Introduce yourself to your fellow students and the instructor. What are your interests? How do they relate to environmental history and/or contemporary environmental issues? What environmental issue, if any, do you think about the most, and how do you think about it?
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Brandon Davis
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haduro, 
paige 1:40 pm on January 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey everybody! My name is Paige. I’m a fourth year animal biology student and I’m about to go into the world and try and do my part. I’m hoping to be able to get into some conservation work helping to prevent the extinction of species and knowledge from this course will help build a solid basis to move from. I’ve never taken a history course and I’m hoping that I will be able to keep up. I ride horses and I love to snowboard but with today’s climate it’s raining up on seymour. I would say that relates quite well to current environmental issues. Human impact and climate change are environmental issues that I think about most. It worries me how quickly we are able to produce visible changes on a planet that has been around for so long. I hate to think of all the organisms that were here before us that have been drastically reduced or driven to extinction because of over consumption of resources. I hope that one day the world will be able to come together and make effective changes to our current ways of life.
brandond 11:34 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Paige,
Your major sounds interesting. I imagine it could lead to some fun jobs. We do not deal too much with wildlife issues in the course, but I’m guessing you will still have some chances to bring in insights from your field into our discussions. Hopefully you will also have some chances to go boarding sometime this winter!
jenniefrench 3:40 pm on January 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey everyone! My name is Jennie and I am a 4th year English Lit Student with a passion for the environment. I have always loved English, but I was basically brought up outside. Through out my degree I have sought out environment courses to fill all my electives.I am also a yoga instructor and am passionate about yoga and the community it creates. The yoga community strongly encourages relationships that are mutually beneficial and non-harming. What I feel I often see around me in my daily life, is humans taking the Earth for granted. Through university I have sought to learn about the earth and the social context of climate change and the environment. It is my goal to bring awareness to what we do that could harm not only the earth but inevitably ourselves as well.
I also love to rock climb, hike, backpack, travel, and cross country ski.
I don’t think there is one issue i care most about – what interests me most is learning as much as I can, teasing out what truth I can from the plethora of scientific studies out there, and helping to teach people about climate change, and encouraging people to take action. If I can help just one friend appreciate this beautiful planet more, I am happy.
brandond 11:40 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jennie,
It sounds like you have a passion for both the outdoors and learning, which are two things that go together well in this course. Hopefully your enthusiasm towards environmental issues will rub off onto others in the course!
sophiale 7:43 pm on January 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi! My name is Sophia and unlike Paige and Jennie, I am a newbie in university as I am a first years arts student. I’m planning on majoring in history, because history has always been a topic that fascinated me even in high school. I will be the first person to admit that I am not exactly an outdoorsy type of person. I like cuddling up in my bed and reading a good novel with a nice cup of hot chocolate by my side. But with that said, I think that learning about environmental history is something that I – and I believe, the majority of people, can find useful because we all live on the same planet. Our environment and our surroundings directly affects how we live and behave. An environmental issue that I have been thinking about the most is overpopulation. Over the years, our population has been steadily increasing and I’ve been starting to grow a bit worried about what our future will look like 10, 20 years from now as our resources start to dry up and eventually, depleted. It’s hard to imagine a world with little food or water, and unfortunately, this scenario is likely going to happen unless we do something about it. I totally agree with what Jennie said, about taking our earth for granted for the many resources that we use in order to function and live normal lives. I think overpopulation is something that’s really difficult to stop or change, but what we can do is change the way we use our resources and prevent overconsumption of those resources, especially for those of us who live in a developed country.
brandond 11:44 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Sophie,
Thanks for you thoughtful response. We will be covering many of the issues you highlighted in more depth. I am looking forward to hearing some you insights on them!
