Environmental and Resource Studies/Science Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Ryan O’Connor sat at the head of a conference table in Otonabee College at the end of August 2012, surrounded by scholars from across the country who gathered for a two-day workshop on the history of the environmental movement in Canada.

With the help of Dr. Stephen Bocking, chair of Environmental and Resource Studies/Science at Trent, and a generous grant from the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE), Dr. O’Connor made the conference possible, with 14 scholars attending from across Canada.

While most of the scholars present were historians, other participants came from backgrounds in geography, political science, religious studies, sociology, and environmental studies. “I saw some work written going back to the 1970s and 1980s, by political scientists and sociologists that addressed some early developments within the environmental movement in Canada. In framing their work they provided useful insight and background into the early days of the movement,” explains Dr. O’Connor. They have addressed some important historical questions in their work. Because of this, their work was very influential on younger scholars of the movement's history…”

According to Dr. O’Connor, the collection of papers that will come out of the workshop will be the first dedicated to the subject of the Canadian environmental movement. “There were a few chapters and journal articles here and there that existed beforehand,” says Dr. O’Connor, “but there was never a single source that examined the issue.” The resulting papers are to be published in a collection edited by Drs. O'Connor and Bocking through the University of Calgary Press.

Dr. O’Connor’s own contribution to the volume is a result of his research at Trent into the history of the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain, the largest environmental lobby group in Canada’s history. For Dr. O’Connor, the history of the environmental movement in general is essential to today’s movement, both as a model for future initiatives, but also as a motivator.

“History can help us to learn from our past mistakes, but it can also show us our successes,” asserts Dr. O’Connor. Using the example of the historical movement against acid rain, he explains: “Acid Rain in the late seventies and throughout the early eighties was seen as the crisis confronting Canadian society and much of American society, … but between environmental activists, interested landowners, politicians, and scientists they came up with a plan to address acid rain. It’s time to look at successful campaigns where environmentalists worked with business and the government to resolve a huge issue like that of acid rain,” he maintains. “I think with all the environmental problems we hear about every day, we do need to hear some good news stories about how to resolve these problems.”

Dr. O’Connor hopes to see the volume in publication in early 2014, and notes that if the publication is approved, NiCHE will provide a grant enabling the book to be available as an e-book, free to anyone who is interested.

Dr. O’Connor’s Postdoctoral fellowship finishes up in December 2012, but he will be staying on at Trent to teach a course on the history of Canada in the 1960s through the Canadian Studies Department. “This is a great environment to work in,” he affirms, “great scholars and great for environmental studies in general.”

Posted on Thursday, September 6, 2012.