Amid stories of wildfires, droughts, flooding and other environmental concerns worldwide, helping environmental scientists share their research with the public is the goal of an international, week-long storytelling program whose participants this summer included University of Guelph professor Dr. Madhur Anand.  [1]

An award-winning writer and ecologist [2] in the School of Environmental Sciences [3], Anand was one of 10 fellows to join the invitation-only Wrigley Institute Storymakers Program. [4]  

Held at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island in California, the program’s lectures and workshops train participants to present their often-complex research to broad audiences through media, film and publishing.  

Anand was the sole Canadian fellow invited to the program this year.  

In her own discipline-straddling career, Anand studies global ecological change and human-environment sustainability while writing award-winning literature. Her experimental memoir, This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart, won the 2020 Governor General’s Award for non-fiction [5].  

Anand was recently appointed an adjunct professor in U of G’s School of English and Theatre Studies [6] in the College of Arts [7]. 

“It has been clear to me for a long time that scientific knowledge alone will not be enough to address our environmental crises, and yet the voice of scientists is so vital to addressing these issues,” Anand said.  

“We need artistic interventions and stories that centre scientists, and the Wrigley Storymakers program is one such visionary program, but this is also happening here at Guelph through my work and the work of so many colleagues.” 

Similar impulses drive interdisciplinary work at U of G’s Guelph Institute for Environmental Research (GIER) [8], which is directed by Anand.  

GIER’s Collaboratory for Creative Writing, Environmental Sciences and the Arts [9] works to address environmental challenges including climate change, biodiversity declines, invasive species, habitat loss, pollution and resource scarcity. 

“Addressing pressing environmental challenges requires not only scientific solutions but also an understanding of the human dimension,” said Anand.