Sustain: Recent Episodes
University of Utah Sustainability Office
“Sustainability” has become quite the buzz word, evoking images of solar panels, rooftop gardens, and recycling bins. But too rarely do we ask the question: How do we build the world we want to sustain for future generations? From the University of Utah's Sustainability Office comes Sustain, a podcast that highlights environmental justice research and scholarship by the University of Utah community. Podcast host Maria Archibald sits down with U faculty and students to learn how the sustainability movement can build and sustain a world in which environmental integrity, social equity, and economic security prosper. New episodes will be released monthly.
Dr. Ruhan Nagra, associate professor and founding director of the S.J. Quinney College of Law Environmental Justice Clinic, shares about her past and present work in interdisciplinary advocacy for environmental justice through legal work.
Daniel Hernandez (pen name: Arcia Tecun) is a Wīnak (Urban Diasporic Highland Maya) local community organizer in Soonkahni (Salt Lake Valley). As the Director of Culture with the Jordan River Nature Center and current Environmental Humanities Practitioner-in-Residence at the U, Daniel shares about his work towards local-global Indigenous Eco and Food Justice at the intersection of sustainability.
Daniel Hernandez (pen name: Arcia Tecun) is a Wīnak (Urban Diasporic Highland Maya) local community organizer in Soonkahni (Salt Lake Valley). As the current University of Utah Environmental Humanities Practitioner-in-Residence and Cultural Director with the Jordan River Nature Center, Daniel shares about his passions in local-global Indigenous eco-justice at the intersection of sustainability work.
Have you ever wanted to be a climate conscious shopper, without breaking the bank, but didn't know where to start? Hannah Rogers and Frances Benfell, two undergraduate students at the University of Utah, have got you covered! In this episode, they share about their developing company, Conscious, an app designed to help consumers become more sustainable shoppers. Tune in here and learn more at www.consciouss.org.
Darren Parry, former chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, shares about the history of the Shoshone Nation, and their cultural ties to the Great Salt Lake.
Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, a forest ecologist and professor emeritus in the U's Department of Biology, shares about her passion for rainforest tree canopy research and science communication with "non-traditional" audiences.
Nich Backman, Ph.D. candidate in History at the University of Utah, discusses a collaborative project with the American West Center, several Indigenous Tribal governments, and the National Park Service to decolonize trail signage along the Overland Trails.
The Sustainability Office is happy to introduce Sydney Murray as a new Sustain podcast host. In this episode, she discusses her background and interests in environmental justice and education, along with her hopes and goals in her new role as a Sustain host!
Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima, a scholar-activist and associate professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah, discusses her research on migration and human trafficking and their connection to environmental justice. "As we start to think about how our crops and how our very food industries are impacted by environmental realities, that is also going to impact migrant workers and opportunities for labor," Fukushima says. "There's a range of issues that start to cohere around immigration, racialized and gender-based violence, and environmental issues."
In this episode, University of Utah undergraduate student and climate justice activist Muskan Walia discusses the local youth climate movement, her work to transition Utah school districts to 100% clean energy, and youth-led initiatives to reclaim their education and make climate and environmental curricula more accessible to Utah high school students.
"The Anthropocene” refers to the proposed geological epoch in which we are currently living—one that began when human activity started to significantly alter ecological processes, change the climate, and appear in the geological record. In this episode, Professor of Philosophy Dr. Carlos Santana demonstrates how many species are adapting and surviving the so-called Anthropocene by reclaiming waste-landed spaces to create what scientists call "novel ecosystems." "There is actually something ecologically healthy and exciting happening in places that we otherwise would not recognize as healthy ecosystems," says Santana.
"My fat body got me here." Kailey Kornhauser, reflects on a 1,000-mile journey across Alaska, which she took by bicycle to witness the effects of climate change on landscapes and communities. Kailey is a graduate of the University of Utah’s Environmental Humanities master’s program and a current PhD candidate at Oregon State University. She is also the co-founder of All Bodies on Bikes—an organization that works to create a size-inclusive bike community.
Dr. Jory Lerback, a recent U graduate and a current postdoc fellow at UCLA, sits down with Sustain's Maria Archibald for a conversation on everything from groundwater chemistry to equity and inclusion in the scientific community. "How we measure diversity and how we measure success is the problem," Lerback says. "When we measure success in academia by seeing how many citations you get, and how big the network you have, and how much prestige you hold with your colleagues, that all has a really strong undercurrent of all of these different societal issues, including racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-disability bias."
Sustain's Maria Archibald is joined by Dr. Sara Grineski, professor of Sociology, to discuss socioeconomic disparities in environmental health. "Racial capitalism is also a fundamental cause of disease," says Grineski. Her research explores the links between socio-economic status and air pollution, and the consequences for respiratory and brain health.
Sustain host Maria Archibald meets with Ana Antunes, assistant professor of gender studies at the University of Utah, to discuss how student-focused education can lead to social change. Dr. Antunes works directly with immigrant and refugee youth on participatory projects. She believes that a sustainable education system is one that is "focused on the act of learning and teaching."
When he moved to Utah, Armando Solorzano, University of Utah associate professor in Ethnic Studies and Family and Consumer Studies, was told the "history of Utah started recently, in 1848, the time when the settlers entered the state." However, prior to that year, Utah was part of Mexico. Listen as Sustain podcast host Maria Archibald digs into this issue with Dr. Solorzano as he discusses Latinx histories, relationships to land, and belonging in Utah.
In our sixth episode, host Maria Archibald speaks with Dr. Thomas Michael Swensen, assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah, about Indigenous belonging in Alaska and beyond. Swensen’s study focuses on Native American and Western Hemispheric history, law, art, and literature, and he has interest in punk and urban studies. Yes, punk.
Born and raised in the Kodiak Archipelago and an original shareholder in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement corporations Koniag, Inc., and Leisnoi, Inc., Swensen is enrolled in the federally recognized Tangirnaq native village – a.k.a. the Woody Island tribe – and serves the Alutiiq on the board of directors of the Koniag education foundation.
In this month's episode, host Maria Archibald speaks with Drs. Juliet Carlisle and Tom Maloney about the their new University of Utah course, "The United States of Inequality: Political and Economic Challenges and Remedies." Carlisle is an associate professor of political science and Maloney is a professor of economics. The class explores the drivers of inequality in America and various facets of inequality, including health care, law, political representation, and environmental quality, and what we can do now to address them.
Maria Archibald interviews Dr. Lazarus Adua this week on SUSTAIN. Dr. Adua is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Utah. His work examines environmental sociology, energy inequality, and the structural drivers of global environmental change.
Check in with Sustain host Maria Archibald as she learns how Dr. Danielle Endres, professor of communication at the University of Utah, applies an environmental justice lens to her work on communication and social movements. Dr. Endres research focuses on the intersections between environmental and indigenous rhetoric.
Sustain host Maria Archibald interviews Dr. Hokulani K. Aikau, associate professor in Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies in the University of Utah's School for Social and Cultural Transformation. She teaches listeners about decolonization and indigenous knowledge, and how incorporating generational expertise will lead to a more equitable future.
Join us for our premiere episode, featuring University of Utah Chief Sustainability Officer Kerry Case. Case, the U's first-ever full-time CSO, describes the changing narratives around sustainability as a field and her philosophy on articulating a future to look forward to, rather than run from.