Sustained Breath: Fighting for Clean Air

Andrew Jorgenson, Matthew Adams, Rebecca Saari and Lidia Morawska

7:30pm

Thursday, October 28

Authors and experts in candid, live conversation reflect on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. Scientists have been researching greenhouse gas emission levels from vehicle exhaust and comparing levels from before and during the pandemic. To what extent has air quality changed in Toronto and beyond as a result of lockdowns and decreased human activity? The results may not be what you think. Join us for an engaging panel discussion, with panelists Andrew Jorgenson, Matthew Adams, Rebecca Saari and moderator Lidia Morawska, uncovering research on how air quality has been affected by coronavirus-related changes to transportation patterns, energy use and industrial operations, as well as longterm implications for the environment and public health. Tune in each day of the Festival to hear new speakers in critical conversation about the topics shaping today’s world.

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Proudly supported by
Harriet Lewis and Eldon Bennett
Andrew and Valerie Pringle

Panel Discussion

Authors and experts in candid, live conversation reflect on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. Scientists have been researching greenhouse gas emission levels from vehicle exhaust and comparing levels from before and during the pandemic. To what extent has air quality changed in Toronto and beyond as a result of lockdowns and decreased human activity? The results may not be what you think. Join us for an engaging panel discussion, with panelists Andrew Jorgenson, Matthew Adams, Rebecca Saari and moderator Lidia Morawska, uncovering research on how air quality has been affected by coronavirus-related changes to transportation patterns, energy use and industrial operations, as well as longterm implications for the environment and public health. Tune in each day of the Festival to hear new speakers in critical conversation about the topics shaping today’s world.

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Proudly supported by
Harriet Lewis and Eldon Bennett
Andrew and Valerie Pringle

Panel Discussion

Featured Authors

Andrew Jorgenson

Andrew Jorgenson is Professor and Chair of Sociology and Professor of Environmental Studies at Boston College. He conducts research on the human dimensions of environmental change, with a focus on how development, inequality and the structure of global production, and trade networks contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, industrial pollution, land cover change and relationships between environmental conditions and population health. In 2020, Andrew received the Fred Buttel Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Sociological Association for his innovation in environmental sociology. He currently serves as an author of the Fifth National Climate Assessment for the US Global Change Research Program.

Read more about Andrew Jorgenson

Dr. Matthew Adams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Dr. Adams obtained his PhD from McMaster University in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences, he also holds a HBECs degree and MES degree from Lakehead University. Dr. Adams’ research background is in environmental analysis with a research focus on increasing our understanding of human exposure to environmental pollutants.

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Rebecca Saari is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo. She completed her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after working as a professional air quality engineer and as a government scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. She is an internationally recognized expert in quantifying the impacts of air pollution under climate change and climate policy. Her results have been requested by White House staff, cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the press and used to support climate legislation in federal court.

Read more about Rebecca Saari

Lidia Morawska is Distinguished Professor at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and the Director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at QUT, which is a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization on Research and Training in the field of Air Quality and Health. She conducts fundamental and applied research in the interdisciplinary field of air quality and its impact on human health and the environment, with a specific focus on science of airborne particulate matter. She is a physicist who received her doctorate at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland and a recipient of numerous scientific awards.

Read more about Lidia Morawska