Interview with astrophysicist, Dr. Margaret Wilson-Bell, for Marianne Ainley’s research about women scientists in Canada. Wilson-Bell predominantly talks about her research collecting and analyzing data about the sun, and working for the National Research Council. She also explains growing up and attending university in Edinburgh, and how she couldn’t find a job there due to her status as a single woman. Ainley and Wilson-Bell also tell stories about the mixed experience of women in science.
Interview with Beryl Amaron for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." The interview was conducted by Ainly’s research assistant Anna-Stina Kjellstrom. Amaron talks about her MA thesis, "More than Useable Tools: Towards and appreciation of Ne?kepx Fibre Technology as a Significant Expression of Culture." She explains her focus on women’s work, gender divisions she observed in the community, and difficulties she had while conducting her fieldwork.
Interview with anthropologist, Dr. Wendy Wickwire, for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." Wickwire talks about her interdisciplinary background and how she began studying indigenous history in BC. Wickwire also talks about her experience doing field research, her relationships with research participants, and how she approaches her research in order to minimize western bias.
Interview with ethnobotanist, Dr. Jane Young, for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." Young begins by explaining how she became interested in studying ethnobotany, and her experience working with research participants in the field. Ainly and Young also discuss environmental conservation, the methodology of ethnobotanical interviews, and how society’s value of ethnobotany has changed over time.
Interview with sociologist, Dr. Dorothy Smith, for Marianne Ainley’s research about women scientists in Canada. Smith talks about her family and growing up in Yorkshire, England. She goes on to explain how she eventually attended college in order to escape tedious secretary jobs, which led to an academic career in sociology. Smith also discusses moving to the USA and Canada, and working as a single parent. She also touches on her involvement in the women’s movement, working on various women’s associations, including the BC Women Studies Association, and Women’s Research Centre.
Interview with Australian anthropologist, Dr. Diane Bell, for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." Bell talks about her book, Ngarrindjeri wurruwarrin: a world that is, was, and will be. She also talks about how she became interested in anthropology and feminism, and the kinds of research she does in Australia, and her experience with aboriginal informants.
Interview with Metis anthropologist, Dr. Heather Harris, for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." The interview was conducted by Ainly’s research assistant Anna-Stina Kjellstrom. Harris talks about how as a Cree-metis woman, she became interested in anthropology through hearing oral histories from her family. She touches on the value of oral histories as authoritative sources of information, access she had to informants in communities, and conceptions of knowledge and expertise in indigenous communities compared to Western views.
Interview with anthropologist, Dr. Antonia Mills, for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." The interview was conducted by Ainly’s research assistant Anna-Stina Kjellstrom. Mills talks about her academic career, and her experience researching the culture of the Beaver Indians [Dane-Zaa] in northern BC. She also talks about the differences between Indigenous and Western world views around knowledge.
Interview with ethnobotanist, Dr. Nancy Turner, for Marianne Ainley’s research project, “Re-explorations: Gender, Science and Environment in the 19th and 20th Century Canada and Australia." Turner talks about her family and early academic career in botany, and explains how she started doing ethnobotany. Turner also discusses her research interests and experiences collaborating with linguists, and indigenous partners to produce plant guides. Ainley and Turner discuss historical conceptions of Western science in contrast with indigenous knowledge.
Interview with astrophysicist, Dr. Anne B. Underhill, for Marianne Ainley’s research about women scientists in Canada. Underhill talks about how she grew up in Vancouver and attended UBC during the 1940s. She goes on to talk about her various positions, including at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and at NASA. They also discuss Underhill’s experience with gender discrimination as a single woman working in an advanced scientific field.