Danni 10:20 pm on January 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My name is Danni, and I am a 4th year Medical Lab Science student in the Faculty of Medicine. Med Lab Science includes five disciplines: Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Transfusion Medicine, Anatomic Pathology, and Microbiology. I am very interest in Clinical Chemistry, because chemistry and biochemistry more or less interrelate with all other disciplines. Global environment changes actually influence our life styles, as well as our health as well. I hope from this course I am going to have some ideas about how environmental alternations changes our health, and the pathology of diseases as well. In this case, the study of environmental history is essential for us to think about our global environmental issue critically, rather than to simply trust all from the media. I hope we all could be able to develop our ability to analyze the environmental contexts, and to place our own arguments.
brandond 11:51 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Danni,
I share some of you interest in disease pathology. There are a number of really interesting works on the environmental history of disease. While we will not be dealing too much with this topic in this course, I am guessing you will be able to figure out ways to incorporate your interests into some of the assignments and hopefully into some of the discussions as well.
brandond 11:27 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello,
I guess it is time for me to post something here. My name is Brandon and I am the instructor of the course. Most of my interests tend to revolve in one or another around the outdoors. I grew up in Utah and a large portion of my youth was spent exploring the nearby mountains and red rock canyons with family and friends. After spending so much time in the outdoors, it was easy for me to develop an interest in environmental issues and natural history. As a teenager, I became active in a local movement for wilderness preservation and served as a volunteer to the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. As a college student at Utah State University I explored a number of different fields and interests, but ended up with a degree in American Studies that emphasized “Nature and the Environment.” After graduating, I headed to the northwest where I worked in the service industry at Mt. Rainer National Park. When I was not working and exploring the northwest, I was able to travel and become familiar with the natural history of a number of different regions around the world. Eventually I decided to return to the university and pursue an advanced degree focusing on environmental history, a field that propitiously combines my interests in the humanities and the environment. My current dissertation project was inspired, in part, by how my family and I come from a region in Utah that was downwind of both the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, where nearly 1,000 nuclear detonations have occurred, and a secret chemical and biological weapons testing reserve called Dugway Proving Ground. I believe that the increased emphasis on national security in the decade after September 11 has made it increasingly necessary to remember the often hidden and unacknowledged consequences of protecting against threats to national security. With both my dissertation project and a newborn (my two babies), I rarely I have time to get out into the backcountry anymore. Although after living in Vancouver for a number of years, I do find myself coming to appreciate urban environments more and more.
hannahepperson 7:28 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Brandon, I was born and raised in Utah as well. I moved to vancouver in 2002 from Salt Lake City, as a matter of fact, and still have a brother living and working there as an urban planner. I was just in Capitol Reef two weeks ago, where my brother and I started drafting up the preliminary sketches for a graphic novel set 300 years in the future in that very region … playing with ideas of politics, the resurgence of radical religious history and geographical/spatial reorganization … funny coincidence.
brandond 7:51 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Trips to the southern Utah this time of the year are the best – I’m jealous! Glad to know there’s fellow Utahn in course. The graphic novel sounds interesting as well. I think a lot of interesting stories could be told about that region!
msmith92 11:45 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Everyone! My name is Martha and I am a second year student in the Faculty of Science, majoring in physiology. Like many people here, many of my interests and hobbies revolve around the outdoors and I never cease to be amazed by the diversity and beauty of nature. I love to ski and travel and I am also on the varsity rowing team. That being said, the environmental issue I think about most is global climate change. This is an issue that encompasses both my academic and personal interests as the environment impacts both human health and the lifestyle that the environment allows us to lead. With so much information out there on global climate change and human impact on the environment, I think that many people become desensitized to hearing about this important issue. I think that studying environmental history is a great way to combat this so that we are all better able to understand the complexities and further engage with this extremely relevant issue.
brandond 11:57 am on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Martha,
It sounds like you already have some strong views on some of the issues we will be covering. I’m looking forward to hearing more on views. I’m also sure you will have plenty of opportunities to further engage relevant issues like climate in this course.
