Tamara Marcus currently serves as the Linn County Sustainability Director. Previously, they were a Fulbright scholar where they completed two years of climate change research in the Indian Himalaya, working with local communities to translate her physical science research into local conservation policy. Tamara is a Ph.D. candidate in the Natural Resources and Earth System Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of New Hampshire. Her research interests include using bioinformatic techniques to understand the impact of warming on microbial mediation of carbon emissions from Arctic lakes. Additionally, she studies how indigenous communities access weather and climate data to better understand how to make results from climate research more accessible and applicable to individuals and communities.

Using a combination of survey data and storytelling, Marcus works with Sami communities and indigenous Australians to record environmental change observed by the traditional owners of the land. Through this work, Marcus hopes to promote collaborative development of conservation policy by both scientists and indigenous communities.

Ms. Marcus has been a Switzer fellow, a NASA New Hampshire Space Grant fellow, and a National Center for Atmospheric Research fellow and completed her B.S. in biochemistry and English from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

From Tamara: "I would like to acknowledge the tribal communities and land of Abeskovvu, Sampi, the location where I am honored to be able work and connect."

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Visit The EcoTheatre Lab's website at ⁠ecotheatrelab.com⁠ for links to Tamara's work and how to connect with them, the transcript for this episode, and more information about the podcast, production team, and The EcoTheatre Lab.

This podcast series is all about finding ways to talk about climate change with each other. The EcoTheatre Lab wants to also be in dialogue with our listeners!  Please let us know your thoughts on this episode through this ⁠brief feedback form⁠ (tinyurl.com/artofclimatedialogue)! 

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Thank you to our podcast funders:

Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy Emerging Leader Award and North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Graduate Student Grant.*

This podcast is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2021-38640-34714 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number GNC22-345. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this podcast are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Thank you to our podcast production team:

Vivian M. Cook - Producer, Host, and Editor

Rosie Marcu-Rowe - Editor

Moselle Nita Singh - Cover Artist

Omar de Kok-Mercado - Musician

Charissa Menefee, Taylor Sklenar, and Mary Swander - Consultants