Postdoctoral Fellow, Planetary Health & Education
Research Fellow

James Stinson is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Planetary Health Education at York University, cross appointed to the Faculty of Education and the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research. He is a cultural, environmental and public anthropologist with a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto. His research explores intersections of Indigenous-led conservation, digital media and technologies, and nature-based recreation in efforts to preserve biodiversity and promote planetary health.
He is currently the Principal Investigator of two SSHRC-funded research projects, and Co-Principal Investigator of the York-funded “Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.” Building on over a decade of engaged research with Indigenous Maya communities and conservation organizations in Belize, his current research examines how digital surveillance technologies and artificial intelligence – including the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) – are impacting environmental governance and shifting relations of power in and around parks and protected areas. A second project engages Indigenous youth in Belize and Canada to understand their experiences of climate change and support their efforts to promote planetary health and well-being. In addition to academic publications in Geoforum, Environment and Planning, and Challenges, he has written for The Conversation, the Canadian Climate Institute, Mountain Life, Wildlife Australia, and facilitated the production of Indigenous films for the United Nation’s Youth Climate Report.
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Recap — Equitable Green Homes? Housing, Health and Energy in a Changing Climate
What are the barriers to providing equitable and climate-resilient housing for all, and how can we begin to address these barriers? This event, chaired by Lina Brand Correa, a Faculty Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global ...Read more about this Post
York-led project makes invisible pollution visible
Originally published by YFile (September 11, 2026) By Alex Huls York University researcher Grace Grothaus is developing wearable technology and community-driven research tools to help people see the air pollution they encounter every day. When ...Read more about this Post
Publication: Digital technologies for biodiversity protection and climate action: Solution or COP out?
Dahdaleh Institute Research Fellow James Stinson and DI Graduate Research Assistant Lee Mcloughlin have recently published their recent work on the promotion of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, as solutions to biodiversity and climate crises ...Read more about this Post