sharonshi 1:06 pm on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi there! I am Sharon Shi and I am a first year student in the Faculty of Commerce. I hope to major in Finance in the future and I decided to take this course in order to broaden my understanding about the world and the events that impact it. I believe the most important indications of the future is the past, and I wanted to take this course in order to better understand how some significant events has impacted Earth. My hobbies include jogging, photography, and playing the guitar. I have very little knowledge of environmental history and current issues outside of the small topics touched upon in my Grade 12 World Issues class. This however, was another impetus for me to take the course. Hopefully, by the end of the semester, I will be able to generate specific views and detailed opinions regarding current issues and ones of the past.
brandond 9:56 pm on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Sharon,
It sounds like you have an open mind that’s ready to learn more about environmental history. I also hope that by the end of the semester you’ll have informed opinions about a wide-range of environmental issues.
bgibson 10:52 pm on January 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello everyone, I am Brendan, a fourth year Chemistry student. I am particularly interested in analytical and physical chemistry. I am a very active person, and like many of you I enjoy a number of outdoor activities. I enjoy skiing in the winter, while in the summer I take advantage of the local landscape to cycle, hike, camp, rock climb amongst other activities. Certainly these hobbies keep me in the state of the natural environment. My academic interests in chemistry are also relevant since chemical analysis has and will continue to play a significant role with regards to environmental issues.
The environmental issue that I find myself thinking about the most is energy usage and development. While a shift away from fossil fuel is not currently imminent there is a tremendous amount of research being conducted in alternative energy sources. As materials and techniques improve these energy sources become more viable and financially attractive. It is an exciting and dynamic field that promises to grow in the near future.
brandond 11:51 am on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brendan,
Your major sounds interesting. I’ve recently been researching the environmental impact of chemical weapons, which has required to learn more about chemistry. I’m sure there is plenty more I need to learn! Energy use is something I have had a lot of interest in recently as well. This course has some good readings on issue. The Crosby book is one of my favorites.
roypat 1:27 am on January 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI Everyone, my name’s Roy and I’m a 5th year Finance student in the Faculty of Commerce, and I’m finishing up my degree this term. I just finished an 8 month Co-op at a commercial real estate investment firm and I worked closely with the Development group at some points – so I have some interest in how development and design have an impact on the environment. On another hand, staying true to my “Finance” roots, I have money invested into Canadian oil sands companies. As somewhat of a peak-oil theorist, some of my investment decisions have been driven by things I’ve read and/or learned. However, I’m not in this class as a way to make money, but because I want to learn more about current and new methods for producing/extracting energy and what their effects are. Despite being invested in the companies, the processes involved in extracting oil through the oil sands & gas through fracking do concern me, and I do wonder about their long-term viability unless more innovative practices are brought into the mix.
brandond 11:50 am on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Roy,
Our last unit on urban development should overlap quite a bit with some of your interests. I’m also sure your investment choices will stir up debate when we cover the tar sands later in the term. I’d say for the immediate future it’s probably a wise investment from a purely financial perspective.
katehaxt 9:58 am on January 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello, my name is Kate and I live in a yurt in Cornwall in the UK. I love rock climbing and hiking in the alpine and desprately miss the big mountains of North America. What comes up for me all the time about environmental issues is how one resolves their day to day life with their ideals. For example, on one hand I am very conscious of trying to minimize my negative impact on the earth- we sourced sustainable wood for our yurt, get power from a windmill, eat local and organic, etc etc. Yet, my baby daughter was recently diagnosed with leukemia and I’m now using disposable diapers, buying packaged food and throwing out at least 5 plastic medicine plungers a day. My world has shrunken since my daughters illness. I don’t seem to care about anything but her right now and I know this is very normal and understandable. However, this “shrunken world” syndrome is what is preventing us from effectively addressing global climate change. In Cameron’s UK budget speech he said, effectively, that British economic health is more important right now. than the global environment- not so different than my reaction to my daughter. This inabilty to truly and consistently choose global concerns over our individual concerns is the crux of environmental issues for me.
