Dr. Anne Pasek, Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment at Trent, investigates how we can build a greener and more inclusive academy
What would research and exchange look like if, for instance, we could all only board a plane once a year? How will decarbonizing society impact future scholarship and research methodologies? How deep is the Internet’s carbon footprint?
These are just some of the questions Dr. Anne Pasek, Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment and cross-appointed professor within the School of the Environment and Department of Cultural Studies, is trying to answer through her research.
“Climate change isn't just a scientific issue,” explained Professor Pasek. “It's also deeply tied to cultural norms and the media by which we learn and communicate about this problem and each other. This means that we need to think creatively and socially about what's holding us back and what could move us forward.”
Prof. Pasek’s research focuses on climate communications and specifically how carbon is represented in different contexts and conversations about the planet and its energy futures. She is also creating a research lab at Trent to explore low carbon research and dissemination methods and engage students who are interested in the intersection of climate change and media production.
“It's important to be able to move through different kinds of disciplinary spaces to think about complex infrastructural systems, their politics and their environmental impacts,” explains Prof. Pasek, “to mix methods and lead in areas that might be unfamiliar but are nevertheless essential to holding the different parts of the puzzle together.”
