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In this series opener we go way-deep into the social tensions of our time, discussing how racism in law enforcement and governmental responses to the COVID-19 epidemic contribute important environmental threats to communities in our region and elsewhere. We discuss what Tom and Robin have been finding in their analysis of the second question in the postcards: how people are surviving or coping with environmental challenges and we read and discuss some of the most disruptive answers! Date: 8/27 Facilitator: Robin Evans-Agnew + Madison Thakera, RN Summer Volunteer Research Intern Speakers: Chris Schell; Tom Koontz; & Joel Baker

Yes, this session is about the importance of food trucks and environmental health! We discuss with our guest researchers how Washington’s food truck community are an important entry point for protecting workers and the environment through improved cleaning practices. We get into discussing how COVID-19 provides us with new ways at looking at Food Trucks as a vital resource in our community. Date: 7/20 Facilitator: Robin Evans-Agnew + Madison Thakera, RN Summer Volunteer Research Intern Speakers: Nancy Simcox and Aurora Martin (PopUpJustice.org)

No topic is more important it seems to people in our region than the health of our forest ecosystem. In this session we chat with researchers intent on broadening the idea of forests to include local and indigenous knowledge. We discuss logging in the NW and how these new ideas are being applied through experimental plantings in the Olympic Peninsula. We explore how the researchers adjusted their plans mid-stream to cope with the new restrictions placed on them by COVID-19 pandemic. Date: 7/21 Facilitator: Robin Evans-Agnew + Madison Thakera, RN Summer Volunteer Research Intern Speakers: Courtney Bobsin, Mark Miller & Bernard Bormann

What is the connection between storytelling and the science of the environment? It turns out there are a lot of connections being explored by a research group seeking to translate complex scientific understandings of ecosystem health into stories that families and communities can understand and be activated by. We discuss how stories do not have to have a beginning, middle, and end to have an impact; and how the story of COVID-19 is continuing to shape our relationship to the environment. Date: 7/23 Facilitator: Robin Evans-Agnew + Madison Thakera, RN Summer Volunteer Research Intern Speakers: Kristiina Vogt, Samantha De Abreu, Daniel Vogt, Phil Fawcett, & Alexa Schreier

In the face of an increasingly confusing and complicated array of environmental threats, now including COVID-19 where is the hope? In this session we get to talk to someone with a clear idea of the way forward. We are introduced to the power of data visualization and the very real changes that have been brought about in our planning in the face of environmental change: bringing healing to the Duwamish river in Seattle and re-designing Point Defiance beach park to mitigate the impacts of anticipated sea level rise. We discuss how science is now at a new frontier for making data actionable, just in time for surviving new advancing threats such as COVID-19! Date: 7/28 Facilitator: Robin Evans-Agnew + Madison Thakera, RN Summer Volunteer Research Intern Speakers: Heidi Roop

Today's conversation tackles the thorny issue of plastic pollution and looks at future opportunities for transforming our world. We speak with University of Washington Tacoma plastics researcher Julie Masura, as well as Amy Kovacs from Sound Experience, and Caitlyn McFarland, a University of Washington Tacoma undergraduate environmental researcher and Sound Experience educator. Recorded on March 17, 2020. 

We explore how people talk about justice in relation to the climate and the environment with University of Washington Tacoma professor Dr. Linda Ishem and Liesl Santkuyl with Latinx Unidos of South Sound. Recorded on March 9, 2020.

We talk about the climate crisis with Dr. Ellen Moore of the University of Washington Tacoma and Erin Rasmussen of the Sunrise Movement. Recorded on March 6, 2020. 

A health care expert, an urban ecologist and a social scientist unpack our perceptions of the urban environment. Robin Evans-Agnew speaks with fellow University of Washington Tacoma professors Christopher Schell and Tom Koontz about the thinking behind the Voices Unbound project. Recorded on March 4, 2020. 

Robin, Alexandra and Sonja talk about the Voices Unbound project, how it developed and what people really mean when they talk about the environment. The podcast team asked residents of Tacoma and the South Sound a simple, but charged question: "What environmental challenges are most important to you?" The answers to that question drive this episode in sometimes unexpected directions, from the impacts of being homeless to air quality to the policy implications of picking up after your dog. This is the first episode in the Voices Unbound series. Recorded on February 26, 2020.