brandond 11:55 am on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kate,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m sure everyone in the course hopes your daughter recovers soon. I have a two-month old and couldn’t imagine dealing with such a problem. I’m guessing your experiences dealing with this illness as well as living in a yurt in England will allow you make some interesting contributions to our discussions.
youngblutt 12:07 pm on January 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello all. My name is Derek. I am a mature student, in my first year of undergrad studies at UBC. I currently live in Montreal, Quebec. My family and I have recently moved to Montreal while my wife pursues a phD in the Cultural Heritage Management of Angkor Wat, Cambodia. I am the proud father of three children, Miles (6), Rhodes (4) and Windemere (1). My family and I are fanatic travellers and had early last year lived in and travelled around Thailand, while my wife worked for UNESCO. I decided to go back to school because I have a great passion for humanity and I want to participate with skillful means in the forthcoming struggles that we will have to brave as a result of our collective, misinformed notions about progress and development. I have a particular interest in and concern for environmental migration due to climate change, which I believe will cause a substantial global reconsideration towards our understanding of resource and space, and an immediate need for immigration policy reforms around the world.
brandond 11:59 am on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Derek,
I can understand why this course might be attractive to you. It sounds like you’ve have already developed a pretty strong global environmental consciousness. I’m excited to hear some of the perspectives you’ll bring into our discussions!
midara 5:48 pm on January 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello everyone. I am Denise and I am in my fourth year of undergraduate studies at UBC. I am majoring in Asian area studies, which a lot of the courses have direct relations with History and Culture. I currently live in Richmond, BC, but I am an international student from Hong Kong. My background allows me to become very interested in Asian-related subjects, so I am taking some history courses. Although my interest may seem quite unrelated to environmental history, I think this area of study is a good example demonstrating about how science and technology changes human’s culture, history and development in a whole.
I am most concern with environmental pollutions and how globalization brings these environmental problems from local to broader scale, especially on pollution of water and other food resources.
brandond 12:05 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Denise,
Some of the most consequential environmental developments are and will be occurring in East Asia. We cover some of these issues in this course.Hopefully you can offer some further insight into these developments.
jonl 9:05 pm on January 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi, my name is Jon and I am a fourth year student specializing in Human Resources Management. I really like history, both architectures (man-made) and natural. It would be a shame not to be able to pass to on to future generations all the beautiful things we often take for granted.
I think about consumerism a lot and how the population has grown so much so that we’ve converted our means of production just to feed the demand. There’s just something that doesn’t seem natural about it all.
A professor at UBC (Gateman) once said, and he probably still does say it: “There are too many people”. Is he right? Maybe.
brandond 12:09 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jon,
Consumerism will be a topic that comes up again and again in this course. We also will have some readings and hopefully some debates on the question overpopulation. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and these and other issues.
hoskinso 9:44 pm on January 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’m Paul, a fourth year Chemical Engineering student. Although I’ve lived in cities most of my life, I derive profound enjoyment from escaping the urban jungle and spending a few days hiking in the backcountry. It makes me realize how little of the earth’s land surface has been left untouched by human development. I often think about how human civilization will meet its need for energy, land and raw materials in the face of increasing population, while preserving the remaining biodiversity of Earth’s biosphere.
brandond 12:14 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Paul,
The contrast between urban development and wilderness preservation is an interesting one, and something we will explore in more detail in this course. Sounds like you should have plenty of opinions on the issue.
yitailiu 12:29 am on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello, my name is Yitai and I am a third year Civil Engineering Student. I’m interested in urban infrastructure planning and I think that environmental factors plays a very important role in how people make decisions to shape the cities. Sustainable development is one of the themes considered in my areas of study, such as in building designs, construction, project management., and transportation. I think most about the environmental issues concerning the relationship between human activities and climate change, and ways to minimize the negative effects caused by human activities.
