Renate Sander-Regier

Ph.D. Candidate

 

Research

I have an intense passion for the outdoors, and an equally strong interest in and concern for the relationships negotiated between people and the natural environment. For my geography MA, completed under the supervision of Dr. Marc Brosseau, I combined my love for literature, the outdoors, and gardening by studying the geographical meanings communicated through contemporary personal gardening literature – the non-fiction stories people write about their gardens and the relationships developed with those spaces. For my PhD, I am broadening my research horizons to focus on cultivation, and the meaning of the relationship that develops between people and the outdoor environment they deliberately shape, maintain and nurture. Related research and teaching interests include plant geographies, animal geographies, urban ecology, and sustainable natural resource management.

“I believe that we garden, essentially, to participate in the planet and,
through this, change the world and be changed by it.”
– Lorraine Johnson, The Gardener’s Manifesto (2002)

 

Publications

Peer reviewed publications

  1. Sander-Regier, Renate.  in press.  Resistant, Flexible, Diverse: Revaluing rare farm animal breeds as countryside capital.  Journal of Rural and Community Development 4(3).

  2. Sander-Regier, Renate and Robert McLeman, Michael Brklacich, Maureen Woodrow.  2009.  Planning for climate change in Canadian rural and resource-based communities.  Environments Journal 37(1): 35-57.

  3. Sander-Regier, Renate. 2009. Bare Roots: Exploring botanical agency in the personal garden. Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (“Nature Matters” special edition) 21:61-82.

  4. Sander-Regier, Renate. 2008. Earthways: Opportunity, community and meaning in the personal garden. The Brock Review (“The Garden in the City” special edition) 10:1-20.

  5. McLeman, Robert and Michael Brklacich, Maureen Woodrow, Kelly Vodden, Pat Gallagher, Renate Sander-Regier. in press. “Opportunities and barriers for adaptation in Canadian rural and resource-based communities” in Climate Change Adaptation in Developed Nations.  James Ford and Lea Berring Ford, eds.  New York: Springer.

Books/Monograms/Reports

  1. Sander-Regier, Renate. 2010. Human Dimensions of Species at Risk: Research report on beliefs, values and attitudes on nature and species at risk conservation (research report). Ottawa: Parks Canada.

  2. Sander-Regier, Renate. 2008. Ripples in the Storm: The idea of nature in geography. Saarbrücken: Verlag Dr. Mueller.

  3. Sander-Regier, Renate and Robert McLeman. 2007. Enhancing the Capacity of Canadian Rural Communities to Adapt to Uncertain Futures, Workshop summary report. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Program project.

  4. Sander-Regier, Renate. 2006. A Place between Heaven and the Heart: A geographical interpretation of selected contemporary personal gardening literature. MA thesis, Geography, University of Ottawa.


Other relevant publications (selection)

  1. Sander-Regier, Renate.  2004. “In the Spirit of Noah: food diversity and the Slow Food movement” in The Canadian Organic Grower.  Fall 2004.

  2. Sander-Regier, Renate. 2000.  “Kermit was Wrong!  It’s getting easier to go green” in Summit Magazine.  March  2000. 

  3. Sander-Regier, Renate.  2001.  “Connecting land and culture” in Tourism (formerly Communiqué).  Canadian Tourism Commission:May 2001.

  4. Sander-Regier, Renate.  2000.  “Kejimkujik: Cultural landscapes and petroglyphs” in Tourism (formerly Communiqué).  Canadian Tourism Commission:December 2000.

  5. Sander-Regier, Renate.  2000.  “The other side of the city: Parks Canada’s urban national historic sites” in Tourism (formerly Communiqué).  Canadian Tourism Commission:September 2000.

  6. Sander-Regier, Renate. 1999.  “Olympic Green, Sydney goes for gold with its environmental procurement strategy” in Summit Magazine.  March 1999

  7. Sander-Regier, Renate. 1989. “Last chance for the black rhino.”  Alternatives Journal 16.1.

 
Conference presentations (selection)

  1. Sander-Regier, Renate. “Partners in Story: Rare farm animal breeds in rural Canadian landscapes”. ‘Rural Tourism and Recreation in Canada’ session. Canadian Association of Geographers 2009 Conference. Ottawa, Ontario. May 2009.

  2. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Preliminary Reflections on Ecoethnography: An invitation to discussion”. ‘Animal Geography in Canada’ session. Canadian Association of Geographers 2009 Conference. Ottawa, Ontario. May 2009.

  3. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Réflexions préliminaires sur « l’écoethnographie » : Une invitation à la discussion”. ‘Méthodologie de la recherche’ session, 77ème Congrès, Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).  Ottawa, Ontario. May 2009.

  4. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “OASIS: Working toward a multi-dimensional ethnography”. GSAED (University of Ottawa graduate student association) 2009 Conference.  Ottawa, Ontario. February 2009.

  5. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “With-in-Between – Working toward a multi-dimensional ethnography”. ‘Autoethnography as Sensibility’ special session, Canadian Association of Geographers, Ontario Division / American Association of Geographers, East Lakes Division annual conference. St. Catherines, Ontario. October 2008. 

  6. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Fingeroots – Material relationships of cultivation in the personal garden”. NATURE MATTERS: Materiality and the More-than-Human in Cultural Studies of the Environment conference.  Toronto, Ontario. October, 2007.

  7. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Earthwise – Biocultural meaning, community and outreach in the personal garden”.  Greenscapes ~ Sense and Meaning – The Garden in the City conference.  St. Catherines, Ontario.  October, 2007.

  8. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Accidental Forestry – The personal garden as an important link in rejuvenating and reforesting settled landscapes”.  Forests in Settled Landscapes conference.  Toronto, Ontario.  August, 2007. 

  9. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Earthbound – Biocultural resistance and expression by contemporary gardener-writers in the personal garden”.  Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) annual conference.  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  May 2007.

  10. Sander-Regier, Renate.  “Earth Tones – Cultivating a biocultural sense of community in the personal garden”. ‘Bridging Communities’, Environmental Studies Association of Canada (ESAC) annual conference.  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  May 2007.

 

Career

My first round of academic studies was in language and literature, which I followed up with employment in the federal government (Environment Canada, then Parks Canada), and later self-employed work as a writer/communicator/environmental educator. The activities I found most interesting and rewarding were the environmental education ones – a major factor in my decision to return to graduate studies in geography, with a view to teaching at the post-secondary level.

During my rounds of postgraduate studies in English at the University of Waterloo and geography the University of Ottawa, I have been employed as a teaching assistant for a wide variety of courses. Most recently I taught two courses on campus: GEG 3302 Natural Resource Management, and ENV 4512 Thèmes choisis en société et environnement (thème : Animaux, environnements, et sociétés).

 

Bio

BA, University of Waterloo – English-French (double major)
MA, University of Waterloo – English
MA, University of Ottawa – Geography.