About
Amanda White (she/her) is an artist and scholar currently living and working in Tkaronto/Toronto. White was a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Curating in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University (2021-24). She holds a PhD from Queen’s University, a MFA (Visual Art) from the University of Windsor, and studied horticulture at the Universirty of Guelph.
Amanda’s work sits at the intersection of art, environmental and cultural studies with a focus on plants and food. Her ongoing works-in-progress include several collaborative and solo studio-based projects and a graphic novel (forthcoming from Second Story Press). She is a co-initiator of the Creative Food Research Collaboratory, and is co-author and producer for Ecologies in Practice.
Amanda has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in studio art, art history and cultural studies at universities including Queen’s, Western, UofT, McMaster, and currently supervises research-creation graduate projects at Queen’s.
She lives with her partner and sometimes artistic collaborator Brad Isaacs and their child, together they care for a cat, some fish and various plants
Get in touch: amanda.white (at) uwo.ca
︎
Art & Research
Dr. Amanda White is an artist and researcher using art to engage with ecological systems, climate change, and human-nature relationships from a critical white settler lens. A key focus of her work is creative practice and critical plant studies, examining plants as living technologies that regulate climate, sustain ecosystems, and hold cultural significance. Drawing from science, philosophy, and Indigenous knowledge systems, her practice explores plant agency and its role in shaping both human and more-than-human worlds.
Her book, Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada, co-edited with Dr. Elysia French, was published in 2024 by Wilfrid Laurier University Press. In 2025, they launched the Ecologies in Practice podcast to expand on the conversations in the book, bringing environmentally engaged artists and researchers into dialogue.
White’s work also explores food systems, investigating how food production, distribution, and consumption are deeply connected to environmental and social issues. Through artistic methods, she highlights the links between agriculture, biodiversity, and climate justice, making these systems more visible and experiential. She currently works on two collaborative interdisciplinary food justice collaborations: the Creative Food Research Collaboratory, an international project connecting Canada and Mexico within global food networks, and Hungry Stories, a national initiative with leaders in health and food studies to explore food security, sustainability, and policy. Committed to public engagement and collaboration, White works with artists, scholars, and scientists to translate complex ecological research into accessible and immersive artworks. Her practice fosters deeper public understanding of environmental issues, emphasizing the role of art in shaping environmental discourse.
Collaborative Projects and Websites:
Ecologies in Practice
Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada is an edited collection by Amanda White and Elysia French and published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press (2024). The Ecologies in Practice podcast series is a public program of conversations motivated by the ideas and concepts in the book. Season 1 launched in 2025.
Creative Food Research Collaboratory
The Creative Food Research Collaboratory germinates collaborations at the intersection of art and food studies, exploring how the arts can imagine—and therefore help to achieve—food security, food sovereignty, and food justice in Canada. Our work includes academic research, public events, teaching and workshops, as well as fundraising for community food initiativesHungry Stories
the Hungry Stories research team is a group of activist-scholars aiming to change the narrative around food insecurity in Canada. Stuffing the Bus by Dian Day and Amanda White is a 220-page graphic novel for middle grade readers about friendship, neighbourhood cats, growing up and food justice. Forthcoming from Second Story Press (Toronto) in 2026reach me at amanda.white at uwo.ca