Kate Sherren

Landscapes - People - Global change

Category: Energy (Page 1 of 22)

Energy landscapes in Nevada

February 17, 2025 /

I’ve recently returned from a trip to Nevada, including side trips to Death Valley, California, and Grand Canyon West, on Hualapai land AZ. Some of that included views of large-scale renewable infrastructure. Above is a video (taken by Eleanor Couper, and including a Harry Styles soundtrack) of large-scale wind in western Arizona. But we also had a chance to visit the Hoover Dam (below), as well as the town that built it, lovely Boulder City (one of two municipalities in Nevada in which gambling is not legal). Alongside the freeway heading back to Las Vegas for the flight out we passed lots of large-scale solar installations, too. Without a cloud over four days travel there seems few better places for it.

Hoover Dam with a view of Lake Mead behind (photo: Eleanor Couper)

 

Eastern shore citizen science for TranSECT

January 2, 2025 /

Camilo Botero presents the project and preliminary results to the community at the Sheet Harbour Lion’s Club.

Thanks to Moira Donovan for the great article out on CBC today, Eastern Shore project harnesses community for climate science. The piece is about one of the 14 work packages within TranSECT, the large research project I co-lead out of the new CFREF project Transforming Climate Action. The Dal-based team for this work package about risk governance and citizen science comprises Camilo Botero, Ron Pelot and Floris Goerlandt, in partnership with Eastern Shore churches and schools. This article provides me a great excuse to post a few pictures from the end of November when TranSECT co-lead Ian Stewart and I attended an event in Sheet Harbour recognizing the end of the pilot phase of this innovative citizen science project.

The Bishop of the Anglican church diocese that is a key partner for the project reflects on what she has heard. 

On the return, Ian and I spied these across the inlet and went across to investigate: massive ‘transition pieces’ for offshore wind turbines, shipped there from Europe and awaiting further transportation to Martha’s Vineyard in the US). Soon I expect we’ll be seeing more of these arriving for use off Nova Scotia.

Landscapes on the Edge

October 4, 2024 /

Evan Andrews of MUN introduced my CAG keynote in August, 2024

A quick note to say that the text of my keynote to the 2024 Canadian Association of Geographer’s conference has now been published by Canadian Geographies. The keynote was called Landscapes on the Edge, and I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on a diversity of my empirical and theoretical work in coastal adaptation and renewable energy over the past few years–with wonderful Honours, Masters and PhD students–and place them within my own lived experience as a pulp town brat. I was so pleased to be asked to convert it to a paper so it can have a life of its own. Thanks to Canadian Geographies Editor Agnieszka Leszczynski for the encouragement.

New paper on the negative impacts of IA

July 25, 2024 /

We know that impact assessment is designed  to anticipate, assess and help avoid the negative impact of developments upon people and ecosystems, but what about the negative impacts of the IA process upon people? I had the opportunity to sit on the UA Master’s committee for Amy Wilson, who was supervised by my colleague John Parkins, while she explored the impacts of the IA process on the communities potentially affected by the Grassy Mountain Coal Project in southwestern Alberta. The paper from that work, Reversing the gaze: understanding how community members are negatively affected by impact assessment, was published OA this week in Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal. Three impact locations are identified and described using 49 interviews with experts and affected people: (1) risk perceptions and anticipatory impacts, (2) procedural issues, and (3) community and regional conflicts. Congratulations, Amy!

Australia fieldwork

June 17, 2024 /

I have been in Australia for just over two weeks now, revisiting livestock producers I worked with during my postdoctoral fellowship in 2008-2010. I was able to reach just over a third of the original participants, and I have been visiting them on their properties to identify the sites of the photos they took back in 2008, and recapture the same photos. It is fun work, like a treasure hunt. Some landscape changes are subtle in that 15+ years, and some are not (like the 66-turbine Rye Park wind farm; see below – you’ll need to zoom in). Thanks to the ANU Sustainable Farms team for the use of their field vehicle, and to these wonderful farmers for offering so much of their time and good humour.

The Rye Park wind farm at sunset

« Older posts

© 2025 Kate Sherren

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