What does climate change mean for people who live close to the land in northwestern Ontario?
In 2017 the Fulbright Program awarded me a grant to investigate solastalgia, specifically looking at climate change’s impact on the mental and emotional well-being of people who live close to the land in Ontario (farmers, hunters, trappers, etc.). I traveled throughout the Lake Superior basin of Northwestern Ontario, interviewing trappers, farmers, hunters and herbalists about their personal observations of climate change in the region, and the ways climate change is impacting their personal sense of well-being.
I’m currently in the process of writing up my findings to submit for publication, as well as summarizing some of the interviews to share here with you. Please check back here in April 2019 for an update.
In the meantime, I encourage you to listen to a presentation of my preliminary findings (from the Minnesota Department of Health in February 2019), and to read the following articles about my research:
Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC): “American Researcher to Interview Hunters, Anglers and Others About Impact of Climate Change”
Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC): “What Could Climate Change Mean for Thunder Bay?”
Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC): “Creeping Climate Change Brings Warmer Falls, Drier Summers to Northwestern Ontario”
WTIP Radio: “Researcher Studying Climate Change's Impact on Emotional Well-Being”
Agate Magazine: “Boreal Heartbeat: Canadians Experience a Changing Climate”
