Future Ecologies

Latest Episodes:

FE2.1 - Enlichenment and the Triage of Life Aug 07, 2019

Show notes

Lichens: ecosystems unto themselves. They’re diverse, apparently ubiquitous, and foundational to life on terrestrial earth. But this episode isn’t really about lichen. It’s about an endangered species that relies on a lichen diet – a diet that is disappearing as fast as the old growth forest in British Columbia. Southern Mountain Caribou are at the nexus of a heated debate about conservation. What can we save? What should we let go? And most importantly, what are we willing to admit about the policies that brought us to this point?

For extended show notes, musical credits and more, head to www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe-2-1-enlichenment-and-the-triage-of-life

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

[UNLOCKED] Meet Your Jellyfish Overlords Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

We've unlocked our 11-episode Patreon series – Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin, and occasionally the two of us, dive deep into jellyfish species and phyla. Find stories and science on:

- Aurelia labiata (the moon jelly)

- Turritopsis dohrnii (the immortal jelly)

- Chrysaora achlyos (the black sea nettle)

- Bazinga rieki (the little trickster who eats sunlight)

- Chironex fleckeri (the deadly box jelly)

- Aequoria victoria (the nobel-prize worthy crystal jelly)

- Ctenophores (the comb jellies)

- The Irukandjis (the doom jellies)

- Siphonophores (colonies of stringy, stingy thingies)

- Polyorchis penincilatus (the disappearing jelly)

- & Salpidae (your long lost pelagic cousins)

Find musical credits and show notes at futureecologies.net/listen/unlocked-jellyfish-overlords

For early access to bonus episodes and other content, join us at patreon.com/futureecologies

True Dreams: The Music of Season 1 Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

We’ve dropped an album. Those in the know might recognize the prolific Sunfish Moon Light as the musical alter-ego of Future Ecologies co-host, Adam Huggins.

Now you can listen to the original, full-length instrumentals that set the mood for Season 1.

Click here to preview the album for free, or buy it for $8.

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.11 - Funerary Ecologies Dec 06, 2018

Show notes

Forever is a really long time. This episode is about death, and its transformative power on the landscape. It’s also the last episode of Season 1.

It may be trivial to remind you that death is an unavoidable part of life. However, death is an act that leaves ripples in life. Some may last for thousands of years.⁣⁣

You might expect us to talk about new sustainable burial technologies (See: Jae Rhim Lee & Katrina Spade), and honestly so did we. As we started working on it, we realized that we would rather let TED Talks handle that sort of thing. Instead, this episode takes a broad view through the lens of ritual, urban planning, and ecological entanglements, with a distinct focus on the Salish Sea.

It’s been a huge honour to bring you all of these stories over the past 5 months. This seemed like the most appropriate way to close out our first season. We can’t wait to bring you Season 2!

For extended show notes, musical credits and more, head to www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe-1-11-funerary-ecologies

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.10 - Dams: Rushing Downriver (Part 2) Nov 22, 2018

Show notes

In this conclusion to our series on dam removal, we travel from the Klamath up to the Olympic Peninsula, and the site of the former Elwha and Glines Canyon dams. What did it actually take to bring the dams down, and what lessons can we take forward to other ambitious ecosystem renewal projects?

For extended show notes, musical credits and more, head to www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe-1-10-rushing-downriver

Corrections to this episode:

While salmon fry may have to contend with hungry bass in other river systems, the Elwha is not one of them.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife releases specifically Chinook salmon into the Elwha river.

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.9 - Dams: Swimming Upstream (Part 1) Nov 08, 2018

Show notes

Dams remain one of the ultimate demonstrations of human power over nature. Wild rivers can be tamed to deliver energy for industry, lakes for recreation, and water for agriculture. But severing the link between land and sea has come with grave ecological costs. The impact of dams on salmon populations has been especially obvious and painful.

This is part one of a two-part series on dam removals. In this episode, we return to the Klamath river to examine the fierce conflict (and unlikely partnerships) in pursuit of the deconstruction of 4 major dams.

Find shownotes, sources, and musical credits at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-9-swimming-upstream

UPDATE

In November of 2022, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the removal of the 4 key dams along the Klamath River - a huge victory for salmon and for the Indigenous tribes and environmental groups that had worked for over two decades towards this end. The dams are expected to be removed by the end of 2024 in what will be the largest dam removal effort in history. Scientists hope to study the impacts of dam removal on the Klamath river’s ecology and salmon populations. We’ll continue to follow this story as it unfolds and we’ll let you know what happens.

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.8 - Jellyfishing for Answers Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

How are human activities changing our oceans, and why do these changes all seem to support a new age of jellyfish? What are these ancient, diverse beings: harbingers of doom, or simply the most well-adapted form of life in the sea? In this episode we go jellyfishing for answers with preeminent jellyfish researchers Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin and Dr. Lucas Brotz.

Find show notes for this episode at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-8-jellyfishing-for-answers

If you’d like to dive into more detail about a number of fascinating jellyfish species, we have a series of mini-episodes featuring Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin – available only to our Patreon supporters at www.patreon.com/futureecologies

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.7 - Help Not Helping Sep 27, 2018

Show notes

In the fall of 2017, a series of devastating earthquakes rocked southern Mexico. But what if it’s not the earthquakes themselves that pose the greatest threat to these communities? The conflict between institutional and grassroots disaster response in the aftermath of these earthquakes provides a powerful illustration of the tensions that have underlain the concept of development ever since President Truman’s second inaugural address in 1949. In this episode, Oaxacan deprofessionalized intellectual Gustavo Esteva guides us through his thinking on capitalism, disaster response, and what lies beyond development.

Find shownotes, sources, and musical credits at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-7-help-not-helping

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.6 - On Fire: Combustible Communities Sep 13, 2018

Show notes

In this second part of our two-episode series, On Fire, we look at ways to move our civilization forward – without continuing to deny the role of fire in our landscapes. We discuss how prescribed burns are currently conducted, radical new (and old) perspectives on land management policy, and practical techniques for everyone in fire country to protect their homes, their communities, and their forests.

Find shownotes, sources, and musical credits at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-6-on-fire-pt-2

Catch Part 1: https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-5-on-fire-pt-1

Update: there is now a 3rd part to this story! Find it at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe-2-2-on-fire-pt-3

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

FE1.5 - On Fire: Camas, Cores, and Spores Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

The past two years have been the worst fire years on record across the west coast of North America, with whole communities being engulfed in flames and smoke enveloping major cities for weeks. But as the airways fill once again with stories of valiant fire-fighters and people who’ve lost their homes, we answer some burning questions that seem to always fly under the radar. For example:

How long have fires been burning on this planet
Have our ecologies always been adapted to fire?
What role did indigenous peoples play in lighting fires in the past?
And how can we return prescribed burns to sensitive ecosystems?

To answer these questions, we talk to regional experts, including internationally renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Nancy Turner, in this first part of our two-part three-part series, On Fire.

Find shownotes, sources, and musical credits at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-5-on-fire-pt-1

Ready for Part Two? https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-6-on-fire-pt-2

– – –

💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

UPDATE

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected