Welcome to Emily Smith
Emily has joined the team as our Nature Education and Communications Assistant for the summer. Emily has roots in London Ontario, as well as the Toronto area and is excited to have the opportunity to spend time in BC and learn about the local flora and fauna. I sat down with Emily for a short interview to learn more about what inspired her to work with us and what she’s learned so far.
Where did you grow up and what brought you here?
I grew up in the greater Toronto area and also spent time in London, Ontario for university as well as working for the City of London as their Environmental Outreach Coordinator. After being there for six years, I wanted a change and thought that there was no better time to go outside of Province and explore the rest of Canada than in your early 20s. I came across the posting, and thought, “Wow! This would be such a cool opportunity.” It just worked out at every stage, so I knew it was meant to be.
What inspired you to pursue environmental and film studies in school?
I’ve always been passionate about the environment and have been quite scared about climate change. I knew that I wanted to study environmental science to understand better what was going on, and to work in the field, because I thought there was nothing more important than protecting the planet. In my first year of university I took an intro to film course, and I just fell in love with film (which I had also explored in high school), so I rearranged my plan and double majored in both environmental studies and film studies. There was a lot more overlap in the two subjects than you would think, and there were things that enhanced my understanding of environmental science that I learned from critical media studies.
Can you can you tell me more about that? Where do you see the overlaps?
Through film studies, you learn how to be a critical consumer of things, and you are supposed to question and analyze what you are being told and ask: what is the intended meaning behind this piece of art? What did the creator want to convey? What’s maybe being said under the surface? I think developing that lens helps when you’re consuming news, or just generally consuming information–you ask some hard-hitting questions and some uncomfortable questions that help you get closer to the truth, and it helps to see the big picture more clearly. In the case of the environment and climate change, it’s such a big interconnected system that you have to think about the big picture.
What excites you most about working with the Conservancy?
There’s a lot that excites me. I’ve learned a lot already about the different native and invasive species here. I’ve learned a lot about plants in general, and that’s been super valuable and is helping me to put together an understanding of life in BC, and also how to take better care of nature. I’ve learned a lot from all the staff about different techniques and ways of observing nature, and I like that the work we’re doing is hands on. You can see the impact, or the projected impact down the line. It’s much more tangible than the work I was doing for municipal government, where things are very slow to move, and you don’t know if it’ll even get implemented or if it’ll be shot down at council, so this feels like real meaningful work that I’m happy to be a part of.
And what kinds of things do you like to do in your spare time?
I do watch a lot of movies and TV. I like to go for walks, and I’ve gone for a lot of long walks here. I like painting, I like to do art, I like to listen to music and play music. I play the bass, and I play a lot of rock music, alternative and indie rock.
Is there anything else you’d like Mayne Islanders to know?
Don’t tell my friends back home, but I think British Columbians are way cooler than Ontarians, and I like the way that you guys are living here. Also… if anyone happens to see the hat shown in my picture—please let me know! I seem to have lost it somewhere along the way!
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