Earth Day 2026 – SFU experts available

How can we csonsume less, but better? Spotlighting "Conscious Consumption," Earth Day, on Wednesday, aims to help us rethink how we produce and consyme, from energy, transportation, and materials to digital technology, human health, and biodiversity. SFU experts are available to unpack the emerging research behind today's most pressing climate challenges.  

SFU experts available

Extreme heat, climate change, and human health

GLORIA GUTMAN, professor emeritus, gerontology 
Co-chair for the 33rd John K. Friesen Conference, Climate Change in an Aging World (SFU’s Harbour Centre campus on April 22–23) exposing the risks climate change poses to older people and highlighting how older people can contribute to climate resilience and education. 
gutman@sfu.ca  
 
ANDRÉANNE DOYON, associate professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management 
Published a study that found significant differences in how municipalities within the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts are preparing for extreme heat. Speaking at an event on climate adaptation in B.C. on Earth Day (22 April). 
andreanne_doyon@sfu.ca  
 
MAYA GISLASON, associate professor, MSHRBC Scholar, health sciences 
Co-leads the Planetary Health Research Group and co-author of a recent study investigating the full range of emotions kids and teens feel around climate change. 
maya_gislason@sfu.ca  
 
SAM ANDERSON, post-doctoral research fellow, School of Environmental Science 
Wrote a recent op-ed in the Globe and Mail on the dangerous invisibility of heat waves and the need to confront climate change head on. Also an expert on the impact of glacier loss in B.C.  
anderson.sam.lucas@gmail.com 
 

Clean energy and digital technology

STEPHEN MAKONIN, adjust professor, applied science, principal investigator, Computational Sustainability Lab 
Investigates the carbon footprint of streaming media, and ways to mitigate climate change and decrease growing energy demands. 
smakonin@sfu.ca 
 
ANDY HIRA, professor, political science 
Director of the Clean Energy Research Group, which published a recent policy paper that raised doubts about the financial and environmental value of carbon capture and storage in Canada. Analysis found that carbon capture and storage is “prohibitively expensive” and that it could prolong “the damaging effects of fossil fuel industries on our climate.”   
anil_hira@sfu.ca       
 

Biodiversity 

PETER THOMPSON, postdoctoral fellow in the School of Environmental Science 
Published a study highlighting that thousands of endangered species in British Columbia are not receiving the help they need to survive.  
peter_thompson@sfu.ca 
 
TANYA BROWN, assistant professor, marine ecotoxicology 
ANAÏS REMILI, postdoctoral researcher, marine ecotoxicology  
Published a study that found climate change and persistent contaminants are delivering a one‑two punch to Arctic ringed seals, intensifying risks to Inuit food security and northern ecosystems. 
tanya_brown@sfu.ca  
anais_remili@sfu.ca  
 
JUAN JOSÉ ALAVA, marine eco-toxicologist, adjunct professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management 
Published a study that uncovered fibreglass pollution from local industry and abandoned boats in a key estuary on Vancouver Island, raising concerns about as-yet overlooked contaminant. 
jalavasa@sfu.ca     
 

Transportation

MEGHAN WINTERS, health sciences professor 
Published a recent study detailing that while Canada’s cycling network is growing, not everyone is benefitting.  
mwinters@sfu.ca