Small Planet Heroes

An Invitation from David Suzuki to Connect, Commit, Compete, and Correct Our Way to Sustainability Within and Beyond Our Generation

David Suzuki has spent a lifetime translating the living world for the rest of us, first as a young geneticist, then as a groundbreaking broadcaster, and later as a public advocate for ecological responsibility. In this rich and personal conversation, he looks back with the perspective of someone who has watched societies, institutions, and ecosystems evolve over more than 80 years. 
Suzuki speaks candidly with co-hosts Kai Chan and Sam Blackwell about the moments that shaped him: learning early lessons from internment camps in BC; discovering, through the Haida Nation, what it means to live in relationship with place; navigating the constraints of media and politics; and finding clarity in scientific insights like planetary boundaries. Through stories of risking his CBC career, of being mentored and mentoring others, of grassroots movements rising and fading, he paints a portrait of environmental change as both a systems problem and a deeply human one.
The heart of this conversation emerges when Suzuki describes where he finds meaning today. It’s in communities coming together—from seniors taking to the streets on climate action to “Doug’s Winter Party” inspiring gatherings across North America. It’s in watching his grandchildren rediscover the magic of forests and shorelines. And it’s in the humble but profound act of trying: trying to care, trying to act, trying to help communities endure what comes next.
Suzuki doesn't offer easy optimism, nor does he retreat into despair. Instead, he grounds hope in relationship: with the land, with one another, and with future generations who might yet inherit a world worth fighting for.

Bob Watson Discusses Large-Scale Systems Transformation, His Life in Science Assessment, and the Need for Trust in an Anti-Science Era
Global science assessment goes far beyond crunching numbers and tallying up abstract human impacts: it is about convincing the world to act. Recalling his life in leadership with co-hosts Kai Chan (professor and Canada Research Chair at UBC) and Maia O’Donnell (UBC graduate in soil science and producer of the Small Planet Heroes podcast), Robert (Bob) Watson narrates his path from early training in atmospheric chemistry to high-stakes positions at NASA, the White House, and chairing organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Bob reveals how speaking up for the environment means rising above politics. Yet confronting so many unknowns, including corruption and intense disparities in power, access, and resources, is often at great personal cost.
In the quest for transformative systems change, Bob reminds us that seeking a consensus while tackling massive problems means making sense of a lot of noise. Much of it is negative, even paralyzing. He asks us instead to answer, whether with our phones, wallets, or simply more open minds, the call for a more grounded, evidence-based, and mindful future for everyone.

Terre Satterfield Explores Queasy Questions, the Quest for Environmental Justice, and the Narrative Imperative in Ecosystems Services Research
Queasy questions shake us. It’s that nervous strangeness of surveying the very limits of what we know. For Dr. Terre Satterfield, anthropologist and environmental social scientist, that queasiness has fueled a career bridging critical and constructive perspectives. In this conversation with UBC colleagues and co-hosts Kai Chan (professor and Canada Research Chair) and David R. Boyd (professor and legal expert on human rights and the environment), Terre unpacks ecological justice, cultural ecosystem services, and the value of stories in reshaping how we see culture, land, and justice itself.
Across decades of research, mentorship, and collaboration (especially with Indigenous communities), she has shown that respect is non-negotiable, that stories are truths, and that futures worth striving for are co-produced. The trio reflects on the responsibilities of scholars and the power of empathy in navigating transformative change. The result is a deeply human conversation on how to listen, learn, and lead one another toward more just and livable futures.
*Terre gratefully acknowledges the work of Nicole Kaechele, Ph.D. Candidate at IRES, for their collaborative work on compensation. Nicole’s research centers the revitalization of Indigenous legal processes and the negotiation of compensation agreements for historical losses (read more here).

Keep up with Terre:
UBC Profile
LinkedIn

Episode Transcript, with Annotations

David R. Boyd on Levering Transformative Change for a Healthy Environment from a Global Legal Perspective

In the coastal Wild West, when laws and justice do not align, the town can summon an environmental cowboy, someone able to negotiate a way out of the hair-trigger standoff to turn towards the sun. Leaving the Alberta Rockies behind in the rearview mirror of a Greyhound bus, lawyer, academic, and frontier spirit David R. Boyd has gone on to sheriff local, national, and international courts. While fulfilling mandates for governments and non-profits alike, he has also published several influential books, partnered with Indigenous and youth activists, and advocated tirelessly for the human right to a healthy environment.
Breaking bread with fellow hosts and UBC colleagues Kai Chan (professor and Canada Research Chair) and Clare Price (graduate student in soundscapes and urban transformation), David reminds us there is always an impetus to stand up for what’s right for nature—and for us. Whether performing site visits in the imperiled South Pacific for the UN or explaining how investing in women and girls empowers everyone, David knows that paving the way for transformative policymaking is just one avenue to changing lives for good.
Keep up with David:
UBC Profile
Google Scholar

Annotated Transcript, with Links

Ingrid Waldron’s Road to Racial and Environmental Justice Through Community, Law, and Collective Action
Growing up in Montreal, young Ingrid Waldron never imagined drafting what would become this country’s first environmental justice legislation. Bill C-226 acknowledged the historical roots and lived realities of environmental racism. Deeply committed to health equity, Ingrid’s research led to her 2018 book and the award-winning documentary There’s Something in the Water. Both stressed the need for everybody to have a voice in environmental decision-making, especially when the places we call home can make us sick.
Speaking with co-hosts Kai Chan (professor and Canada Research Chair at UBC) and Nancy Kang (professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Manitoba), Ingrid describes her ongoing drive to challenge interlocking systems of oppression. She highlights the inspiration provided on her career path by various resistance communities, especially activist women. Together, we explore the nexus of race, gender, health, and environment; how Indigenous and racialized communities have long been denied justice in Canada; and how this new law could seed real transformation.

There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities (book)
There’s Something in the Water (documentary)
The ENRICH Project

Annotated Transcript, with Links