NiCHE Canada
@nichecanada.bsky.social
The Network in Canadian History & Environment. NiCHE is a confederation of researchers & educators who work at the intersection of nature & history. niche-canada.org
"Dwelling With and Without Rats" by Peter Soppelsa is the third post in the Dwelling in Place series edited by Nicole Miller. Human dwelling is multispecies, illustrated by historical shifts between coexisting with and excluding rats. niche-canada.org/2026/10/29/d... #envhist #animalhistory
Dwelling With and Without Rats
Human dwelling is historically multispecies; managing rats shifted around 1900 from killing to ecological rat-proofing, though cohabitation remains inevitable.
niche-canada.org
"In a market inundated with messages about how to consume to be sexier, smarter, and even more environmentally friendly, incremental consumer choices bear heavily on how, as a society, we are consumed, and our greenspaces turn grey." - Amanda Robinson niche-canada.org/2014/06/17/r...
#OTD (Thu, Oct 29) 1914 at #JoeLake, #AlgonquinPark: "Morning wet snow and rain falling most of day. Rangers Patterson and Geitz joined us. We worked at mill, getting old timber for dam until noon. Saw yellowlegs going south." @nichecanada.bsky.social @csnrec.bsky.social
Calling new scholars with an interest in Canadian history and/or the environment or both: Come join me! I can't promise pumpkin carving (OK, maybe VIRTUAL pumpkin carving or a series on HALLOWEEN in Canada) but we can do so many interesting things!
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · yesterdayThe Network in Canadian History and Environment has four New Scholars Committee positions to fill for 2027. Committee members support the work of our New Scholar Rep, @maryeb.bsky.social for 2027, work on editorial initiatives, & develop new scholars activities. niche-canada.org/2026/10/28/a...
Job call: Postdoctoral Fellow in Environmental Humanities to lead the Greenhouse Games Lab at the University of Stavanger, Norway. Deadline: 10 November. #EnvHum bsky.app/profile/did:...
Postdoctoral Fellow in Enviromental Humanities (309553) | University of Stavanger
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow in Enviromental Humanities (309553), Employer: University of Stavanger, Deadline: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
jobbnorge.no
PiCHE Alert! "From Practice to Policy: Grand Manan’s Contested Fisheries, Environmental Knowledge, & Governance in the Bay of Fundy, 1834–1837" by Zachary Tingley & @richrray.bsky.social just dropped! PiCHE is our long-form, open-access, peer-reviewed publication! niche-canada.org/2026/10/28/f...
From Practice to Policy: Grand Manan’s Contested Fisheries, Environmental Knowledge, and Governance in the Bay of Fundy, 1834–1837
New Brunswick’s 1836 Herring Commission subordinated local ecological knowledge to commercial, settler-colonial interests, prioritizing offshore extractions over place-based conservation.
niche-canada.org
Want to shape what NiCHE publishes in 2027? The Network in Canadian History and Environment has three Editorial Team positions to fill for The Otter in 2027. Apply by November 18th! niche-canada.org/2026/10/28/a... #envhist #cdnhist #envhum #histgeog
The Network in Canadian History and Environment has four New Scholars Committee positions to fill for 2027. Committee members support the work of our New Scholar Rep, @maryeb.bsky.social for 2027, work on editorial initiatives, & develop new scholars activities. niche-canada.org/2026/10/28/a...
Step on up for an exciting #EnvHist #histSTM opportunity! After more than 25 years, NiCHE is offering membership! Come join the best organisation for engaged, emergent scholarship and dissemination for all things environmental history.
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · yesterdayVERY BIG NEWS! And a moment of transition for NiCHE. We are now offering memberships to our organization. Help us build the next era of this scholarly community. We hope to have at least 50 members by mid-November. niche-canada.org/2026/10/27/b... #envhist #cdnhist #envhum #histgeog
Consider becoming a NiCHE member! Your support will help ensure we can continue to support all members of the environmental history community, and particularly those with interest in and connection to northern North America.
