Northern Canada's distinctive landscapes, its complex social relations and the contested place of the North in contemporary political, military, scientific and economic affairs have fueled recent scholarly discussion. At the same time, both the media and the wider public have shown increasing interest in the region. This timely volume extends our understanding of the environmental history of northern Canada - clarifying both its practice and promise, and providing critical perspectives on current public debates.

Ice Blink provides opportunities to consider critical issues in other disciplines and geographic contexts. Contributors also examine whether distinctive approaches to environmental history are required when studying the Canadian North, and consider a range of broader questions. What, if anything, sets the study of environmental history in particular regions apart from its study elsewhere? Do environmental historians require regionally-specific research practices? How can the study of environmental history take into consideration the relations between Indigenous peoples, the environment, and the state? How can the history of regions be placed most effectively within transnational and circumpolar contexts? How relevant are historical approaches to contemporary environmental issues?

Scholars from universities in Canada, the United States and Britain contribute to this examination of the relevance of historical study for contemporary arctic and sub-arctic issues, especially environmental challenges, security and sovereignty, indigenous politics and the place of science in northern affairs. By asking such questions, the volume offers lessons about the general practice of environmental history and engages an international body of scholarship that addresses the value of regional and interdisciplinary approaches. Crucially, however, it makes a distinctive contribution to the field of Canadian environmental history by identifying new areas of research and exploring how international scholarly developments might play out in the Canadian context.

With contributions by: Tina Adcock, Stephen Bocking, Emilie Cameron, Hans M. Carlson, Marionne Cronin, Matthew Farish, Arn Keeling, P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Tina Loo, Paul Nadasdy, Jonathan Peyton, Liza Piper, John Sandlos, Andrew Stuhl

Stephen Bocking teaches in Environmental and Resource Studies program at Trent University. He has written numerous academic articles; his book, Ecologists and Environmental Politics: A History of Contemporary Ecology, was published by Yale University Press in 1997.

Stephen Bocking's profile page

Brad Martin is the Dean of Faculty of Education, Health and Human Development at Capilano University.

Brad Martin's profile page

Tina Adcock's profile page

Emelie Cameron's profile page

Hans M. Carlson has travelled extensively in northern Quebec and Labrador by canoe and snowshoe. He is currently teaching in the American Indian Studies program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Hans M. Carlson's profile page

Marionne Cronin's profile page

Matthew Farish's profile page

ARN KEELING is a historical geographer at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His teaching and research focuses on the environmental-historical geography of Western and Northern Canada. In recent years, his research has explored the historical and contemporary encounters of northern Indigenous communities with large-scale resource developments. With John Sandlos, he is co-editor of the volume, Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics and Memory.

Arn Keeling's profile page

 

P. Whitney Lackenbauer is associate professor and chair of the Department of History at St. Jerome's University in the University of Waterloo, and a faculty associate with the LCMSDS.

Peter Kikkert recently completed his M.A. at the University of Waterloo and is a Ph.D. student in history at the University of Western Ontario.

 

P. Whitney Lackenbauer's profile page

Tina Loo is Associate Professor at the Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, and author of Toronto's Girl Problem: The Perils and Pleasures of the City, 1880-1930.

Tina Loo's profile page

Paul Nadasdy's profile page

Jonathan Peyton's profile page

Liza Piper is an associate professor at the University of Alberta, where she teaches environmental and Canadian history. She researches and writes about the relations between people and the rest of nature in the past, primarily in northern environments and with a particular focus on the roles of science and industry and the consequences for diet and health. She is the author of The Industrial Transformation of Subarctic Canada (2009).

Lisa Szabo-Jones is a Ph.D. candidate in English and film studies at the University of Alberta and a 2009 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. She is a founding and current editor of the online journal The Goose, a biannual publication of the Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada, established in 2005.

Liza Piper's profile page

JOHN SANDLOS teaches history at Memorial University of Newfoundland. With doctoral research on northern wildlife, he has devoted much of his research in the past decade to mining history. Dr. Sandlos is the author of Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories, and co-editor of the volume, Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics and Memory.

John Sandlos' profile page

Andrew Stuhl's profile page

Ice Blink gains momentum as it becomes more empirically grounded and rich in insight, making it a valuable resource for Canadians and scholars who wish to learn more about the breadth and complexity of the issues experienced broadly across the Canadian North.

- Gabrielle A. Slowey, Canadian Historical Review

Well written . . . refreshingly free of jargon. A good read for northern enthusiasts.

—Tony Gaston, The Canadian Field-Naturalist

Ice Blink makes an invaluable contribution to the modern environmental history of northern Canada - Ted Binnema, Canadian Journal of History