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 BIO

Born and raised in the occupied unceded sovereign territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xÊ·mÉ™θkÊ·É™yÌ“É™m (Musqueam), and sÉ™lilÌ“wÉ™taʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples on the wild West coast of colonial Canada, I am a philosopher, artist, researcher, and scholar in the transdisciplinary field of the Ecological arts and humanities concerned with biocultural diversity, and with the role of the arts and culture in sustainably flourishing futures..

 

Since 1990 my work has focused on the role of the arts, and of our sensory aesthetic engagement with place, world, and other beings in informing, forming, and transforming beliefs, values, practices and policies. Since 1997 my primary focus has been investigating the role of the arts in, and of artists as wayfinders to, a "sustainably flourishing" future for all life.

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Committed to small scale local agriculture and food, in the tradition of my family, I am a subsistence food gardener, orchardist, and seed saver, who nurtures and stewards wild resources. I work with wild yeasts, time-proven food preservation methods, and continue the tradition of my mother and grandmothers as grower and forager of traditional plant medicines and their preparation. I am a cook, a baker, a lover of process, and of mindful making.

 

From 2011-2013 I sat on the board of directors for Village Vancouver Transition Society, which focuses on sustainable urban ecology, local knowledge and urban agriculture. 

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Trained from the age of 10 years with international and local masters in the techniques and technologies of traditional fine arts, film photography, design, and interactive media (performance and installation) until 1997 I was an internationally exhibiting visual artist,

"Sustainability" is the possibility that humans and other life will flourish on the Earth forever               - John Ehrenfeld

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RESEARCH AREAS + INTERESTS

Broadly, a study of human engagements with environment and other species;  investigating the role and impacts of creativity, and embodied, sensuous aesthetic engagements in defining those relationships.

The transformative capacity of artist-initiated and arts-led collaborative practices to generate change in socio-cultural systems + public policy.

The role of 'art' + design in human-environment + interspecies relations

Biocultures - could a revelation + embracing of bioculture help transform understandings, values, and ultimately change behaviours and policies in industrialised cultures?

The generation and nurturing of affinity and obligation toward places and other beings through embodied, sensory aesthetic engagements, + practices

Human-world + interspecies relations

Merleau-Ponty's Ontology

Intercultural Philosophy

Field Philosophy

DISCIPLINES/AREAS OF STUDY

Environmental Studies (Values + Environment)

EcoPhenomenology, Environmental Ethics + Applied Philosophy

Social Anthropology, Sociology

Ecological Social Sculpture/Social Practice Art

Traditional Fine Arts, Film Photography, Interactive Arts

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AFFILIATIONS

  • SCALE/LeSAUT Canada (Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency/Leadership Sectoriel des Arts sur l'Urgence de la Transition écologique) (roundtable)

  • Canadian Society for Environmental Philosophy/ Société Canadienne de Philosophie Environnementale​ (Original Steering committee)

  • International Society for Environmental Ethics

  • International Environmental Communications Association (Founding Member)

  • International Ecoart Network (since 2001)

REVIEWER

Anthropology of Consciousness, American Anthropological Association

Environmental Humanities, Duke University Press

Geographical Review, American Geographical Society

Music & Arts in Action, University of Exeter

The Trumpeter, Athabasca University Press

Assessor: UNESCO UniTwin Program

EDITORIAL ADVISOR: Canadian Journal for Environmental Philosophy/Le Revue Canadienne de Philosophie Environnementale (CJEP/RCPE)

SECTION EDITOR: The Trumpeter, Journal of Ecosophy (2016/18)

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