M. Blake Butler

E-mail: mbutle32@uwo.ca 
Twitter: @M_BlakeButler

Thesis Title

  • Canada's Evergreen Playground? A Cultural and Environmental History of Snow in Vancouver and the Southern Coast Mountains

Supervisor

Second Reader

Main Research Interests

  • Canadian History; Environmental History; Seasonality; Historical Human-Animal Relationships

Publications

Journal Articles

"Fishing on Porpoise: The Origins of Dolphin Bycatch in the American Yellowfin Tuna Industry," California History Vol. 98 No. 1 (Spring) 2021 

Book Reviews

Review of Richard Ravalli's Sea Otters: A History (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) in California History Vol. 98, No. 2 (Summer) 2021

Review of Richard C. Powell's Studying Arctic Fields: Cultures, Practices, and Environmental Sciences (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017) on H-Environment https://networks.h-net.org/node/19397/reviews/6697636/butler-powell-studying-arctic-fields-cultures-practices-and 

Newspaper Articles

"We've been skating on the Canal for more than 150 years," Glebe Report, 17 March 2022, https://www.glebereport.ca/weve-been-skating-on-the-canal-for-more-than-150-years/

"The tragic history of Vancouver Aquarium's narwhals is worth revisiting," Vancouver Sun, 11 September 2020, https://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/blake-butler-tragic-history-of-vancouver-aquariums-narwhals-is-worth-revisiting/wcm/0462a721-bcee-44c9-a20f-b382ade44cb9/

"Here's how Grouse Mountain brought snowmaking to B.C.," North Shore News, 4 December 2019, https://www.nsnews.com/living/heres-how-grouse-mountain-brought-snow-making-to-bc-3112468 

Website Posts

"Cull the Seals, Save the Whales!," Network in Canadian History & Environment, 9 October 2018, 

"Shooting Nature: Images & Environmental History," Network in Canadian History & Environment, 25 April 2018

Conference Presentations

  • "Snow Means Production: The importance of snow and snow surveys for the Powell River Company," Canadian Historical Association, 22 July 2021

  • "'Where have all the green trees gone?:' Project Green, Student Environmentalism, and Hope at Queen's University," Between Postwar and Present Day Conference, 7 May 2021

  • "'Our winter snows are of the utmost importance:' The development of snow surveys in British Columbia," Western Snow Conference, 15 April 2021

  • "'Go... consult the snow-making machines:' Winter and Snow-making at Whistler-Blackcomb," Envirotech: At the Intersection of Technology and Nature in Canadian History, hosted by the Network in Canadian History & Environment, 7 July 2020, https://niche-canada.org/2020/07/03/envirotech-at-the-intersection-of-technology-and-nature-in-canadian-history-live-stream/

  • "Bombs, Bounties, and Belugas: Quebec's war of extermination against belugas in the St. Lawrence, 1928-38," Pathways to the Past, Western University.

  • "A Whale of a Tale: Narwhals and the Vancouver Aquarium, 1968-71," Qualicum Conference, January 2017

  • "The Blue, Yellow, Red... and Green: Student Environmentalism at Queen's University during the 1960s and 1970s," Qualicum Conference, January 2016

  • "Snow Means Production: The importance of snow and snow surveys for the Powell River Company," Canadian Historical Association, 22 July 2021

  • "'Where have all the green trees gone?:' Project Green, Student Environmentalism, and Hope at Queen's University," Between Postwar and Present Day Conference, 7 May 2021

  • "'Our winter snows are of the utmost importance:' The development of snow surveys in British Columbia," Western Snow Conference, 15 April 2021

  • "'Go... consult the snow-making machines:' Winter and Snow-making at Whistler-Blackcomb," Envirotech: At the Intersection of Technology and Nature in Canadian History, hosted by the Network in Canadian History & Environment, 7 July 2020, https://niche-canada.org/2020/07/03/envirotech-at-the-intersection-of-technology-and-nature-in-canadian-history-live-stream/

  • "Bombs, Bounties, and Belugas: Quebec's war of extermination against belugas in the St. Lawrence, 1928-38," Pathways to the Past, Western University.

  • "A Whale of a Tale: Narwhals and the Vancouver Aquarium, 1968-71," Qualicum Conference, January 2017

  • "The Blue, Yellow, Red... and Green: Student Environmentalism at Queen's University during the 1960s and 1970s," Qualicum Conference, January 2016

In the News 

Recent Extracurricular Involvement

  • New Scholars Representative, Network in Canadian History & Environment, September 2021-September 2022

  • Co-Chair, History Graduate Student Association, Western University, May 2021-May 2022

     

    Back