brandond 12:15 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Yitai,
Our last unit on urbanization will overlap quite a bit with your interest. I’m looking forward to hearing more of you thoughts on sustainable development.
hannahepperson 7:18 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello to you fine far-flung folk! I’m Hannah, a very nearly graduated human geography student at UBC. My interests have always been puzzlingly wide in range, and the interdisciplinary nature of the human geography department only made them more so. I am both a touring musician (violin and voice) and athlete (ultimate frisbee, yes actually), and so like Kate, find the dissonance of my day-to-day reality and my environmental-ethical orientation difficult to resolve. This conundrum – the endless contradictions of the (‘first world’) individual’s day-to-day reality and the omnipresence of environmental concerns and guilt – is perhaps what I toil over most often. l I hope eventually to work in the field of experiential education, and feel fiercely about the importance of cross-weaving disparate discourses and modes of ‘understanding’ the environments that we depend on, imagine and create. So naturally, the marriage of the terms “environment” and “history” in the course title drew my attention. I will also confess that I have a lot of difficulty interacting with people, content and ideas through the pixelated, computer screen environment … so this course brings with it a whole medley of interesting challenges.
gpippus 10:08 pm on January 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi All, I’m a little late to the party here and struggling a little bit with all of this technology. My name is Geoff Pippus, I am a second year arts student pondering a future in sports psychology. I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and much like Brandon spent a lot of my free time in the mountains hiking, fishing, camping, and enjoying the great outdoors. I can’t say I have any real background in history or environmental issues other than an elementary understanding of the major issues discussed in the media, but I look forward to gaining more perspective on both topics as the course progresses.
I’m fairly intrigued by Jon’s quotation of Professor Gateman, as I have wondered about overpopulation and it’s effect on the environment. The consumer based ideals of our society seem to ignore (for the most part) effects on the environment and although I think this way of thinking is gradually changing, it is apparent that more drastic measures need to be taken to avoid disastrous environmental consequences. I am curious about what the experts think about this growing conflict of interest.
It sounds like we have quite a diverse group, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!
brandond 8:00 pm on January 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It looks like the inter-mountain west is well-represented in this course. With online courses, it’s almost inevitable there will be some type of technological struggle at some point. Hopefully it wasn’t too big of a struggle. Glad to hear your enthusiastic about the course!
tsung18 9:14 am on January 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi everyone, my name is Trevor and I am third year Sociology student. I was born and raised in Canada and grew up in a small town about 50 mins away from Vancouver. As a small town boy, I really enjoy the outdoors since mountains and rivers surround me. The environment has always been a big deal to me and to honest, I didn’t realize UBC offered environmental history otherwise I would have taken it sooner. As aforementioned, I enjoy the great outdoors, however, what I want to know more is how each of my actions may affect the environment. My area of study (Sociology) can closely relate to environmental history. Societies attitude towards the environment has also changed overtime and I hope to further develop a better understanding in this area. An increase in consumerism and population growth will begin to impact our environment, and in order to balance out this outcome and find solutions to minimize the negative effects I believe a deeper understanding is necessary.
brandond 8:02 pm on January 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Trevor,
Maybe you’d have been a history major if you knew about environmental history earlier. I’m sure there’s some need to think about environmental issues in sociology, so hopefully you can bring some insights from this course to bear on your main area of study.
emilym 9:21 pm on January 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi everyone! My name is Emily Myers and I’m a 4th year International Relations major and am minoring in Spanish. I am from Albuquerque, New Mexico and grew up spending most weekends camping in the mountains and exploring the abundance of nature around the Southwest of the US. I have always loved nature and spend as much time as possible outdoors. I am an avid backpacker and snowboarder. Environmental history is fascinating to me and I plan to pursue a masters program in International Environmental Policy at some point after I graduate this May. Environmental issues are very important to me and I hope to one day contribute towards protecting our natural environment. I am especially interested in pollution and renewable/clean energy options, but hope to gain a broader understanding of the history of human interactions with our natural environment through this course.
brandond 2:33 pm on January 13, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
Albuquerque is on the top of my list for places I want to live. It has the perfect mix of beautiful landscapes and rich, local cultures. Hopefully this course can give you a stronger background for your graduate program.
jlin 5:30 pm on January 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey guys!
