2025/26 Speaker Series: At-risk Ecocultural Archives of Western Canada with Dr. Robin Woywitka
2 February 2026
2025/26 Speaker Series: At-risk Ecocultural Archives of Western Canada with Dr. Robin Woywitka
February 24, 2026
11:30 am - 12:30 pm (MT)
In-person: Tory 14-28
Online (registration required): https://ualberta-ca.
Post-glacial river, lake, windblown, ice, and archaeological deposits contain a 15,000-year record of environmental and cultural change in western Canada. Intertwined assemblages of biotic remains, biogeochemical signatures, and artifacts are often preserved within these archives. These proxy indicators provide information about how animals, plants, and humans related to their surroundings and each other at the time of their deposition. In this sense, they represent fragments of past ecocultural landscapes. Using geoscientific and archaeological methods, these landscapes can be reconstructed at different time intervals. Tracing ecocultural dynamics through time is an emerging approach in climate science; one that recognizes humans as part of the Earth system. This enables meaningful integration of Indigenous and social science perspectives in the study of past, present, and future climate change. This talk will summarize the types of ecocultural archives present in Alberta and detail the threats of loss they face due to anthropogenic climate change, industrial development, and recreation.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Robin Woywitka studies the Quaternary Period, the most recent division of the Geological Timescale (ca. 2.6 million years ago to today). He specializes in geomorphology, geospatial science and geoarchaeology. His research focuses on how processes associated with present day industrialization and climate change affect the preservation of heritage landscapes contained in the geological and archaeological records of western Canada