ZoeSTodd (Dr Fish Philosopher Todd)
LightNews LightNews
banner
zoestodd.bsky.social
ZoeSTodd (Dr Fish Philosopher Todd)
@zoestodd.bsky.social
2.2K followers 440 following 270 posts
Fish nerd. Artist. Storyteller. Proud citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.

The Institute for Freshwater Fish Futures (2018-present).

https://fishphilosophy.org/
https://thebulltroutshow.buzzsprout.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
zoestodd.bsky.social
A reminder that this is the person who wants to open up Alberta’s eastern slope headwaters to deleterious and devastating metallurgical coal mining (portrait by Vincent Namatjira)
A wonderfully vivid and unflattering portrait of billionaire coal baron Gina Rinehart by Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira). A large, pink forehead with brown horse-like mane hanging from it reveals two startled blue eyes and a frown above her chin. She wears a white top.
August 28, 2025 at 1:25 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
North shore Circa 2005. By Garry Todd.
Oil painting of a Red and white stern of a boat in metal scaffolding between old port buildings in North Van.
August 26, 2025 at 6:41 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Just thinking about my dad’s ship paintings and all the stories he has from moving to Vancouver in the sixties and selling the Georgia Straight for ‘two bits’ on a corner downtown.

We got turned down for a local gallery call in Parksville. But I’d love to find a place to show his work.
Oil painting of a red black and yellow ship against a Vancouver coastal background
August 26, 2025 at 6:37 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Mayors of Nanaimo and North Cowichan want MORE logging — per their plea in May — even as drought stricken clearcut mountainsides burn every summer.

🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Screenshot of a May 2025 article in the Nanaimo News Bulletin titled “Vancouver Island mayors plead with the province to harvest more wood”
August 13, 2025 at 12:04 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Einstein himself couldn’t reconcile classical western physics with the emerging ‘weirdness’ of a world operating in probability & phenomena that can be both particle+wave, and oneness. Space is not ‘out there’. Relativity was a prelude to a richer, weirder, more accurate understanding of reality.
“ The situation clearly calls for the construction of new theory that encompasses both Newtonian physics and the new discoveries. Although physicists insist that this task calls for new language and immensely complicated theoretical conceptions, in fact the requirement is simply that we banish predetermined ideas about space, time, and the other concepts we have used in science and philosophy. Poetry has once again entered the field as a means of communicating experience, and perceptions of reality demand primacy over conceptions of the mind. Mathematics continues to play an important role in discussing the experiments to be considered, but an adequate explanation of things cannot depend upon the ultimate status of traditional concepts.” Vine Deloria (1979), The Metaphysics of Modern Existence
August 8, 2025 at 3:18 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
DeLoria (1979) explained: “Most of Western society remained Newtonian in outlook while thinkers and philosophers abandoned the belief that nature existed “out there.” In effect, Western science was having to take into account the perceptions it had earlier eliminated from consideration.”
“ Most of Western society remained Newtonian in outlook while thinkers and philosophers abandoned the belief that nature existed “out there.” In effect, Western science was having to take into account the perceptions it had earlier eliminated from consideration.” Vine DeLoria (1979), The Metaphysics of Modern Existence
August 8, 2025 at 3:13 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Quantum mechanics & special relativity disproved teleology that classical physics fomented. But western society still runs on disproven logics of certainty, the separation of space, time, matter & ‘metaphysics of individualism’. The truth is much weirder+richer. The west must match its own science.
“ When Newtonian physics established a priori that space, time, matter, energy, and causality were inherent in the structure of the universe, and when Newtonian formulas proved immensely successful in exploring the solar system, Western thinkers forgot that these concepts were definitions generated in Newton’s mind, and they came to believe that they were accurate descriptions of ultimate physical processes.” Vine DeLoria, The Metaphysics of Modern Existence
August 8, 2025 at 3:08 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
I’m really grateful to the folks who keep fighting for Alberta and its fish, water, lands, places even in the face of such tough odds. Lorne Fitch is one such person and his two books of essays are excellent.

