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Marney Isaac

@marneyisaac.bsky.social

4.9K followers 540 following 56 posts

University of Toronto professor | Canada Research Chair in Agroecosystems | agroecology, crop diversity, soil fertility, agroforestry, sustainable food systems, urban agriculture

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Nov 20

Hi! As an introduction for new followers, my research investigates transitions to sustainable agriculture. We track soil health, crop profiles, agrobiodiversity, carbon dynamics, but also farmer networks and farmer well-being. #agroecology #agroforestry #foodsystem

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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GAIN alliance @gainhealth.org · 1d

Ever wondered what your food really costs?
Behind every bite lies a web of invisible costs to people & planet.

This #WorldFoodDay2025, join GAIN, True Price Foundation, ATNI & the Netherlands Food Partnership for a deep dive into #TrueCostAccounting.

@stefanbnilsson.bsky.social

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 1d

“In a city once choked with cars and infamous for its traffic snarls, Paris has pulled off a remarkable turnaround…the French capital has officially become Europe’s best city for children to walk, cycle, and move around independently.” Via @momentummag.bsky.social

A victory for FAST leadership.

Paris Pedals to the Top: How the City of Light Became Europe’s Best for Young Cyclists

The French capital has officially become Europe’s best city for children to walk, cycle, and move around independently

momentummag.com

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · 4d

A new paper out in Land Use Policy - “Land tenure (in)security in the context of urban flood risk in Ghana.”

We show that flood risk management through post-flood land use planning has potential to have dual impacts on community resilience and tenure security.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Land tenure (in) security in the context of urban flood risk in Ghana

The increasing incidence of floods driven by urbanization and climate change destabilizes urban social, economic and environmental systems where land …

www.sciencedirect.com

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 4d

According to the City of Paris, in the last 10 years 150K trees have been planted & 45ha of parks created in the already hot city, all intended to not only improve quality-of-life today, but also help the city adapt to & manage summer heatwaves of 50℃ (122F) by 2050.

Just the start.

Common sense.

Paris before and after street transformation

New urban forest planted in front of Paris City Hall

A Paris “School Street” where cars are removed and people space/tree planting are added

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · 5d

Currently at the La Baldi artist residency working on integrating science into art. My collective uses an ecological lens to make art that explores climate change, following in the literary genre of cli fi. An honour to have the space and time to do this. #clifi #climatechange #interdisciplinaryart

Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · 16d

CULTIVATE is an evolving collection of interdisciplinary artists, writers, and researchers driven by investigations of land, place, and the commons.

I will be joining CULTIVATEs La Baldi Residency as part of a collective next week. Such an honour. More to come…

www.cultivateprojects.net/la-baldi

Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · 20d

Exploring Rooftop Agriculture Research at the University of Toronto!

This event brings together research teams to showcase ongoing work and explore future opportunities for integrating rooftop agriculture into Toronto’s green infrastructure.

Register here:

www.eventbrite.ca/e/exploring-...

Exploring Rooftop Agriculture Research at the University of Toronto

Guided tour and presentations on field research conducted at UofT

www.eventbrite.ca

Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · 22d

Our research program on urban and peri-urban agriculture is now on IG. Give us a follow!

@urbanagroecology

And for more info on research progress and outputs, check:

utsc.utoronto.ca/foodandfarm/...

@sshrc-crsh.canada.ca
@utsc.utoronto.ca

#urbanagriculture #climatemitigation #agroecology

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Megan Blake @geofoodie.bsky.social · 28d

New starter pack! go.bsky.app/9mZrrpQ

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Jul 16

Great day sampling our new agricultural trials. Gas fluxes, leaf physiology, and crop trait strategies under various organic amendments in different urban and peri-urban environments…

#agroecology #urbanagriculture

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IPES-Food @ipes-food.org · Jul 7

Industrial food systems are driving fossil fuel use – and vice versa.

@foodtank.bsky.social covers our #FuelToFork report, unpacking how food's fossil fuel addiction drives risks for climate, ecology, health, and food access – and how we can break the cycle.

🔗 foodtank.com/news/2025/07...

The Food System’s Fossil Fuel Crisis

From fertilizer to packaging, fossil fuels are flooding the food system—this report shows what it will take to stop it.

foodtank.com

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Agroecology-Transect @agtransect.bsky.social · Jul 1

🌱 How can we grow a more resilient future, together?

