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
"Prior to the treaty, the Canoe Valley river bottom had been a rich source of lumber and enjoyed by residents for things like trapping, berry picking, and soaking in the year-round hot springs." - Laura Keil niche-canada.org/2023/05/11/m... #envhist #cdnhist #dams #bchistory
Mica Dam at 50 Years - How An International Treaty Changed the Face of Valemount's Canoe Valley
How did the construction of the Mica Dam in the 1970s affect the local population and the landscape?
niche-canada.org
ICYMI: "How to tell the histories of species made invisible in the anthropocentric archive? That theme quickly became the workshop’s biggest challenge." - @harrycroft.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/10/09/t... #envhist #animalhistory #archives #animalstudies
Towards an Uncharismatic Turn in Environmental History: How to Talk about the Boring and Forgotten Ones?
Six presenters from a September 2026 Universität Augsburg workshop explore how historically ignored, "uncharismatic" species shape environmental history and human records.
niche-canada.org
I had the opportunity to speak with Jennifer de Mooy about her new book, Water Carbon Time: Exploring Peatlands in a Warming World ( @uminnpress.bsky.social 2026) You can find the full interview on @nichecanada.bsky.social here: niche-canada.org/2026/08/25/l... #envhist #climatechange #book
"The formation of Jacob Riis Park by the hands of tides and humans alike is marked by crests and troughs as waves of public investment and collective community maintenance advance and recede." - Tim (Teal) Nottage niche-canada.org/2024/08/08/u... #envhist #parkhistory #queerecology #NYC
Utopia at the Margins: Opportunistic Plants and Queer Community at Jacob Riis Park
The People’s Beach remains a place of refuge and joy for all bodies and sexualities.
niche-canada.org
Such a pleasure to see this series come to life! Stay tuned for more from our amazing workshop presenters in the weeks ahead!
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 2d ago"Towards an Uncharismatic Turn in Environmental History: How to Talk about the Boring and Forgotten Ones?" - @harrycroft.bsky.social introduces our new series on Uncharismatic species, emerging from a workshop at Universität Augsburg in September 2026. niche-canada.org/2026/10/09/t... #envhist
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 2d ago"The horror genre, which some of the films I discuss in my book fall into, is gaining serious critical praise for showing how it can comment on our contemporary fears about AI, capitalism, and climate change." - @riffsandmeaning.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/06/10/e... #envhum #scifi #clifi
"...Little public things—like designing postage stamps or National Park Service photographer stipends or spending the pittance of pre-DOGE NEA dollars on public programming—did something to cohere a nation. Everyday aesthetics made place."
Anna Kornbluh@annakornbluh.bsky.social · 23h ago"An essential state role, parallel to provisioning basic services like education and healthcare, is endowing a wide open aesthetic field of form and meaning and collective sensibility." www.artnews.com/art-in-ameri...
If you have money to invite scholars to give talks on campus, you don't *have to* get the star people. Invite early career people! I have done it many times and it's a great way to boost people's careers. You can also invite non-star people who are also doing great work!
“Peatlands have an incredible capacity to endure—if we give them the time and space to do so.” - Jennifer de Mooy niche-canada.org/2026/08/25/l... #envhist #ecology #peatlands #climatechange #books #wetlands
Language, Landscape, and Longevity: A Conversation with Jennifer de Mooy on Peatlands in a Warming World
Jessica DeWitt interviews Jennifer de Mooy about her new book, Water, Carbon, Time, exploring peatlands, environmental history, language, and climate hope.
niche-canada.org
"As with the Muskrat Falls project, governments failed to consider how hydroelectric development might impact Indigenous food sources. The reality that mega dams are in fact (neo)colonial structures is presented clearly.” - @drlorileeoates.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2022/10/14/m... #dams
Mega Dams Part Two: The global contexts and Canadian mega dam failures
Mega dams have been built with disastrous results for locals in many countries.
niche-canada.org
"Aboriginal men’s success in the commercial logging industry and in logging sports led to the development of 'All-Native' logging competitions in the Fraser Valley." - @colinosmond.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2016/04/04/w... #envhist #genderhistory #indigenoushistory #logging
“We made a strong statement for First Nations loggers, plus we put on a good salmon BBQ!”: Aboriginal Logging Sports and Masculinity in British Columbia
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of posts considering the intersection between environmental history and gender history. The entire series is available here. Today, flannel-clad, axe-wie...
niche-canada.org
Stares in Halibut studies.
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 2d ago"Towards an Uncharismatic Turn in Environmental History: How to Talk about the Boring and Forgotten Ones?" - @harrycroft.bsky.social introduces our new series on Uncharismatic species, emerging from a workshop at Universität Augsburg in September 2026. niche-canada.org/2026/10/09/t... #envhist
"The resulting environmental racism, devastation and pollution that mining brings to the land disproportionately affects Indigenous and other marginalized communities in Canada." - Sarah Perry niche-canada.org/2025/06/16/r... #envhist #mininghistory #cdnhist #bookreview
Review of Langford, The Lights on the Tipple are Going Out
In Langford’s telling, Robert Lilley ultimately serves as a martyr of a well-fought battle against capitalist destruction and environmental ruin.
niche-canada.org
"Towards an Uncharismatic Turn in Environmental History: How to Talk about the Boring and Forgotten Ones?" - @harrycroft.bsky.social introduces our new series on Uncharismatic species, emerging from a workshop at Universität Augsburg in September 2026. niche-canada.org/2026/10/09/t... #envhist
Towards an Uncharismatic Turn in Environmental History: How to Talk about the Boring and Forgotten Ones?
