A space for research, reflection, and hands-on work on Canada’s wildfire crisis and urban agriculture practices
Welcome to Cultivating Through Crisis!
Cultivating Through Crisis is a blog that combines academic research and hands-on learning. Here, we explore Canada’s growing wildfire disasters and the rise of urban agriculture, as both a tool for climate resilience and a perpetrator of ongoing socioeconomic and environmental dilemmas we face. Built on both academic research and hands-on learning, this space shares insights from wildfire research, environmental studies, composting, and sustainable urban food systems. As people look for ways to manage and confront the climate change crisis, this blog is here to make you think, ask questions, and explore solutions to the challenges we face in a world on fire. This is a space for rethinking how we confront crisis through learning, growing, and building more sustainable futures.
Catherine Rokakis
M.Sc. Geography, Planning, Environment
Compost Program Coordinator
Concordia University/Concordia Greenhouse Project
Welcome!
More about me:
I am Catherine, a Master’s student in the Geography, Planning, and Environment program at Concordia University, supervised by Dr. Kevin Gould. My research focuses on the socioeconomic impacts of Canada’s increasing wildfire disasters, and I am conducting a case study on the 2024 wildfires in Jasper National Park. I am researching how wildfires impact employment and economic stability in tourism-dependent communities, shedding light on climate change’s broader social and economic challenges.
In addition to my academic work, I am the Compost Program Coordinator at the Concordia Greenhouse Project. Here, I am in charge of ABCompost, a student-run initiative that diverts food waste through vermicomposting. ABCompost conducts research related to composting and runs workshops to provides affordable, often free composting kits to students. Our goal is to foster sustainable waste management systems and circular food cycles on campus and across broader communities.
Through combining research and hands-on practice, I enjoy writing about problems and solutions related to climate change and urban food systems.
