The past two years have been the worst fire years on record across the west coast of North America, with whole communities being engulfed in flames and smoke enveloping major cities for weeks. But as the airways fill once again with stories of valiant fire-fighters and people who’ve lost their homes, we answer some burning questions that seem to always fly under the radar. For example:How long have fires been burning on this planetHave our ecologies always been adapted to fire?What role did indigenous peoples play in lighting fires in the past?And how can we return prescribed burns to sensitive ecosystems?To answer these questions, we talk to regional experts, including internationally renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Nancy Turner, in this first part of our two-part three-part series, On Fire.Find shownotes, sources, and musical credits at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-5-on-fire-pt-1Ready for Part Two? https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-6-on-fire-pt-2– – –💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

During the devastating September 9, 2017 earthquake off the coast of southern Mexico, residents of Mexico City and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala witnessed mysterious bursts of light in the sky. These lights, however, were not UFOs, exploding transformers, or evidence of a mysterious government conspiracy - instead, they were examples of a long-documented phenomenon known as “earthquake lights.”Can these mysterious lights in the sky help us learn to anticipate earthquakes? Can physics explain the strange animal behaviour linked to seismic activity? We unravel the science – and controversy – of a new interpretation of geophysics, and we talk to two groups developing very different technologies with the same goal: saving lives from earthquake disaster.Find shownotes for this episode at www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-4-luces-en-el-cielo– – –💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

What do you do when you find the last individual of a species previously thought to be extinct? The two rarest plants on earth both live in the Presidio of San Francisco, they’re both in the same genus, and there’s only one left of each. Is there a future for these species, and if so, what does it look like? And what can species on the brink tell us about ourselves and the future of our ecosystems?Find show notes for this episode at www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-3-the-loneliest-plants– – –💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

The story of modern-day North America begins with the systematic genocide and displacement of indigenous peoples. The social and ecological consequences of this founding trauma have become clearer over time, but so far relatively little has been done to address this at the federal, state, and provincial levels. In this episode, we zero in on two violently displaced tribes in California - the Wiyot and the Amah Mutsun - and tell the stories of their respective journeys to return to the spiritual centers of their worlds. Along the way, we ask a simple question: can the wrongs of the past be addressed, at least in part, by the return of stolen lands?Find show notes for this episode at www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-2-this-is-where-it-begins– – –💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons

Future Ecologies is recorded on the unceded territories of the Musqueam (xwməθkwəy̓əm) Squamish (Skwxwú7mesh), and Tsleil- Waututh (Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh) Nations - otherwise known as Vancouver, British Columbia. But what does that mean?In this proto-episode of Future Ecologies, we talk to indigenous plant diva T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, about how, as non-indigenous people, we can podcast respectfully on unceded indigenous territory. It’s our way of acknowledging the the land we live on and the ever-present role that indigenous peoples will play in the stories to come. Also, Cease tells some great stories of her own.Find show notes for this episode at www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-1-decolonize-this-podcast– – –💖 Support Future Ecologies: join our community on Patreon at futureecologies.net/patrons