Chris Turner is a journalist, best-selling author, and a sought after public speaker. His determination to find tangible solutions to climate change has injected new hope into the environmental movement.
Chris was born in 1973 in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, into a military family. He has lived in the Canadian North, the American Midwest, Germany, and India. Chris studied history at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, and journalism at Ryerson, but his obsession with culture and technology led him to Shift Magazine, one of the more influential Canadian magazines of the 1990s. He started there as an intern but stayed on after his 1998 graduation from Ryerson until 2003.
Chris’ first book, Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, was published in 2004, and became an international bestseller. Three years later Chris’ seminal search for hope for the planet, The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need, was released. It is an Amazon and Globe and Mail bestseller and it was nominated for a Governor General’s Award. The book details Chris’ travels in search of workable projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The book is an extension of his earlier essay, “Why Technology is Failing Us,” and begins with Chris choosing a trip to Samsø, “the world’s first carbon neutral island,” over a trip to the sinking island of Tuvalu.
In the interim between those two books Chris’ daughter, Sloane, was born. In an interview with the Torontoist website, Chris explained of his new book, “It felt like I didn't want to be writing about anything else.” Chris was also influenced by former Sierra Club head Adam Werbach, who had tired of environmental doom and gloom and quit to consult with corporations on how to be more green.
Chris continues to write regularly on sustainability for publications including the Globe & Mail, The Walrus, The Sunday Times, Time Magazine, Utne Reader, Adbusters, The Guardian, The Independent, and The South China Morning Post.
Chris has given an audio-visual presentation on The Geography of Hope at Environmental Defence summits, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers galas, and last year’s annual lecture by the Ecology Action Centre. He was a featured speaker at the 2008 Alfred Deakin Innovation Lectures in Melbourne, Australia.
Chris’ work has been recognized with four National Magazine Awards and six honourable mentions, and he won the 2001 President's Medal for General Excellence, the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing.
Chris lives in Calgary with his wife, photographer Ashley Bristowe, and their daughter, Sloane.
Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation (2004)