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · yesterdayVERY BIG NEWS! And a moment of transition for NiCHE. We are now offering memberships to our organization. Help us build the next era of this scholarly community. We hope to have at least 50 members by mid-November. niche-canada.org/2026/10/27/b... #envhist #cdnhist #envhum #histgeog
VERY BIG NEWS! And a moment of transition for NiCHE. We are now offering memberships to our organization. Help us build the next era of this scholarly community. We hope to have at least 50 members by mid-November. niche-canada.org/2026/10/27/b... #envhist #cdnhist #envhum #histgeog
Become a Member of NiCHE!
It’s the start of a new era for NiCHE! For the first time, you can become an official member of the Network in Canadian History and Environment.
niche-canada.org
The penultimate in our uncharismatic species series, this one from up-and-coming science communicator David Quinche!
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 3d ago"Love the Unloved: How to Talk About “Monsters” in Science" by David A. Quinche Giraldo is part of a series about “uncharismatic” species in environmental history. Science communication can reshape public perception to protect despised wildlife. niche-canada.org/2026/10/26/l... #envhist #scicomm
It’s true. @nichecanada.bsky.social is now offering memberships. Sign up to support a great organization and help keep NiCHE going strong. #envhist #cdnhist niche-canada.org/2026/10/27/b...
Become a Member of NiCHE!
It’s the start of a new era for NiCHE! For the first time, you can become an official member of the Network in Canadian History and Environment.
niche-canada.org
#OTD (Thu, Oct 28) 1926 - 100 years ago today - at #Brent, #AlgonquinPark: "I met morning train and met a number of persons who were interested in elections & lumbering. Heavy rain set in about 7:30 a.m. I returned to camp. I saw huge flocks of snow buntings moving south." @nichecanada.bsky.social
Black Winged Parrot Donovan, E. (Edward). 1823. The Naturalist’s Repository, or, Monthly Miscellany of Exotic Natural History. London #BHL #HistSci #HistSTM #Birds #Biodiversity www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/137896#...
Witchcraft as Contagion When accusing a witch looks a lot like spreading a disease By Laurent Hébert-Dufresne , Juniper Lovato , Ben Dexter Cooley and Alexa Woodward complexstories.uvm.edu/salem-witches/
In 1692, a contagion was spreading through the the area of Salem, Massachussetts. But instead of a biological pathogen, it was a social one: Accusations of witchcraft.
complexstories.uvm.edu
Ooooo, this is some dope historical data viz for the season. Check it out.
Kathryn Cramer 📚🎨@kathryncramer.bsky.social · yesterdayWitchcraft as Contagion When accusing a witch looks a lot like spreading a disease By Laurent Hébert-Dufresne , Juniper Lovato , Ben Dexter Cooley and Alexa Woodward complexstories.uvm.edu/salem-witches/
"Love the Unloved: How to Talk About “Monsters” in Science" by David A. Quinche Giraldo is part of a series about “uncharismatic” species in environmental history. Science communication can reshape public perception to protect despised wildlife. niche-canada.org/2026/10/26/l... #envhist #scicomm
Love the Unloved: How to Talk About “Monsters” in Science
Public perception can turn uncharismatic animals into hated "monsters," but effective science communication uses storytelling and emotion to restore conservation support.
niche-canada.org
"Wooden waka or sailing ships might be treated with shark oil, tar, a false bottom, or more recently copper to prevent shipworm larvae burrowing into and setting up within." - @historykate.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/10/16/d... #envhist #animalhistory #maritimes #oceanshistory #envhum
Down the (Ship)wormhole: Finding Charisma in an Animal's Absence
Once feared marine pests, hidden shipworms shift from uncharismatic destroyers to celebrated artistic co-creators as their wood-tunneling patterns are repurposed into luxury design.
