Changing Tides: An Ecologist's Journey to Make Peace with the Anthropocene

Change the story and change the future – merging science and Indigenous knowledge to steer us towards a more benign Anthropocene

As humanity marches on, causing mass extinctions and destabilizing the climate, the future of Earth will very much reflect the stories that Homo sapiens decides to jettison or accept today into our collective identity. At this pivotal moment in history, the most important story we can be telling ourselves is that humans are not inherently destructive.

In Changing Tides, Alejandro Frid tackles the big questions: who, or what, represents our essential selves, and what stories might allow us to shift the collective psyche of industrial civilization in time to avert the worst of the climate and biodiversity crises?

In seeking the answers, Frid draws from a deep well of personal experience and that of Indigenous colleagues, finding a glimmer of hope in Indigenous cultures that, despite the ravishes of colonialism, have for thousands of years developed intentional and socially complex practices for resource management that epitomize sustainability. Ultimately, Frid argues, merging scientific perspectives with Indigenous knowledge might just help us change the story we tell ourselves about who we are and where we could go.

Changing Tides is for everyone concerned with the irrevocable changes we have unleashed upon our planet and how we might steer towards a more benign Anthropocene.

Alejandro Frid, Ph.D., an ecologist for First Nations of British Columbia's Central Coast and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria, has for over two decades inhabited the worlds of science, modern Indigenous cultures, and climate activism. He lives on Bowen Island, British Columbia.