Exercise #1: Local Environmental History
Instructions
For Exercise #1, you will bring environmental concepts home by looking at your neighbourhood’s environmental history.
- Using the submission form, post a photo of your area (Google Street View if you do not want to show your home) on this interactive map and explain the ecological history of this space, as per this example.
- Write a 700 to 1100 word of the ecological history of this physical environment, including where applicable: pre-contact use and settlement; wildlife past and present; early settlement and resource extraction; invasive species; urban development; stewardship actions (urban stormwater retention systems; community gardens; composting facilities).
- You must show where you found your information, either through footnote citations or with links embedded in the text, or a combination of both.
- The writing can be informal, as per the Exercise 1 Sample (you may even use first person, which definitely will not fly with your historiography and major essay projects!) but correct spelling and grammar are expected.
- In most cases, given the readily available information online, this exercise need not take more than 6–8 hours to complete. It is meant to help you think historically about your environment—to read it through an ecological lens. If you live in a rural area or small town, you may think that there is less to say than what you read in the sample based on a Vancouver neighbourhood, but this is not the case. The environmental history will be very different, and you might focus far more on, say, the settlement period of the late nineteenth century, or the implications of the introduction of cattle or irrigation and less on events of the 1960s and 70s.
- Please note, you should write and edit your submission in a separate file then copy and paste it into the submission box. Once submitted to the HIST 3991 trubox site, you will not be able to edit your post.
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Submissions
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Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
December 28, 2025 By: Emily Tithecott
Exercise #1: Local Environmental History Ecological History of Sault Ste. Marie I live at 95 Mark Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in a quiet residential part of the city’s west end. At first glance, the neighbourhood feels unremarkable. It is made up of detached houses, mature trees, paved streets, and small gardens. It is the kind of place people move through daily without giving much thought to how it came to look this way. However, when I began to look at this area through an environmental history lens, it became clear that even this ordinary suburban space reflects long-term…
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
December 28, 2025 By: Emily Tithecott
The area around 95 Mark Street in Sault Ste. Marie sits within the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and is part of the land covered by the Robinson–Huron Treaty of 1850. Long before European settlement, the nearby St. Marys River was central to Indigenous life, acting as a transportation route and a productive fishing area linking Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Species such as lake trout, whitefish, sturgeon, and walleye supported local food systems, while land use followed seasonal patterns that allowed ecosystems time to recover. Ecologically, this area is part of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence forest region. Before settlement,…
Fairview, Vancouver
November 19, 2025 By: Chelsea Brown
For Exercise #1: Local Environmental History I currently reside in Fairview, a lovely area of Vancouver, where I have lived with my partner for over two years. Thuncher (2014) explains that the name Fairview came from its scenic views, and that “fair” still meant the same thing as “beautiful” when it was first named in 1886. I agree with this statement, as you get fantastic views of the city and distant mountains. One of the aspects I appreciate most about living in Fairview is its central location – we’re close to downtown, yet removed from the hustle and bustle. Additionally,…
Beach Ave, Vancouver, BC V6C 3C1 Canada
October 23, 2025 By: Grace Fang
Local Environmental History OF Beach Avenue, Vancouver, BC Introduction I currently live on Beach Avenue in downtown Vancouver, Canada, in English Bay. When I moved here with my family a few years ago, I was immediately captivated by the city and nature, and when I opened the window in my room, I could see the beach of English Bay and a three-minute walk to the park. Before this, I had not studied the history of this place, but after consulting the information in detail, I found that Beach Avenue is the epitome of Vancouver’s urbanization and ecological conservation, from the…
Summerland, BC
October 20, 2025 By: Capri Holm
Dr. Mark Butorac HIST 3991: Environmental History Capri Holm October 19, 2025 Introduction My husband and I relocated to Summerland, BC, to be closer to his work and reduce our commute. We never imagined the historical importance this small town in the Okanagan would hold. In this exercise, I will begin by discussing Summerland’s history during the pre-settlement era and then explore the specific historical significance of the area adjacent to us after settlement. Pre-contact use and the settlement Summerland was originally inhabited by the Syilx people of the Okanagan, whose traditional territory covered nearly 70,000 square kilometres (Unceded…