terra Informer Dylan Hall. Dylan is a beginner beekeeper and welcomed Hannah and Elizabeth for a hive inspection. We also talk about the impact of heatwaves on different important pollinator insects.

Program log here.

Production, script, interview - Elizabeth Dowdell
Script, interview, research - Hannah Cunnin...

This episode originally aired on February 21, 2022: This week, we are airing an audio documentary created by Madelyn Lux and Mario Rodriguez for an agricultural economics class that had a community-service learning component at the University of Alberta. Through interviews with beekeepers and business owners, this documentary explores how urban beekeeping has changed the city of Edmonton. After that, we introduce an intere...

This episode originally aired on November 18, 2019: This week on Terra Informa, Matthew Danyluik and Daniel Alexander from Renewable Energy Design (RED), a student engineering group aiming to make 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 SU...

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 queer...

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 reimagini...

This episode originally aired on May 17, 2021: Terra Informers Curt Blandy and Liam Harrap explore sustainable brewing with Steve Beauchesne at Beaus Brewing. They also chat with Christine O'Grady, from UCalgary’s Advancing Canadian Water Assets, and Jeremy McLaughlin, Head Brewer, on the Village Brewery project on making beer with waste water! We also get to listen to a local Edmonton beer song called Beer Tastes Better (...

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” ani...

This episode originally aired on June 2, 2020: June is Bike Month in Edmonton and lots of other cities, so we're bringing you the right content for the season! On this episode Terra Informer Curtis Blandy talks to Bike Edmonton Executive Director Chris Chan and LuGr Enterprises Founder Luke Grayston. Chan talks about his inspiration for, and experiences of, cycling in Edmonton. Grayson gives us the lowdown on Beet 55, an i...

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...

This episode originally aired on August 9, 2021: Finding the language to build sustained public engagement on the climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges faced by science communicators today. In this episode, Terra Informers Sonak Patel and Elizabeth Dowdell consider the role that language plays in communicating the climate crisis and how it getting it wrong may contribute to continued climate inaction. To get fur...