Learning from Eco-social Approaches to Public Health
Ben is a health-environment-justice researcher and educator working as an Assistant Professor in the Département de Médicine Social et Préventive of the École de Sante Publique de l’Université de Montréal. His work includes concentrations on food systems and health, especially in relation to Ecuador’s banana industry; resource extraction and health; and transformative learning. Ben is a long-time member of the Canadian Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health and was a co-investigator and trainee in the Environment, Community, Health Observatory (ECHO) network. Ben engages in ongoing learning about his role and responsibilities as a settler Canadian, while also researching and carrying out advocacy in relation to exploitative transnational relationships through which colonial processes continue to subsidize privilege within Canada with wealth extracted from countries around the world. This learning is integrated with research approaches employing political ecology, ethnography, discourse analysis and participatory learning and action. Ben’s favourite pizza topping is arugula.
