McGill Podcasts » Environment

Biological Invasions – The Ecological and Societal Impacts of Non-native Species

Atin Ramola — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:27:48 +0000

Dr. Anthony Ricciardi talks about “biological invasions” and how they can cause extinctions, disrupt ecosystems, alter natural resources, threaten human health, and even pose national security problems. He further discusses how ecologists are planning “assisted colonization” for species to rescue species threatened by climate change.

Stan Boutin: Is there room for ecological conservation in the Oil Sands of Alberta?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:58:25 +0000

The Oil Sands of Alberta present many environmental challenges. Stan Boutin focuses on how terrestrial ecosystems and their components can be conserved in this heavily industrialized landscape.

Lea Berrang-Ford: Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:40:06 +0000

McGill Geography professor Lea Berrang-Ford is one of the principal researchers in the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change project. By working closely with Indigenous peoples and their organizations in Uganda, Peru and Canada, the project aims to create a research program that will help strengthen Indigenous peoples’ health systems in light of a rapidly changing climate.

Make It Happen: Growing Toward Sustainability at McGill

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:54:12 +0000

A former two-time Canadian National Debating Champion while pursuing his Honours BA and MA at McGill in the 1990s, Gerald Butts knows a thing or two about the power of words. But he also knows how to put words into action – especially when it comes to issues of sustainability. Prior to his becoming President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund of Canada, one of the country’s largest conservation organizations, Butts served as Principal Secretary to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. During that time he was intimately involved in all of his government’s significant environmental initiatives, from the Greenbelt and Boreal Forest Conservation Plan to the coal replacement strategy and green economy initiatives.

Environmental change in Canada’s Arctic: how different is the present from the past?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:05:30 +0000

Arctic regions are experiencing high degrees of environmental change, including thinning of arctic sea ice, increased deposition of airborne pollutants, as well as evidence of a longer growing season. Marianne Douglas uses examples from our research on lakes and ponds in the Canadian High Arctic to show some of the practical applications of paleolimnology in studying regional climate change, archaeology, and airborne pollutants.

How Might Global Warming affect the Variable Hydroclimate of Western Canada?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:03:39 +0000

Canada’s western interior has one of the world’s most variable climates, with severe drought and torrential rainstorms experienced in recent years. The extreme climate events in this region have been some of the most costly natural disasters in Canada history. Climate models suggest that this hydroclimatic variability could be amplified by global warming — presenting a more challenging future scenario than the projected shifts in average conditions.

Empowering communities to manage their water supply

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:29:06 +0000

Students in the McGill School of Environment are developing Geospatial Web 2.0 (Geoweb) technologies to help a group of citizens living near the Riviere Noire identify local water management issues and collect field data for watershed management.

Le GéoWeb au service du citoyen

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:28:29 +0000

Des étudiants de l’École d’environnement de l’Université McGill aident la Corporation de développement de la Rivière Noire, en Montérégie, a développé un outil visant à encourager les citoyens à participer à la surveillance environnementale de leur territoire.

Shared Purpose: A Religious Response to the Climate Change

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:44:12 +0000

Reverend Canon Sally Bingham gives a religious perspective on global warming and climate change. This lecture was presented by the Faculty of Religious Studies and the McGill School of Environment.

Climate Change, Ecosystem Collapse and Cascading Regime Shifts in the Canadian Arctic

Cody Rei-Anderson — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:52:38 +0000

Warwick Vincent explains how global climate change will be increasingly accompanied by discontinuous shifts in aquatic ecosystem structue and function.

Save Our Sea(horses)

Cody Rei-Anderson — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:50:26 +0000

Almost mythical creatures, seahorses have the potential to capture the public imagination and inspire action for marine conservation.

A Billion Vehicles and Counting: The Transport Energy Challenge

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:49:59 +0000

Motor vehicle numbers have been increasing more rapidly than the human population globally, with profound resource use, environmental, and health and welfare impacts at the local, regional and global scales. The global motor vehicle fleet now stands at nearly one billion, with growth occurring most rapidly in the low-income countries. This talk by Prof. Madhav Badami discusses the serious energy security and related environmental implications of this phenomenon.

Emerging Infectious Diseases: What Can We Learn from Primates?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:43:44 +0000

The sudden appearance and devastating human and environmental effects of diseases like SARS, Ebola, and AIDS underscore our need to understand the ecology of infectious diseases. Given that monkeys and apes often share parasites with humans, understanding the ecology of infectious diseases in non-human primates is of paramount importance. In this mini-Enviro lecture, Prof. Chapman outlines how anthropogenic habitat change which forces humans and primates into closer and more frequent contact can increase the risks of inter-specific disease transmission.

