CURRENT MEMBERS

Emma Bugg (she/her) is pursuing a Master of Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University and is one of five researchers in residence contributing to the Mass Culture Arts’ Civic Impact research project. Through this project, Emma is exploring the intersections of art, climate change, and environmental sustainability by working in residence with an arts organization to develop an impact framework to better understand, amplify, and enhance the contributions of the arts towards addressing the climate crisis. Prior to beginning her studies at Dalhousie University, Emma worked at the Ottawa based non-profit Evidence for Democracy as the Communications and Campaigns Manager. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours from the University of Saskatchewan.

Jessica MacKeen (she/her) has been working under the guidance of Dr. Tarah Wright since 2019. Her research has continued to build on a chain of studies being conducted under the Education for Sustainability Research Group that explores measuring preschool children’s connection to nature (bioaffinity). She started working with Dr. Wright on her honour’s thesis, titled Refining a Games Testing Tool for Various Cultural, Social, and Geographic Situations to Evaluate Preschool Children’s Bioaffinity. This study sought to modify a games testing tool to become more appropriate for young Canadian children and then test it with a cohort of 3-5-year-old Canadian preschoolers. Results indicated that the tool’s revisions effectively enhanced the children’s understanding of the game’s testing.

Jessica is now continuing this research by pursuing a Master’s of Environmental Studies in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies under the supervision of Dr. Wright. Her current research focuses on determining the validity and reliability of the above-mentioned modified game’s testing tool. This will be achieved through an expert-informed survey and semi-structured interviews, and another pilot test with preschool children. By establishing validity and reliability, the tool will be usable in various contexts and produce reliable results. Jessica has fostered a passion for early childhood education and developmental psychology throughout her research.

Lenka Tomlinson (they/she) is completing their final year of Undergraduate studies in a Bachelor of Science, double majoring in environmental science and sustainability at Dalhousie University. Working on their Honours thesis under Dr. Wright, they are focusing on the nexus of arts and sustainability in museum-type institutions, examining how these educational spaces have engaged with climate change, and what ought to be done moving forwards.

With a background in environmental science, sustainability, and art history, this intersection of topics has continued to interest Lenka as they have worked in exhibition design and sustainability offices across the HRM.

Lenka is currently taking a phenomenological approach to her research, examining the precedent and barriers of climate and environmental sustainability engagement through professionals' perspectives across Canada. She will be completing her research in Spring of 2024, hoping to summarize thematic similarities in reference to prior literature, in order to perform an environmental scan, and potential recommendations for museums and museum-type institutions going forwards.