Scaling Change: Imagining Future Ecologies | The Foundation for WWU & Alumni

Check out this video to watch the Huxley Speaker Series & The Salish Sea Institute Scaling Change: Imagining Future Ecologies

In the midst of global climate crisis, the environmental maxim— think globally, act locally — seems to ask us to live with one ear to the ground, and one earbud to the infosphere. If the answer to globalized climate chaos is localized climate justice, then how do we scale our place-tethered actions? If we are to be plant-like, rooted in place, then what will compose the mycelial networks that help us communicate and grow together? What kind of media will compose our soils?

Future Ecologies is a podcast created to tell stories that might start to answer these questions. It sounds like art, reads like journalism, and works to spread challenging ideas and "bright spots". In this talk, we'll unpack our stand-alone series on the climate crisis, Scales of Change, and what lessons it offers us for living in the Salish Sea and imagining our future ecologies, together.

Originating in 2018 as a collaboration between a pair of audiophile friends and naturalists, Future Ecologies is a podcast about the many ways we relate to our living planet. Telling stories from the Salish Sea, across the Pacific Rim, and beyond, every episode weaves together narrative, informative interviews, and science communication, supported by evocative soundscapes and music.

More information about the speaker series is available here.

Adam Huggins is a naturalist, musician, and nurseryman. He practices ecological restoration on Galiano Island, where he is learning to be rooted in place. He helps produce Future Ecologies to participate in conversations that challenge and inspire him, to seek and share pragmatic solutions to wicked problems, and to speak to people much wiser than himself.

Mendel Skulski is a recovering industrial designer, amateur mushroom nerd, and garden-variety dork. Mendel has no formal training in writing, journalism, or audio production, but so far they’ve been at least OK at learning on the fly. They cherish Future Ecologies as a platform to tell local stories that resonate with a global audience; to highlight Indigenous knowledge and decolonial philosophies; and to showcase local artists, musicians, and thought leaders.

Upcoming Talks

February 4, 2021
Speaker: Mike Sato
Title: Read All About It: What's the News of the Salish Sea?

February 11, 2021
Speaker: Cheryl Bryce
Title: TBA

February 18, 2021
Speaker: Kurt Grinnell, NWIFC
Title: TBA

Questions and Accommodations

Stefan Freelan is the coordinator of the Huxley Speaker Series. Feel free to email stefan@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-2949 if you have any questions or comments.

There will be auto-captions available for this event. To request closed captions, please mark the request on the registration form. Advance notice of three days to one week is appreciated.