Alejandro Frid at Hope Springs, with David R. Boyd, Friday, Oct. 23, 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Studio 1398 (Festival House, 1398 Cartwright St.), part of the 28th Vancouver Writers Fest, Oct. 20-25 on Granville Island. Tickets ($17/$8.50 for student groups) and info: writersfest.bc.ca.
Everything changed when Alejandro Frid became a father.
An ecologist long working in the areas of conservation and social justice it was common for him to run into bad news, seeing firsthand humans' negative impact on the earth. Following the birth of his daughter, Twyla Bella, Frid came to realize his propensity for feeling discouraged in response to continued examples of environmental degradation - from loss of ancient forests to endangered species - a reaction he wholeheartedly wanted to change. "I needed a way to have a broader perspective in which I wasn't just glossing over the challenges that we do have and are not going to go away easily," he says. The Bowen Island resident gradually started working to reinstate a sense of hope within himself, becoming more aware of society's potential as a whole to address current environmental challenges, as well as on an individual level, and very spontaneously started writing letters to Twyla Bella, then three-years-old, viewing them as "letters to the future," he says. Frid, 50, hoped the process might assist him in regaining a hopeful outlook, which would then allow him to be able to communicate more positively with his daughter, now 11. "The whole motivation was to not have a doom and gloom perspective in my relationship with her but find some real genuine optimism," he says.
Over time as Frid's letters accumulated, and as a result of encouraging feedback, he realized they may be of interest to a wider audience, and he set out to put them together as a work of non-fiction.
A World for My Daughter: An Ecologist's Search for Optimism, was recently published by Caitlin Press, which describes it as, "Merging the perspective of a scientist compelled to share the significance of his research, glimpses into the worldview of modern indigenous hunters and the voice of a parent speaking to his child about life's conundrums, A World for My Daughter steers readers toward imagining their own role in preserving the vibrancy of our planet."
Frid will offer insight into his first book at the 28th Vancouver Writers Fest, running Oct. 20-25 on Granville Island. Examples of other featured authors at this year's festival include Charles Demers, Lauren Groff, Elizabeth Hay, Lawrence Hill, Susan Juby, Beth Powning, Nino Ricci, Bill Richardson and John Vaillant.
Frid is set to appear at an interactive discussion Friday, Oct. 23 entitled Hope Springs, joined by David R. Boyd, an environmental lawyer, professor, co-chair of Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan team and award-winning author of seven books (including The Optimistic Environmentalist). Together they'll explore the possibility of a greener future. "I'm pretty excited to be sharing the stage with him," says Frid. Hope Springs will be moderated by Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith. "This direct contact with an audience is super important. I'm. .. happy to have that opportunity because ultimately the book is about communicating science and other important perspectives that we need to improve our relationship with the planet that we live in and how to make it more sustainable," says Frid. For the book, Frid, born and raised in Mexico City, drew on his diverse range of experiences, which include being arrested twice for
civil disobedience against fossil fuel companies, and working as an ecologist around the world going back to the early-'90s when he had an opportunity to study huemul, an endangered species of deer, in Chile.
"It was my first major research project so it was one of these real pivotal experiences in which you're actually out in the field figuring out how to make it all happen. It was a very satisfying research project that I feel launched my career in many ways," he says.
From there, Frid went on to study Dall's sheep and caribou in the Yukon. After becoming interested in working in the ocean, specifically attracted to top predators, he went on to undertake a number of research projects that included conducting field studies of sea turtles under risk of tiger sharks in Western Australia. "Eventually I really wanted to study rockfish and lingcod because they're just such beautiful species and they're also important predators and that's been the bulk of what I've done over the last eight years or so," he says.
Frid, who has a PhD in biology from Simon Fraser University, currently works as a conservation ecologist and science co-ordinator for the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance where he conducts marine species research and marine-use planning, as well as endeavours to improve fisheries management. He also works as an adjunct assistant professor in Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria, co-supervising graduate students working with First Nations communities through the resource alliance.
"Once I started working with First Nations it really was putting it all together because I still get to study these really important predators like rockfish and lingcod (I study other species as well), but it really gives me the connection with indigenous people who have been connected to their place for so many generations. It really gives me an understanding of how people are such an important part of natural ecosystems and it broadens my perspective on how humans might find a way of really rediscovering a better relationship with the oceans and the land," he says.
As Frid continued to work on the book, he came to feel increasingly stronger regarding his responsibility as an ecologist to incite action.
"As a scientist I know that if I dedicate myself to just producing data and writing reports and papers that only other scientists read, it's unlikely that I'm going to have much of an effect in how people get engaged in conservation, how general audiences, through democratic processes, contribute to improving policy that affect conservation, and how we use energy, how we reduce greenhouse gas emissions," he says. In his book, by combining scientific research with the relatable love of a parent for a child, Frid hopes readers will be inspired to take action. "I find in my personal experience that the times I became really committed to doing something about conservation it was partly about understanding the science, but it was largely about a personal connection to what was at stake, about really caring about the species or the ecosystem," he says.
Frid hopes readers respond both in personal and political practice. On a personal level, maybe they'll feel compelled to take a daily walk in the woods resulting in a stronger connection to the earth, or make other decisions like lowering their consumption, or getting involved in the protection of wildlife. On a political level, he hopes the book influences people to vote for politicians who align with science as providing evidence for making policy decisions. "I hope they become engaged in the democratic process so that we can have energy policies that are not just about short-term gain, but look at long-term issues of climate change and transitioning to a less carbon-intensive economy," he says. In addition to Frid's appearance at next week's Vancouver Writers Fest, he's also set to appear at next month's Jewish Book Festival, Nov. 21-26, in Vancouver.