Reading the first book tonight as the sun sets.
Shot of Lorne Fitch’s book ‘Streams of Consequence: Dispatches from the Conservation World’, which features a herd of chocolate brown bison walking towards the viewer across a snowy expanse.
August 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
I went off script and filled my planters with bark mulch and fish compost. And then, inadvertently, I overwatered things a bit.

Shockingly, all my vegetable plants refused to grow.

Well, it turns out accidentally creating bog conditions will in fact prevent your garden from flourishing. 🤦
Sad plants (some small purple lettuce, green and yellowing onions, and invisible arugula seedlings) in a cedar planter, refusing to grow after two months of unacceptable working conditions. Sad arugula trying to grow next to some mustard that bolted and kept trying to get me to honour the collective agreement by putting out flowers. Management finally acquiesced and replaced the soil last week.
June 27, 2025 at 9:50 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Thinking about trouties again. I wrote about them a few years ago here: before-law.com/projects/riv...

#InstituteforFreshwaterFishFutures
A square of abstract water colour blues and greens floats above a series of multi-coloured squares and rectangles connected by thin golden lines
June 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Here’s a presentation I made to the Regional District Electoral Area Services Committee on June 19 calling for legalization of tiny homes and RVs

www.instagram.com/reel/C8dqpMG...
June 17, 2025 at 2:09 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Today I rode my bike that my dad found in a dumpster in Vancouver twenty years ago that’s been retrofitted three times since. I rode the Nanaimo Parkway trail and people smiled and said hello and a driver at a crosswalk yelled ‘nice dress!’ & smiled and waved as I crossed the street. 10/10
Close up of a yellow frame bike with green tires and a black leather saddle. A white sticker that says ‘BIKEGIRL’ is plastered on the top tube. Bright yellow bike with green tires rests against a bus stop sign post. In the background there is grass, an open horizontal slat wood fence, and greenery A light skinned person wearing thick rimmed black glasses, with short pixie cut brown hair smiles with a closed mouth at the camera. They are wearing a white and black striped top and a neon yellow bicycle helmet. Behind them the pavement of a city street is visible. View down a tunnel of green trees and shrubs with a grey asphalt bike lane running vertically through the image, from the lower left hand corner of the image to the upper right.
June 17, 2025 at 2:00 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Alberta pro-coal music fans ‘discovering’ Corb Lund supports protecting the headwaters of the Eastern Slopes is like an intensely Alberta version of conservative Rage Against the Machine fans discovering that they are, in fact, the machine against which rage is expressed.
Musician Corb Lund announcing he will be on the Ryan Jespersen show to discuss coal mining in the Crowsnest Pass One ‘A.B. woodpile announcing “y’all behaved like children..but what can you expect from a climate zealot disguised as a musician who plays to failing crowds and wants to pursue a career in politics for the NDP..you’re going to lead these people Internet zero and they’re going to hate you..’ (yes, it makes no sense in the original either) One Troy Jacobsen announces to the world: “Well done Corb Lund Way to capitalize on the free publicity just prior to your season (white supremacist linked hand emoji) Never waste a moment to stir people up, spread lies amd get a lil free spotlight laugh cry head tilt emoji. Do you still sign roughest neck around?? That would be too funny” (the poster us ignorant to the fact that Corb Lund was a visible and vocal leader against the Grassy Mountain project circa 2021)
June 16, 2025 at 11:28 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
we are running FISH SCHOOL at the Hollyhock Centre on Cortes Island this October 2-6, 2025. We still have room for six participants.

If you're a prof or organization with funding to sponsor tuition for a student or community member, please get in touch. 🐟 💜