This is Joyce here. I am a second year student, geography major and more specifically part of the environment and sustainability program. I came into university knowing exactly what I wanted to study, a passionate ambition influenced by my geography 11 and 12 teacher in high school. My social studies 9 teacher introduced me to An Inconvenient Truth and in the same year became the first sponsor of the school’s Green Team, I was part of the first online sustainability course offered in the Richmond School District, and my chem 12 teacher guided me through my “extended essay” on Environment and Society that I had to write in order to graduate from high school. So, academically, I guess I’ve always been interested in exploring the topics surrounding the environment and have been continually inspired to learn more and do more. Sounds rather cheesy in a sense…but point being that I do love what I study!
Both the natural sciences and social sciences amaze me and I am a big believer of finding the well being of humans and the planet in the balance of nature and society. This means I am mostly concerned about climate change, loss of biodiversity and quite simply how to live sustainably. I think about these subjects with optimism and I TRY not to think selfishly about it (i.e. I care about climate change, but do I only care about climate change because I am human and I believe climate change will affect the human way of living?) I also think about it with respect to better living conditions for other parts of the world where people struggle to survive because they cannot put the natural resources they have into use as most developed countries do (whether that may be they do not have those resources, they do not have the technology to maximize the consumption of those resources in a sustainable way, etc). As a geographer (or a growing geographer, I try!) I appreciate the holistic view of Earth and I don’t like taking things apart or in isolation; I study space in its physical form but also place with context. I believe this course will help me see more of that context! (When I picked geography in Gr.11, it meant I did not have the room to also take history…so, this will be my first history course! and I think it’ll be a good way in bringing the times I’m interested in together)
brandond 2:38 pm on January 13, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Joyce,
It sounds like you have quite the passion for and background in environmentalism. The environment and sustainability program sounds perfect for you. Hopefully there will be some interesting jobs dealing with environmental sustainability waiting for you when you graduate!
congo96 4:13 pm on January 13, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi my name is Nathan Kanya I am 4th year Psychology Major. I’m from the Congo DRC and lived in France the U.S. and now Canada. Perhaps because of my upbringing I love to to travel, I came to UBC knowing nobody and never having been to Vancouver before. I plan on exploring as much of the world as possible throughout my lifetime. I have always have had an interest in history and have been taught history from different perspectives (African, European, American and Canadian) but this will be my first time taking an history course at the post secondary level. I am taking two other history courses this term that I believe will enhance my learning experience with this particular history class. The environmental issue I think about the most is sustainability as the world moves forward with technology and consumerism. Every year and every decade we learn more about the effects of human development on nature it would be foolish to think everyone is going to just stop cutting down forests and close down companies solely because of environmental issues but I hope to see technological advances that allow people to meet their economic interests all while addressing environmental issues that we believe we understand.
nytsuen 2:53 am on January 14, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi everyone! My name is Natalie Suen and I am a second year student hoping for a Honours in History with International Relations. I have never taken any courses on environmentalism; however, that is not the case with history. I’ve taken numerous history courses in my 2 years at UBC and my love for the ‘stories’ have grown more and more. What encouraged me to take this course was from HIST 103 when we did a section on the environment. I focused specifically on India and the Ganges River and wrote a paper on how the religious practices of the people and their daily livelihoods by use of the river had polluted the environment. I also learnt about bodies of water and how their locations really affected the advancement and the industrialization of those places. Furthermore, we learnt about diseases that spread through bodies of water and to this day, it continues to happen in developing countries in Africa. Being a candidate for a honours history with international relations, my heart extends out to those living in unfortunate conditions. It occurred to me how interlinked the environment is to history. Not only do humans have a history but the environment has always been changing and therefore, has a history of its own. Inevitably, environmental changes also affect human history and this is what interests me!
