The Rural Policy Learning Commons [1] is hosting a webinar on February 7, 2017 starting at 10:00 am CST. The webinar will feature Emily Eaton from the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina discussing “Oil's Rural Reach: Social and Envirnonmental Impacts in Saskatchewan's Oil Producing Areas”. Below is a brief description of the upcoming webinar and a brief biography of the speaker.

Oil is not new to Saskatchewan, but a recent boom from 2006-2014 associated with unconventional oil extraction, including hydraulic fracturing, has left its mark on rural lives and livelihoods. In this seminar I review the social and environmental impacts associated with Saskatchewan’s rural oil boom. I argue that predominant silence among rural residents about these impacts is largely due to the industry’s influence and its penetration of every-day rural institutions and culture. The research is based on over 80 interviews with farmers, ranchers, school teachers, regulators, environmental consultants, human services providers, oil workers, and others as well as participant observation in rural oil producing communities.

Emily Eaton is an associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina, Canada. Her research investigates the political ecology of oil in Saskatchewan. She is the author of Fault Lines: Life and Landscape in Saskatchewan's Oil Economy and of Growing Resistance: Canadian Farmers and the Politics of GM (Genetically Modified) Wheat.

The webinar is free to participate. Click here to register for the event http://ow.ly/wOac307SPP7 [2].