hollyhock.ca/programs/754...
"Oct 2-6, 2025 Fish as Storytellers: Intangible Knowledge and Lived Practices With Zoe Todd and Courtney Chetwynd Book now and get 10% off accommodation prices. Offer valid until Jul 3, 2025" Text below an abstract image of neon and dark green seaweed floating in front of an abstract hot pink curvilinear shape. The seaweed is anchored in textured mint green muck. The background is mustard yellow. Abstract circular and ovoid light effects wash across the image.
June 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
The local news coverage of this PRIVATE FOR PROFIT clinic in Qualicum (and now it looks like one in Victoria) in the local news has been rah rah and not critical at all and I'm just really bummed about how there's no real public accountability for the lack of public medical care for folks here.
screenshot of a promotional email for the clinic in question: "We couldn’t be more excited about this next chapter in Victoria! Thank you all for your continued support as we continue to grow and improve healthcare in our community. Stay tuned for more updates! Early Sketch Of Our Private MRI Clinic Concept! Coming To Central Vancouver Island " screenshot of a section of a local news story about the new clinic: "The clinic will be located at the corner of Beach Road and First Avenue, according to Schley. It will serve people in both Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Care2Talk includes three payment options that include the Individual Access Plus at $208/month, which offers the option for in-person visits, an annual physical exam, an enhanced blood program to support vitamin deficiencies, and access to our hearing clinic. This is addition to virtual access to the healthcare team. The virtual-only plans are $67/month (individual) and $100/month (family). More information about these plans is available online at www.care2talk.io/. Once it reaches full capacity, he expects they will have approximately 3,000 patients. "
June 5, 2025 at 5:53 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
16 years ago I joined Twitter. And now, all these years (and rivers, continents, & lifetimes later), I'm called back to writing long form & disentangling myself from the world I built online that held me while I was so far from my family, my beloveds. Bittersweet.

open.substack.com/pub/drfishph...
an image of deep grey blue broken ice streaked with lines of ghostly white is traced with vibrant fluorescent digital outlines inpink, orange, yellow, aquamarine, and green.
June 4, 2025 at 5:51 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
and exactly six years ago, I was on a train making my way back from San Jose to Connecticut (four days of travel), after visiting Santa Cruz for a conference on Indigenous relationships to climate change. States may transect our homelands but we will build beyond them. I believe this.
sun setting over a vista somewhere between california and utah. Golden light in the left centre of the image is filtered through a roiling sky of grey and white clouds touching on a green and sandy brown lanscape in the foreground. A blue and silver Amtrak engine pulls into a station in California (Emeryville), in front of a modest beige mid-rise hotel across the road. Yellow bars delineate the tracks. The sky is cloudless and blue. A white skinned person facing away from the camera is taking a photo of the engine with their cellphone. a strip of lighted sign on an Amtrak train features illuminated sans serif white writing with arrows pointing downstairs for the toilets and to the right for the cafe (which is lit up in bright orange writing). a blurry photo of tree tops standing amidst a flooded Mississippi river (which is brown/grey) is overlayed by raindrops on the window the photo is taken from.
June 1, 2025 at 11:24 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Tonight’s fishy board game is Finspan, which I’ve been playing with my sister for months and I still keep losing. It’s ok. I’m not crying.
Cover of the Finspan game featuring a grey, red, and blue flying fish against a turquoise watercolour background A photo of the Finspan board with columns for ‘diving’ to (from left to right): collect more fish, collect eggs, hatch and move fish. A score card showing Zoe losing repeatedly. Another scorecard showing Zoe losing repeatedly.
May 30, 2025 at 5:20 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
Tonight’s fishy 🐟board game (courtesy of my number one board game friend who owns the most amazing collection of games): Sea Salt & Paper. It was fun!
An image of a light skinned hand against a rich brown table holding a blue card-deck sized board game box featuring a blue and white origami wave with a small red and white origami boat riding the wave’s crest. The words ‘Sea Salt & Paper’ are written in white at the top of the box.
May 20, 2025 at 6:11 AM
zoestodd.bsky.social
grateful for this 🩷
Tall deciduous trees with vibrant neon green leaves stand against a cerulean blue sky with the sun shining through to the right lower corner of the image
May 3, 2025 at 1:34 PM
zoestodd.bsky.social
I’m currently reading ‘Waves in an Impossible Sea’ by Matt Strassler. So that I can understand the Higgs field.

It’s that rare example of a theoretical/particle physics teaching text written in a way that it can teach a lay person like me the fundamentals of mass, energy, waves, fields. 10/10.
Screenshot of images of the cover of ‘Waves in an Impossible Sea’; as well as thumbnails of the author; and a thumbnail of an endorsement of the book by Martin Rees. The book has a stylized depiction of four strips of watery blue waves laid horizontally across a white background. The author’s name (Matt Strassler) is at the top and the title stretches across the waves.
November 25, 2024 at 6:59 PM