niche-canada.org
"While no one had yet viewed a virus under a microscope, many of the HBC’s experienced fur traders understood the communicable nature of smallpox and other acute infectious diseases." - Scott Berthelette niche-canada.org/2020/04/03/q... #envhist #cdnhist #histmed #HBC #indigenoushistory
Quarantine in the Northwest: The Hudson’s Bay Company’s Measures to Stop the 1779-1783 Smallpox Epidemic
The 1779–1783 smallpox epidemic devastated Indigenous communities in western North America; Hudson’s Bay Company traders used quarantine and sanitation to slow spread.
niche-canada.org
Companion Reads: "The Toxic Origins of Toxic Masculinities" (2026) - @edgeeffectsmag.bsky.social - edgeeffects.net/the-toxic-or... "'Chemical Castration': White Genocide and Male Extinction in Rhetoric of Endocrine Disruption" (2020) - NiCHE - niche-canada.org/2020/06/09/c...
I love this sort of stuff I enjoyed researching it and I adore indexing it #AmIndexing
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 6d ago"(Ant)icolonial Figures: Characterizing Ants in 16th Century New Spain" by Elise Milburn is part of a series about “uncharismatic” species in environmental history Spanish sources viewed ants as destructive pests; Indigenous sources framed them as guides. niche-canada.org/2026/10/23/p... #envhist
“They bit and caused greater pain than wasps that bite and hurt men,” and the island’s residents “could not defend themselves from these ants at night in their beds, nor could they survive if the beds were not placed on four small troughs of water.”
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 6d ago"(Ant)icolonial Figures: Characterizing Ants in 16th Century New Spain" by Elise Milburn is part of a series about “uncharismatic” species in environmental history Spanish sources viewed ants as destructive pests; Indigenous sources framed them as guides. niche-canada.org/2026/10/23/p... #envhist
"Like every other Western traveller in his position, Burchell relied on local labour, expertise and the advice of a variety of “Indigenous intermediaries." - @patriciasgeo.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2024/09/27/i... #envhist #indigenoushistory #brazil #exploration #histgeog
Intermediaries, Archives and the Brazilian Travel of William Burchell, 1825-1830
In 1825, British botanist William Burchell traveled to Brazil on a diplomatic mission. He collected thousands of plant specimens and relied heavily on Indigenous and local intermediaries for assistanc...
niche-canada.org
And do check out Elise Milburn’s wonderful paper on ants, the latest in the uncharismatic species series!
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 6d ago"(Ant)icolonial Figures: Characterizing Ants in 16th Century New Spain" by Elise Milburn is part of a series about “uncharismatic” species in environmental history Spanish sources viewed ants as destructive pests; Indigenous sources framed them as guides. niche-canada.org/2026/10/23/p... #envhist
Aujourd'hui, @affholder.bsky.social présente son nouveau livre, La ville énergivore. Une histoire des transitions énergétiques à Montréal au 20e siècle ( @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social 2026) niche-canada.org/2026/10/24/n... #envhist #cdnhist #book #energyhistory #urbanhistory #montreal
Nouveau livre : La ville énergivore. Une histoire des transitions énergétiques à Montréal au 20e siècle
La ville énergivore analyse la géographie historique des transitions énergétiques à Montréal au 20e siècle et leurs impacts sociospatiaux.
niche-canada.org
From the @src-rsc.bsky.social : "Bill C-39 countermands the environmental protections currently in place in Canadian law, laws written to avoid irreparable harms." www.cbc.ca/news/politic... via @cbcradiocanada.bsky.social @nichecanada.bsky.social @pierrecloutier.bsky.social
56 top Canadian scientists push for changes to Carney's new major projects bill | CBC News
More than 50 of Canada's leading scholars and scientists are urging Parliament to make major changes to a signature bill from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government in an effort to avoid irreversible...
cbc.ca
Coming up Monday, 26 October 2026 at 16:00 Central European time, we'll be talking to Filipa Ramos, about her book The Artist as Ecologist: Contemporary Art and the Environment (Lund Humphries, 2025) in the online Greenhouse #envhum book talk series. All are welcome! newnatures.org/greenhouse/e...
