In this webinar, Wiliam Gagnon and Chloe Dragon Smith will explore how climate action can alleviate eco-anxiety and propose steps you can take to help reverse the impacts of climate change.
William Gagnon, BEng 17, lives on Chief Drygeese Territory (Yellowknife, NT) where he witnesses a climate emergency every day from thawing permafrost and thinning ice sheet to wildfire smoke, heatwaves and more. He will share stories from a research trip to Scandinavia where he was on the hunt for climate solutions.
Chloe Dragon Smith is a Metis woman from Yellowknife and will also speak about climate impacts as well as her Indigenous background.
Recognizing Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
On September 30, Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we stand in solidarity with the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of Canada to honour the survivors of the Indian residential school system and to mourn the children who lost their lives during this shameful part of Canada’s history.
As members of a university community committed to reconciliation and decolonization, we must all, each of us, take the time to educate ourselves about the devastating history and impact of residential schools.
Climate Change Strategic Lead
Department of Infrastructure, Government of the Northwest Territories
A building engineer, advocate and campaigner for climate, William Gagnon specializes in green buildings and decarbonization of the building sector. He likes working at the intersection of design, engineering, climate advocacy, sustainability and research.
His research interests currently lie in climate mitigation, biochar, pyrogenic carbon capture and storage, hydrogen energy storage, green buildings, renewable energy production, decarbonization, decolonization and energy storage solutions for northern locations.
He’s working for a net-zero carbon future, and sees 2030 as a goalpost for carbon-neutrality in the building sector. In 2019, William demonstrated that the complete decarbonization of the building sector in the Northwest Territories by 2030 would have a 9% return on investment from eliminated spending on heating oil; saving northerners $20M annually, and creating 87 direct jobs.
Chloe Dragon Smith is a Metis woman from the small northern city of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Of Chipewyan and European heritage, she grew up close to her Indigenous cultural values and learned traditional skills for living on the land.
Chloe holds a degree in Earth Science from the University of Victoria; while she is educated in science, she is keenly interested and has found her niche in working with people on the social/cultural benefits of the natural world.
Currently, Chloe works with the Canadian Parks Council, co-chairing an intergenerational citizen working group called Connecting a New Generation with Nature. The working group has created a document called The Nature Playbook: Take action to connect a new generation of Canadians with Nature. It will soon be available online. A draft of this book has inspired the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to adopt The Nature Playbook model as a global best practice and it was featured at the World Conservation Congress this September, 2016. This project spans the continuum of Nature, reaching children and youth in cities, regions, states/provinces, and countries.