Six presenters from a September 2026 Universität Augsburg workshop explore how historically ignored, "uncharismatic" species shape environmental history and human records.
niche-canada.org
"The horror genre, which some of the films I discuss in my book fall into, is gaining serious critical praise for showing how it can comment on our contemporary fears about AI, capitalism, and climate change." - @riffsandmeaning.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/06/10/e... #envhum #scifi #clifi
End of the Road or New Beginnings? Stephen Lee Naish Reflects on the Post-Catastrophe Film's Relationship to Climate Change
"What is interesting about post-catastrophe narratives is that they explore the immediate reaction and confusion to a disaster in a real and relatable way and then proceed with the work that has to be...
niche-canada.org
PI @danitaburke.bsky.social was on @cbcradiocanada.bsky.social The Broadcast program last night talking about the EU fitness check on seal products (starts min 9:15) www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... @fishingforsuccess.bsky.social @nichecanada.bsky.social @mike49.bsky.social
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.
cbc.ca
In episode 6.6 of NiCHE Conversations, @adelinekpiercy.bsky.social shared how a freezing-post-apocalyptic city builder became a source of comfort during summer heat. 🔸 Games aren’t just entertainment, Piercy argues. www.youtube.com/shorts/8-ed4... #envhum #gaming #frostpunk #games
Games: Interactive Self-Expression #frostpunk #gaming #selfexpression #games
YouTube video by Network in Canadian History & Environment - NiCHE
youtube.com
Today our editor, Nicole Miller, introduces her new series Dwelling in Place, which will run every Thursday through February! Dwelling actively connects humans, architecture, and environments through evolving relationships. niche-canada.org/2026/10/08/i... #envhist #architecture #envstudies
Introduction to Dwelling in Place
An introduction to the series Dwelling in Place which proposes a relational and active practice of dwelling that engages human and non-human actors in a shared temporal and spatial history.
niche-canada.org
Hybrid Event – Environmental Crime at the Planetary Crises Crossroads Canadian Environmental Crime Research Network’s 2nd Annual Conference Centennial College, Toronto & Online, 12-13 November 2026 Preliminary Program and Registration now available: niche-canada.org/2026/10/08/h... #envstudies
Hybrid Event - Environmental Crime at the Planetary Crises Crossroads
12-13 November 2026 - Toronto - The 2nd Annual Canadian Environmental Crime Research Network Conference explores how illicit activities exacerbate global climate, pollution, and biodiversity crises.
niche-canada.org
"Postwar nudism—like postwar socialism or postwar feminism—reminds us that Canadian society always included subgroups of those who swam against the current—in this case, in the buff." - Sharon Wall niche-canada.org/2023/09/25/r... #envhist #cdnhist #counterculture #bookreview
Review of Shantz, What Nudism Exposes
This study reminds environmental historians that questions of gender are inextricably tied up with our historical relationship with nature.
niche-canada.org
So glad to see this posted again. I get to brag about my Brooklyn College students (Adam and Eve) as well as their director, my wonderful colleague Lauren Mancia!
NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 4d ago"History offers few precedents for the alarming scales and speeds of today’s anthropogenic ecological changes. These comparisons may be informative, but they are rarely comforting." - @malentendre.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2025/07/05/s... #envhist #cdnhist #wildfires #smokeseason #toronto
"Pilots described oil pipeline spills as 'the blackest of black' or a 'living black' they could see from the skies." - @seankheraj.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2019/12/16/c... #envhist #cdnhist #energyhistory #pipelines #canada
Canada Has Never Had a Leak-Proof Oil Pipeline
Oil spills have always been a frequent hazard associated with the development and operation of oil pipelines in Canada.
niche-canada.org
Call for Submissions – From Coulees to Muskeg: A Saskatchewan Environmental History Series We are thrilled to announce the eighth year of our partnership with the @skhistoryfolklore.bsky.social and Folklore magazine. niche-canada.org/2026/10/07/s... #envhist #cdnhist #skhistory #sask
Call for Submissions – From Coulees to Muskeg: A Saskatchewan Environmental History Series
We are thrilled to announce the eighth year of our partnership with the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society and Folklore magazine, a quarterly print magazine edited by Bethany Knowles, PhD Candi...
niche-canada.org
"History offers few precedents for the alarming scales and speeds of today’s anthropogenic ecological changes. These comparisons may be informative, but they are rarely comforting." - @malentendre.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2025/07/05/s... #envhist #cdnhist #wildfires #smokeseason #toronto
Smoke and Mirrors: Medieval Drama Through the Smog
On June 7, 2025, Toronto hosted outdoor medieval plays amid wildfire smoke, blending ecological crisis with theatrical reflection.
niche-canada.org
“'Will it be possible to save this salt marsh?' Rosemary Gilliat Eaton and the Preservation of Environmental Heritage in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia" by Vivian Lamoureux is part of the series “Gender and Atlantic Ocean Environments." niche-canada.org/2026/10/06/r... #envhist #wmnshist #cdnhist
niche-canada.org
Earlier this year, I got to chat with Will Wright about his new book Borders of Biodiversity. You can read the interview on the @nichecanada.bsky.social web, watch it on YouTube, or listen on Spotify: niche-canada.org/2026/07/23/c... #envhist #borders #conservation #biodiversity #book
#OTD (Wed, Oct 7) 1908 at #AlgonquinPark: "Left Wilson’s Lake & passing over 3 other lakes reached [Burnt] Island Lake. Dined at lower end of Island Lake. Through the three Joe Lakes & creeks to Canoe Lake, where we remained overnight." @nichecanada.bsky.social @csnrec.bsky.social