The Future Balance of Nature

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:26:26 +0000

Prof. Andrew Gonzalez presents examples of how ecosystems can become imbalanced and the resultant effects this can have on their structure and function.

Global Warming: Caused by Humans? What Can We Do About It?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:13:53 +0000

Prof. Nigel Roulet discusses ways to alter the current prognosis for Earth’s climate by examining the relationships among greenhouse concentrations, population, consumption, energy, the economy, and human well-being.

Feeding the World: Ecosystem Services, Food Production and Sustainability

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:57:04 +0000

People depend on the services provided by ecosystems, including food, freshwater, biodiversity, places for recreation and climate regulation. Dr. Elena Bennett’s talk focuses on how we can sustainably feed the growing global population without undermining ecosystems’ ability to provide other ecosystem services that we also want.

Global Swarming: How Invasive Species Are Changing the World

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:15:50 +0000

Driven by expanding human travel and trade, thousands of species of plants, animals and microbes are spreading into new regions faster and farther than at any other time in earth’s history, often wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem. In this lecture, Prof. Anthony Ricciardi gives an overview of what we know and don’t know about this phenomenon.

Trouble in the Tropics: Upsetting a Fragile Balance

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:52:46 +0000

For the last 20 years, Colin and Lauren Chapman have conducted research to measure the extent to which human actions are having a negative effect on the forests and freshwater systems of the tropics, research which they summarize in this lecture for Classes Without Quizzes.

Fighting for Food Security

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:08:09 +0000

Food insecurity is a huge global problem. McGill Bioresource Engineering Professor Vijaya Raghavan is revolutionizing farming practices in rural India. By reducing crop loss, he is helping thousands of people.

Melting Glaciers, What Gives?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:00:44 +0000

Bruno Tremblay from McGill’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences examines the truth and fiction of melting arctic glacial ice.

Mother Nature as a Green Materials Engineer

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:53:59 +0000

In this installation of “The Cutting Edge”, chemistry professor Christopher Barrett describes an emerging new guiding principle for materials development at McGill, based on bio-mimicry and self-assembly as an inspiration and a toolbox.

Energy and Climate Change

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:46:47 +0000

Dr. Andrew D. Miall (Professor of Geology at the Geology Department, University of Toronto) presents six popular myths that complicate the development of good public policies, though they may make the arguments for protecting our environment stronger. This lecture was recorded as part of the Royal Society of Canada’s “The Cutting Edge” seminar series.

Youth Engagement and the Environment

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:41:55 +0000

Justin Trudeau, son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau, discusses the necessity of individual action and stresses the need for increased environmental awareness within the Canadian government.

Storm Perfection

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:09:04 +0000

What is a perfect storm? To an atmospheric scientist, it is a storm in which several factors come together to make it especially catastrophic. The 1998 Ice Storm was a perfect storm and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was another.

Sciences végétales

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:34:12 +0000

Biocarburants, changement climatique, coût croissant de l’énergie, crise alimentaire mondiale, tels sont les champs d’intérêt du Pr Don Smith, directeur du Département de sciences végétales, dont les équipes de recherche s’attaquent aux problèmes les plus pressant de la planète.

Numbers or Chicken Bones: Responses to an Uncertain Environmental Future

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:33:42 +0000

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the McGill School of Environment hosts a debate on whether environmental models have sufficient predictive power to move politicians and the public to act.

Plant Science

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:33:12 +0000

Biofuels, climate change, rising energy costs, and the world food crisis – meet Plant Sciences Chair Don Smith, whose research teams are tackling the world’s most pressing problems.

Melting Polar Ice Caps

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:32:43 +0000

Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Professor Bruno Tremblay, one of Canada’s leading researchers on global warming, goes to the Canadian Arctic to measure sea ice melt and predicts an ice-free Arctic in summer.

Food and Fuel

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:32:09 +0000

Dr. Donald Smith is James McGill Professor and Chair of the Department of Plant Science. His research interests are in the area of plant ecophysiology.

Too Late to Panic – Protecting Canada’s Water and Energy Supplies

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:30:03 +0000

Maude Barlow, co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, a group looking to stop the world commodification of water, and author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Fight for the Right to Water, discusses the water crisis in Canada and around the world.

Capitalism and the Environment – from Crisis to Sustainability

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:28:22 +0000

Distinguished American environmentalist James Gustave Speth, Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale, presents the Beatty Memorial Lecture.