Future Ecologies [HYPHAEDELITY] Sadie Couture x Hannah Tollefson — Tidewater and the Nature of Logistics
Oct 22, 2025
Sadie Couture, a PhD student in Communication Studies, chats with Hannah Tollefson, a researcher focusing on environmental and infrastructure studies. They dive into the intricate logistics of the Port of Vancouver, exploring how communication ties into transportation and the political implications of ports as protest sites. Hannah discusses the sustainability branding of the port and critiques the notion of 'tidewater' within pipeline debates. With insights into dredging practices and habitat banking, they reveal how logistics shape social and environmental landscapes.
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Communication And Transport Are One System
- Communication and transportation are historically linked and should be studied together to understand organized movement of people, goods, and messages.
- Hannah connects this merged perspective to ports as sites where movement shapes environments, politics, and everyday life.
Formative Years Shaped Research Focus
- Hannah grew up on Vancouver Island during 1990s environmental struggles like forestry blockades and anti-globalization protests.
- Those formative experiences and pipeline politics anchored her interest in the Port of Vancouver's role in extractivism and protest.
Port As Networked Authority
- The Port of Vancouver is a sprawling network of terminals, roads, dredging, surveillance, and sensing systems rather than a single location.
- Its Port Authority is federally mandated to grow trade, making expansion its core function despite environmental stewardship claims.