Join Roots of Resilience – Enhancing #Biodiversity through #Agroecology
📅 Wed 9 July
⏲️ 10–12 CET
🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/agroecolog...

Explore research, farmer insights & policy with #AgroecologyTRANSECT

#HorizonEurope

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Reposted by Marney Isaac

Stockholm Environment Institute @sei.org · Jun 23

Agroecology and degrowth are more than ideas at Jonai Farms – they shape how food is grown, shared and valued.

This story looks at what it takes to build a just food system, starting from the ground up.

Read the full feature by SEI's Aziliz Le Rouzo: www.sei.org/features/agr...

Agroecology can’t grow on broken ground: farmers leading the degrowth transition

Jonai Farms shows how agroecology and degrowth can work hand in hand to build just, resilient food systems rooted in care, community and ecological balance.

www.sei.org

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Agroecology-Transect @agtransect.bsky.social · Jun 24

How can agroecology build a more biodiverse, resilient EU food system?

🌱Join our #AgroecologyTRANSECT Virtual Roadshow!
📅 Wed 9 Jul, 10–12 CET👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/agroecolog...

🦋 Explore real-world solutions for #biodiversity & #ClimateResilience with visual storytelling & dynamic discussion

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Jun 24

Honoured to share that our paper on the environmental and social benefits of diversified agriculture won the Frontiers Planet Prize! Proud of the team & thrilled that these important agricultural systems are recognized.

www.frontiersplanetprize.org

#agroecology

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture

Agricultural simplification continues to expand at the expense of more diverse forms of agriculture. This simplification, for example, in the form of intensively managed monocultures, poses a risk to ...

www.science.org

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · May 30

Shame on Metrolinx for not having the foresight to plan for urban trees. My neighbourhood tree is coming down today. This is not NIMBYism, this is just bad planning and lack of any actual serious consultation.

@toronto.ca
@petertabuns.bsky.social
‪@juliedabrusin.bsky.social

#metrolinx

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · May 3

A mayor, a provincial minister and a member of parliament, all out to support the expansion of urban agriculture in hydro corridors! 👏
#agroecology #toronto

Reposted by Marney Isaac

Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · May 3

Increasing urban vegetation by 30% could have prevented 30% of all heat-related deaths, potentially saving up to ~1.1 million lives globally from 2000 to 2019, according to a study of over 11,000 urban areas.

Any lessons for the future…

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Estimating the urban heat-related mortality burden due to greenness: a global modelling study

This modelling study suggests that increased greenness could substantially reduce the heat-related mortality burden. Preserving and expanding greenness might be potential strategies to lower ambient t...

www.thelancet.com

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Apr 25

Thanks! And yes please feel free to reach out…

Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Apr 24

Hi! Yes we will sample for SOM, POM, POX, total C and GHG fluxes. We have in-depth surveys for practices to do life cycle analysis too.

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Apr 24

New field site visits today! Launching research trials in urban and peri-urban agriculture with amendment and crop diversity trials in hydro corridors, next to major highways and right in the city, sampling everything from microbial communities, to soil health, to pollinators, to yield.
#toronto

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Apr 22

Great to see our paper on diversified agricultural systems, published in Science, selected as a 2025 national Frontiers Planet Prize champion!

This global dataset was curated by an amazing team of researchers working in agriculture and sustainability.

www.frontiersplanetprize.org/news/nsh4fah...

A More Diverse Agriculture for the Future of Our Planet — Frontiers Planet Prize

Zia Mehrabi from the University of Colorado Boulder, National Champion for the USA, presents groundbreaking research from a global collaboration showing how increasing on-farm diversity improves both ...

www.frontiersplanetprize.org

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Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · Apr 15

CAUT writes: “Travellers leaving or returning to Canada, particularly those traveling to the U.S., are increasingly vulnerable to preclearance zones and border searches that may compromise research confidentiality and academic freedom,”

www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Canada professors association tells academics to stay away from US

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump continues to crack down on higher education and international students.

www.politico.com

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Apr 4

“Coffee companies around the world… have been hit by record coffee prices owing to unfavourable weather conditions in growing regions”

Lessen the pain of tariffs with agroforestry - with the right management #agroforestry can reduce climatic stressors in coffee farms.

www.ft.com/content/a3ce...

US coffee drinkers in for double shot of pain from tariffs

Beans and chocolate prices set to rise as a result of new levies

www.ft.com

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Marney Isaac @marneyisaac.bsky.social · Apr 2

Looking forward to it too!