phoebe 6:05 pm on January 15, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello! My name is Phoebe Yau and I am a fourth year Classical Studies major. Crossing my fingers, I hope to graduate this year. This is my first course in environmentalism, however as an arts student, I’ve taken more then my fair share of history courses. I love to learn about stories of the past and how they connect to the present day. I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when I was young. The contrast in the amount of pollution and population between the two places is astounding. In comparison, Vancouver has much more free space, fresh air, and greenery. Having said that, I admit that I prefer the life and energy of Hong Kong with its endless urban comforts including street food and snacks on any corner, and shops that sell goods much cheaper than Canadian goods. I believe an ideal environment would centre in a moderate middle with people spread out over a greater amount of land, and more urban comforts being avaliable to all.
natashap 5:43 pm on January 16, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey all! I’m Natasha Palmer and I’m in my third year of Mechanical Engineering. Outside of classes, I’m involved in Club Mech, our departmental student club, as Vice President and I’m also trying to learn how to rollerskate. I’m also a total nerd and love playing boardgames.
One of the things I find fascinating about environmental history and issues is how seemingly minor things or issues specific to one part of the world can affect everything. Though not directly related to environmental history/issues, I also find it interesting how people’s attitudes/previous experiences affect new technology – for example electric cars have been slow to catch on because they don’t sound like “normal” cars.
I’ve always enjoyed history and looking at changes over time and I’m also interested in how technology/humans affects the Earth, so I think I’ll enjoy this course very much.
kimzzzy 10:03 pm on January 16, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Introduce yourself to your fellow students and the instructor. What are your interests? How do they relate to environmental history and/or contemporary environmental issues? What environmental issue, if any, do you think about the most, and how do you think about it?
Hi, my name is Kimmy Kwok, I am in my fourth year in Food Marketing Analysis. I have specifically chosen this course because I’d like to educate myself more on the contemporary environmental issues and the root causes of it. I think that in order to improve our current situation we must learn how and why human’s have chosen to do something at the cost of our environment.
These days I am much concerned about the luxurious lifestyle that the middle and upper class society has been accustomed to. It has lead to many wasteful practices and generating massive amounts of pollutants.
I hope that societies are moving towards finding enjoyment through connecting with nature and appreciating it.
Olga F 10:18 pm on January 17, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello everyone! My name is Olga Fedianina and i`m in my fourth year in Geography: Environment and Sustainability Program. I love talking and learning a lot of new information about the environment. I needed an interesting elective and this sounded just great. I`m concerned about many environmental problems. Mainly, climate change, pollution and its effects on people — effects on serious diseases like cancer is increasing (wonder why), also effects on today`s techniques in agriculture and many more. Overall, everything we do every day has some kind of negative impact, it is even sad to think about it! Hope one day people will be choosing environment (since it effects us same way we effect it) than profits and other unnecessary stuff.
sampethick 5:23 pm on January 18, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi everyone! My name is Sam, I’m a fourth year Anthropology major, living in Vernon. My interests are skiing, hiking, summertime, and travelling. I love new information, and I took a special interest in the environment only last year when I did a study on how the environment is affecting the clean water supply in Haiti.
The issues here were things like how the earthquake had effected water supplies, the amount of rainfall and also this plant called the water hyacinth. This got me really interested in the things that occur within our ecosystems that are completely natural and out of our hands.
So I guess my biggest environmental interest would be the natural occurrences in our environment which we have no control over (the weather and natural disasters such as earthquakes) and what it is that we can do to clean up and provide clean drinking water after these things happen. History has given us a lot to work with and come up with many solutions to help with these problems, but obviously natural disasters aren’t going to stop happening and people still don’t have drinking water so there’s a long way to go on that front.
