Inspiring Staff Selections 🎥📚
Expand your eco-knowledge
Staff recommend our favourite multimedia selections this winter break
Widen your horizons this winter with our recommendation list.
Ologies (Podcast)
Alliza: Interested in learning more about dinosaurs? the universe? linguistics? This podcast has it all. Host Alie Ward takes a deep dive into a different scientific field every episode with passionate and engaging experts in each ology. With interesting facts and funny anecdotes, there's a topic to satisfy everyone's curiosity.
Happy City (Book)
Paul: Rich with history and new insights from psychology, neuroscience and Montgomery’s own urban experiments, Happy City is an essential tool for understanding and improving our own communities. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting our cities for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city, the green city and the low-carbon city are the same place, and we can all help build it.
My Octopus Teacher (Documentary)
Livia: My Octopus Teacher follows the life of Craig Foster and the unusual bond he develops with a wild octopus in the kelp forest of South Africa. Moving, emotional and resounding, this tale will leave you with a sense of wonder, respect and empathy towards earth’s creatures we never thought to see in a different light. With great direction and an absolutely captivating soundtrack, the movie draws you into the lives of these two species and shows us our interconnectedness, ability to share experiences and makes you reflect on humanity's connection to the natural world and the brevity of life on the planet.
Sticky. Stretchy. Waterproof. The Amazing Underwater Tape of the Caddisfly (Youtube Video)
Credit: Josh Cassidy/KQED
Sara: If you were a soft squishy bug that lived in water, what would you use to protect yourself from things that may harm you? What if you could glue together an armour made of stones, using water-proof tape? Check out this amazing video on how caddisfly larvae protect themselves from the world. This video is created by the Youtube channel DeepLook a 'science video series...from KED and PBS Digital Studios'. Known for its amazing investigations into the macro and micro world to understand complex science concepts, this channel is definitely my all-time favourite resource to learn new things about nature.
Attracting Native Pollinators (Book)
Credit: Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Dana: This is my go-to guide for native bee and butterfly conservation. Accessible and practical suggestions on providing healthy habitats for pollinators in community gardens, school grounds, and urban, rural, and suburban landscapes. Beautiful photographs help identify the insects. Handy regional plant lists and info let you choose native flowers to brighten and benefit any space. I love the science behind the easily implemented suggestions, from providing foraging and nesting sites to endangered pollinator conservation. A hefty Taking Action section helps you plan habitat improvements with the wider community.
Talking Cities (TikTok)
Emily: TalkingCities is a TikTok account run by Paul Stout who makes videos about cities, urban design, architecture and city planning. In many of his videos, he emphasizes the need to build for humans and walkability rather than for cars. He also discusses the implications of the way we build our cities and how it affects the mental health of residents living in those cities and future generations. By using TikTok as a platform, he has been able to engage and teach young people about their built environments and how we can make them better.
The Biggest Little Farm (Movie)
Karen: With the hope of creating not only a farm, but a thriving ecosystem, the family in this movie inspires us all to accept the processes of nature and be in awe of its beauty. If, in mid-January, you feel like looking at something other than snow and/or soggy leaves on the brown grass, enjoy the incredible images captured in this film.