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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.

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NiCHE
Network in Canadian History & Environment | Nouvelle initiative Canadienne en histoire de l'environnement
niche-canada.org
Today we have the latest in our Winter Olympics & Their Environments series, "Stunning Scenery, Climate Consequences, and the Winter Games" by @theliftline.bsky.social

niche-canada.org/2026/02/18/s...

#envhist #sporthistory #climatechange #olympics
Stunning Scenery, Climate Consequences, and the Winter Games
Media eco-narratives link Winter Olympics tourism growth, alpine romanticism, and infrastructure to global emissions, despite limited direct climate impact from hosting.
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 9:49 PM
"Identifying Historical Actors in Toronto’s Coal Network During the Late 19th Century" by Hannah Willness is part of the Assembling a City Project, led by Andrew Watson.

niche-canada.org/2026/02/17/i...

#envhist #cdnhist #toronto #energyhistory #urbanhistory
Identifying Historical Actors in Toronto’s Coal Network During the Late 19th Century
Toronto’s coal trade celebrated elite merchants’ power, while obscuring labourers’ roles; surviving records reveal economic influence, limited worker visibility, and unequal historical memory.
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 9:32 PM
ICYMI:

"Understanding what an authority does and how it came to be has never been more important. This year, 2026, the conservation authority as we know it in Ontario will change." - @maryeb.bsky.social

niche-canada.org/2026/02/14/o...

#envhist #cdnhist #ontario #onpoli #conservation
Ontario's Conservation Authorities: Past, Present and Future
Ontario’s conservation authorities evolved from watershed-based environmental management but now face restructuring, funding pressures, politicization, and criticism over balancing development and eco...
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 9:10 PM
“In tandem” with growing orca captivity rates in the 1960s and 1970s “heteronormative and patriarchal cultural norms began to be transposed onto these marine mammals.” - Teja Sosteric

niche-canada.org/2024/07/08/a...

#envhist #queerecology #orcas #animalhistory #histsci
Turning the Tide: A Queer Look at the Orca
Narratives exist that understand that orcas can be gay and are led by their women.
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
I'm reading Mountain Voices right now - great repeat photography of western Canadian mountain landscapes, and text to accompany each one.
New Comment: "I came upon this piece by accident, but it brought back splendid memories from the late ’70s. In the summers of 1978 and 1979 I worked as a field assistant on the biophysical inventory – an ambitious ecological mapping project – of ..." - Paul Sanborn

niche-canada.org/2026/02/10/t...
The Ancient Wall
Stephenson's helicopter-accessed alpine fieldwork retraced 1927 survey photos, aligning landscapes, observing climate change, and finding enduring scree.
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Our editor, @maryeb.bsky.social, takes a deep dive into "Ontario’s Conservation Authorities: Past, Present and Future."

"The Ontario Conservative government became a willing partner in the early 1940s..."

niche-canada.org/2026/02/14/o...

#envhist #cdnhist #ontario #onpoli
Ontario's Conservation Authorities: Past, Present and Future
Ontario’s conservation authorities evolved from watershed-based environmental management but now face restructuring, funding pressures, politicization, and criticism over balancing development and eco...
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 8:34 PM
New Comment: "I came upon this piece by accident, but it brought back splendid memories from the late ’70s. In the summers of 1978 and 1979 I worked as a field assistant on the biophysical inventory – an ambitious ecological mapping project – of ..." - Paul Sanborn

niche-canada.org/2026/02/10/t...
The Ancient Wall
Stephenson's helicopter-accessed alpine fieldwork retraced 1927 survey photos, aligning landscapes, observing climate change, and finding enduring scree.
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Federal cuts to agriculture science will hurt farmers and grocery shoppers, experts say - @thenarwhal.ca

thenarwhal.ca/canada-agric...

#aghist #cdnhist #envhist #agriculture #histsci
Farmers oppose agricultural science cuts in Canada | The Narwhal
The federal government is closing farm research centres and cutting back on agriculture science, leaving farmers scratching their heads
thenarwhal.ca
February 18, 2026 at 6:46 PM
"In this episode of Weathered, host Maiya May investigates what history reveals about system collapse, failed cities, and civilizations that didn’t survive climate shocks. Were they doomed? Or did they miss warning signs we’re seeing today?"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4pS...

#envhist #climhist
Climate Change Won't End the World. This Could.
YouTube video by PBS Terra
www.youtube.com
February 18, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Our editor-in-chief, @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social, is back with her picks for environmental history worth reading (and listening to) from January!

niche-canada.org/2026/02/12/e...

