Dr. Ian Mauro comes to UWinnipeg via Mount Allison University where he held a Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Environmental Change. Mauro is a pioneer of multi-media methodologies, scholarship and education. His interdisciplinary work weaves the social and ecological sciences together recognizing the important synergies between scientific and indigenous knowledge.
Originally from Winnipeg, Mauro is returning home to be the newest addition to UWinnipeg’s geography department. His ongoing research in the Arctic, Atlantic and Prairie regions of Canada endeavours to help us better listen to the language of the land, and offers strategies for healthy human interaction with the biosphere.
“The Prairies pulled me back,” states Mauro. “It’s great to be at the University of Winnipeg, an institution that is committed to digital, indigenous and community-based scholarship, which are core to my research program and teaching.”
Mauro is a renowned academic and filmmaker whose projects focus on food security, sustainable agriculture and
Dr. Ian Mauro
climate change. He co-directed the influential Inuktitut language film Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change with Zacharias Kunuk, the acclaimed Inuk filmmaker who made Atanarjuat The Fast Runner. Mauro’s films have been translated into numerous languages and screened globally at academic conferences, film festivals and venues such as the United Nations, Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic and the Royal Ontario Museum.
In his latest research documentary, Climate Change in Atlantic Canada, Mauro explores the impacts of extreme weather on coastal communities and local-level approaches to mitigation and adaptation. He recently toured the film across Atlantic Canada with David Suzuki, award-winning scientist and broadcaster, as a fundraiser for environmental groups in the region.
Mauro is known to use participatory video to collect digital stories to help communicate and conserve local and indigenous knowledge. This approach allows people who live on the land to tell their own stories, in their own language, and within the landscapes where their knowledge has been generated. He was awarded an “Apple Distinguished Educator” award for his approach in 2011.
Given Mauro’s diverse background – dealing with climate science, food security, energy issues, environmental management, community engagement and indigenous knowledge – he has been asked to serve a number of expert panels and is an added asset to the UWinnipeg’s academic community.
