Professor documents P.E.I. climate change on film

Unable to take his students out into the field to see the effects of climate change on P.E.I. in person during the pandemic, Prof. Adam Fenech has arranged to bring the Island to them.

Fenech, head of the school of climate change and adaptation at the University of Prince Edward Island, said he had to make some changes to his normal teaching this summer.

"I normally take students all around the Island and show them places that are being impacted by climate change, and then talk to some people about how they're adapting to it," he said.

"Under COVID, we realized that we couldn't all jump into a van and go and visit these places, so I thought I would bring the Island to my students."

Fenech was able to partner with Climate Sense to create four videos about some of the locations and people he has been visiting with his students.

• Eric Gilbert from Victoria-by-the-Sea talking about the environmental challenges and adaptation approaches to climate change in a small rural municipality.
• Mike Cassidy voicing his dread about the coastal erosion on P.E.I. and its insidious impacts on his cottage property.
• Shepherd Adam MacLean speaking about the challenges and opportunities from climate change facing his sheep farming at South Melville.
• Mike Cassidy sharing his experience in growing the haskap berry, a more environmentally friendly alternative table berry for Island farmers.

"These document some of the stories about how the climate is impacting and how specifically Islanders have taken up that challenge and how they're learning to adapt," Fenech said.

He is hoping to do another four films this summer. He has 16 stories that he would like to tell in film eventually.

You can see the videos at the Climate Sense website.

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