#envhist
#EnvHist Worth Reading: January 2026
Every month I carefully track the most popular and significant environmental history articles, videos, audio, and other items making their way through the online environmental history (#envhist) commu...
niche-canada.org
February 18, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
It was a temporary plastic polytunnel.
"They located the hoop house in the middle of the backyard, so it was not visible from the street."
"Why, they were asked, didn’t they just go to Whole Foods like everyone else?"
@nichecanada.bsky.social
February 17, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
#OTD (Thu, Feb 17) 1910 in #AlgonquinPark: "Left Aura Lee Lake for Cedar Lake shelter house, near west branch of Petawawa River. While camped here we enjoyed a rare treat. Fresh butter & fresh milk, bought at Hawkesbury Lumber Depot on Cedar Lake where cows are kept." @nichecanada.bsky.social
February 17, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
New on H-Sci-Med-Tech:

Check out @petermandler.bsky.social (@caiuscollege.bsky.social)’s review of Margaret M. Crump’s book _ James Cowles Prichard of the Red Lodge: A Life of Science during the Age of Improvement_, pub 2025 @univnebpress.bsky.social

#hstm

Review avail @hnetreviews.bsky.social
February 18, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
The left is excited about underwater robots that livestream video feeds of octopus nurseries from the deep Gulf of Mexico.

The right is excited about summarizing a five word e-mail, incorrectly.
"Is there technology the left is excited about?" is the kind of question you only ask if you're wildly naive about technology.

mRNA vaccines. Heat pumps. Offshore wind. Urban mining. Sodium batteries.

But god forbid we're not fawning over every new implementation of Making Computers Bad At Math.
February 18, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
DOG AT THE OLYMPICS
FULL COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
February 18, 2026 at 1:26 PM
"From the late 19th century onwards, colonial administrators and private business ventures increasingly demanded resources, labor and taxes from Central Africans, while violently relegating them to the bottom rung of a racialized hierarchy..." - Henriet Benoit

niche-canada.org/2023/10/12/f...
Foraging, Colonialism, and More-than-Human Agency in Central Africa
Foraging, in its broadest sense, still offered ways for inhabitants of Central Africa to circumvent, alleviate and/or counter their encroachment by the forces of capitalism and imperialism.
niche-canada.org
February 17, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
Change is coming to the Ontario conservation authority system, but is it the change we need? In this @nichecanada.bsky.social post, I look at the history of the agencies that have been the "primary care providers" of our relationship with our watersheds. Thoughts? niche-canada.org/2026/02/14/o...
Ontario's Conservation Authorities: Past, Present and Future
Ontario’s conservation authorities evolved from watershed-based environmental management but now face restructuring, funding pressures, politicization, and criticism over balancing development and eco...
niche-canada.org
February 17, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
The Great Raft -- a fascinating story about natural history and colonization. A massive centuries-old logjam on the Red River was removed using new industrial technology, enabling displacement of Indigenous people and also the growth of slave plantations.
@nichecanada.bsky.social
incredible synergy between the @shutdownfullcast.bsky.social deep dive of the shreveport river monster mascot and the milo rossi video about “The Log Jam”/The Great Raft that i watched last night youtu.be/xVUKTGRAvFY?... . it’s great when my confused youtube recommendations are accidentally psychic
America's Forgotten Natural Wonder: The Great Raft
YouTube video by Miniminuteman
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
The latest contribution to “Winter Olympics & Their Environments”. I’m so excited for this piece! #olympichistory #winterolympics #skystorians #environment #history
February 13, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
This short video is really worth a watch.
Scientists Discover A Volcano Caused the Black Plague

"The volcano triggered crop failures, forcing Italian merchants to import grain from the Black Sea. But that grain was infested with plague-carrying fleas..."

www.youtube.com/shorts/p5NrA...

#envhist #histmed #climhist
Scientists Discover A Volcano Caused the Black Plague
YouTube video by Today I Learned Science
www.youtube.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
Excited to share a new podcast I’m launching with my @taxnotes.com colleague Robert Goulder: “History Is Taxing!”
In each episode, we'll you give you the backstory on a major tax issue—from tariffs to taxpayer privacy to IRS reform.

Follow the show at taxnotes.co/historypodcast
February 17, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by NiCHE Canada
February 17th, 1926:
A deadly avalanche, one of Utah's worst, demolishes 14 cottages and a three-story boarding house in Bingham Canyon. Thirty-five were killed and 13 injured.
February 17, 2026 at 2:27 PM