This year, the PCJ Graduate Fellows will be giving lectures on each of their research topics, brought to you by the PCJ student society.

The first of these talks happened on Oct 17^th and was given by Will Greaves, whose research focuses on the security of indigenous peoples in the circumpolar Arctic as it relates to climate change. I was able to attend his talk, and it was great to  have the opportunity to hear him talk about his own research!

Let me start off by telling you a bit about why we love Will. We 460s have been lucky to have him teaching us in some capacity since our first year in PCJ: He was our TA for PCJ 260, our Prof for 360, and we have him again this year for 460. I can tell you this first hand: Will is an awesome lecturer, who brings dynamic understanding of texts and a tongue in cheek wit to every class. His talk was no different. And how likely is it, that out of all the undergrads at U of T, one cohort of a tiny program would have the same teacher three years running? He knows us well, and it has been an amazing experience to build on his teaching year after year.

Over the course of an hour and a half, Will delivered a concise summary of his research into how native people in Canada and Norway are being impacted by increasingly rapid climate change. As we all know, Arctic sea ice has been dramatically reduced over the last several decades – we have been losing 10% of ice coverage every decade. This has a variety of implications – species that depend on Arctic sea ice are becoming gravely endangered, and so are the people who depend on the Arctic for their way of life. At this point, it seems that runaway climate change is a reality; we have lost so much Arctic ice that it will be impossible to stop the deterioration.

As Will said in his lecture, this has many implications over a wide range of global issues. Arctic sea ice disappearing opens up new access to trade routes and resources, but it also means that we are chronicling the extinction of an entire ecosystem. It is also causing great danger – glaciers are causing flooding, melting permafrost causes structural instability in many northern buildings, and the Inuit people of Canada are afraid for their culture, and way of life.

Will’s talk touched on a number of topics that are hot button issues in politics right now. Global climate change, indigenous rights, and exploring ecologically sensitive regions for resources are issues that spark passionate debate in people across the political spectrum. I believe Will’s research draws attention to these issues in a positive way, framing them as things that need to be discussed and resolved promptly, before it is too late.

Simply put, Will’s talk was interesting and informative. I can’t wait to hear the presentations given by the other graduate fellows, Kiran Banerjee and Michael Morden! The next scheduled event in the graduate speaker series will be a talk given by Michael Morden, on the subject of Indigenous direct action in Canada. The talk takes place on November 11^th, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Munk North House, 108N. Check out the new website for details and to register!