Also I read Jon’s post and realized I think about consumerism a lot too, it’s sad but I think that there is in fact too many people, and no solution in sight.
brenden 9:08 pm on January 18, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi everybody! My name is Brenden and I am a fourth year student in the faculty of arts with a major in Political Science and a minor in Economics. I am originally from Toronto, ON. My interests are hockey, golf, snowboarding and traveling. I have taken Forestry 101 and a few EOSC courses and I found all of them to be extremely interesting and informative which is what led me to this course. I am passionate about the environment and am eager to learn more. The environmental concern I am interested in is fossil fuels. I find it very interesting to see how we as a civilization rely so heavily on a resource which we will likely see disappear in our lifetimes. A book / movie I would recommend everyone to read / see is “Collapse” by Michael Rupert. It’s a documentary which discusses the concept of ‘peak oil’ and is extremely interesting. Another issue I am interested in is sustainable development. I feel like in the next few years we are going to see substantial gains made in the marketplace by companies producing environmentally friendly products.
eddietastic 3:39 pm on January 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello my name is Edward and i am a second year student. I grew up in North Vancouver, for those of you who dont know north Van very well i grew up on the side of Grouse mountain as a result the environment and nature had a huge impact on my childhood. Due to house constructions and more and more of nature being taken up we always had animals around my house for example bears who would go into our garbage and deer who would live in my backyard. For an entire year we had a family of deer who lived in our backyard . I am interested in the issues of taking up space for residential and commercial needs as well as environmental disasters such as oil spills and things like that . I love tennis, hiking, and watching movies .
erikaw 12:57 am on January 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Everyone. My name is Erika and this is actually my last class before graduation! Exciting. I grew up on the Sunshine Coast (just a ferry ride north from Vancouver) and I suppose that’s where my appreciation for life and nature began. In University I’ve studied Food, Nutrition and Health in the Faculty of Land and Food. I especially liked being in the Faculty of Land and Food because they take a very ground roots approach to food and the environment and I’ve learned a lot about agriculture and food systems in their Agricultural Sciences classes. Continuing on in my degree I focussed on International Health and Development and I was always particularly interested in how our food choices are linked to the environment. In an ISL placement in Uganda this summer I was able to make a lot of the “global connections” I had learned about in school. Now I am studying at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition and working at Organic Lives – both places are committed to global change through eating the cleanest food available on the planet! So I guess you could say my main interest in this course is food/agriculture and to learn more about how our personal eating choices have huge influences on the environment.
alyumam 1:47 am on January 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello. My name is Aldo and I am a 4th year student in the faculty of arts majoring in Social anthropology. I started studying anthropology in Mexico city, place where I am originally from, however I have lived in other places in Mexico, as also as in the U.S.A. and now in Canada. Currently I study Vancouver, place I cherish because its nature and healthy lifestyle.
The reason I have chosen this course, aside being interested on the description this course had, is because of the multidisciplinary characteristics I discovered first time I heard about this discipline.
I find and I relate myself to environmental history from the perspective of anthropology offers (specially social anthropology) . In my opinion I believe this is a great opportunity to know how new and contemporary disciplines are being conformed with the help of technology, as also with the increased scenarios and needs our planet and its population faces nowadays.
haduro 9:47 pm on February 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi, my name is Ellen Banh. My interests are music and women studies. I am unsure how they relate to environmental history. The environmental issues that most intrigues me are over-consumerism and global warming. I believe over consumerism demanded by developed countries are taxing the living conditions and environments of the developing countries that are making the products for us.
Keaton Briscoe 10:20 pm on March 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is a little late,but….
My name is Keaton Briscoe, this is my third year at UBC and I am an ARTS student. I play on the Varsity Baseball team. Once I earn my major at UBC, I want to go into Environmental design or architecture. I have always been interested in this topic and I am finally going to strive towards making a profession out out of. I think the issue that I think about most has to be global warming. Since I saw the Al Gore fil “An Inconvenient Truth” in grade 9, I have always been interested in it.