Dusyk, Nichole | Canada

Nichole Dusyk received her Doctorate in 2012 from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She also holds a Master of Science in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA and a Bachelor of Science of Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies she worked in the Science Policy Branch of Environment Canada as a Science and Technology Policy Analyst.

Her current research applies a science and technology studies lens to energy policy and planning. Specifically, she is interested in the intersection of renewable energy policy, participatory politics, and sociotechnical change.

Project at IAS-STS: Constructing and Contesting Clean Energy in British Columbia: The Role of Local Engagement

My doctoral research analyzes local engagement in renewable energy planning in the province of British Columbia, Canada. In the Canadian context, energy policy has historically been the domain of the provincial government. However recent provincial climate policy along with successful local sustainability initiatives are reconfiguring energy governance and infrastructure in the province. This research explores the shifting terrain and asks how local actors are negotiating and contesting energy policy and what rationalities, policies, and technological configurations are emerging from these “hybrid forums” (Callon, Lacoumes, & Barthe, 2009).

The first part of this research consists of a discourse analysis of provincial energy policy considering how the emergence of clean energy, as the dominant energy discourse, is being used to envision and construct specific energy futures for the province. The second part of the study is based on two in depth case studies of communities located in the primary energy-producing region of province. The case studies focus on the opportunities for municipal governments and advocacy organizations to participate in energy planning and the ways that they are supporting, negotiating and contesting renewable energy development in the region. My findings suggest that, although these communities have relatively little political power, they are each in a position to influence the meaning and structure of sustainable energy in British Columbia by both contesting the rationality of provincial clean energy policies and providing alternative models of situated sustainability.

Selected Publications

Dusyk, N. (2011) Downstream effects of a hybrid forum: The case of the Site C hydroelectric dam in British Columbia, Canada. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101(4): 873-881.

Dusyk, N., Berkhout, T., Burch, S., Coleman, S., & Robinson, J. (2009) Transformative energy efficiency and conservation: A sustainable development path approach in British Columbia. Energy Efficiency 2(4): 387-400.