CURRENT MEMBERS

Emma Bugg (she/her) is an Interdisciplinary PhD candidate at 海角社区app University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Emma鈥檚 thesis explores how the burgeoning field of Sustainability and the Arts (SATA) can be more clearly conceptualized and structurally supported to strengthen its scholarly coherence and transformative potential. Emma sits on the Research Working Group for Mass Culture, a Canadian arts research organization, as serves as Co-Lead of the Environmental Resilience Research Cluster of The Arts Impact Partnership. Emma also works as the coordinator of the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures Art Collective, a collective of artists enhancing research activities through Inuit-led artmaking, and as a Research Assistant on 膫谤谤补尘膬迟, a research project supporting Indigenous health and wellbeing through Indigenous knowledges of environmental stewardship.

Laura (she/her) is completing her Master of Information at 海角社区app University, where she is learning all sorts of interesting ways to connect people with information. She brings a meandering background in mathematics and libraries, a passion for blending nature and craft, and experience helping communities learn about and advocate for the health of their local environment. Laura joined The Arts Impact Partnership's Environmental Research Cluster in 2026, where she is analyzing how artists can better understand and track the effects of their work on the environment. This research will support the development of an environmental impact framework for the arts.

Evelyn is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science with a Minor in Sociology and Social Anthropology of Social Justice and Inequality at 海角社区app University. The integration of sustainability and the arts has been a point of interest for Evelyn as the arts often are a catalyst for social change.

Evelyn worked on the Sustainability and the Arts (SATA) project as a student research intern during the winter of 2026 alongside Emma Bugg and is continuing to work on this project as a USRA summer student in the summer of 2026. Evelyn will be assisting with qualitative data analysis mostly focusing on content analysis from the SATA data base.  This is assisting in the emerging field of SATA within scholarship.  

Jessica MacKeen (she/her) has worked with 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鈥檚 connection to nature (bioaffinity). She started working with Dr. Wright on her honour鈥檚 thesis, titled Refining a Games Testing Tool for Various Cultural, Social, and Geographic Situations to Evaluate Preschool Children鈥檚 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鈥檚 revisions effectively enhanced the children鈥檚 understanding of the game鈥檚 testing.  Jessica continued  this research by pursuing a Master鈥檚 of Environmental Studies in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies under the supervision of Dr. Wright. Her Master鈥檚 research focused on determining the validity and reliability of the above-mentioned modified game鈥檚 testing tool through an expert-informed survey and semi-structured interviews, and another pilot test with preschool children. By establishing validity and reliability, the tool is now usable in various contexts. Jessica has fostered a passion for early childhood education and developmental psychology throughout her research and continues to work with our group as a Research Associate.

Amber is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Marine Biology with certificates in Science Communication and Environmental Impact Assessment at the University of King鈥檚 College/海角社区app University. She has enjoyed previous interdisciplinary studies within science and is eager to expand that work into the arts. Amber is a volunteer summer student who is assisting Laura Chandler with a bibliometric analysis of Sustainability and the Arts (SATA) literature.

Lenka Tomlinson (they/she) completed their final Bachelor of Science, double majoring in environmental science and sustainability at 海角社区app University in spring 2024. Working on their Honours thesis under Dr. Wright, they focused 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.  They continue to work with this group after graduation as a Research Associate.