PhD Student - University of British Columbia - School of Community & Regional Planning (SCARP)

In my doctoral research I explore questions around coastal climate adaptation and Indigenous governance along British Columbia’s south-coastal watersheds.

Student researcher - Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) Canada | Living with Water (LWW) project

I am also proud to be one of many amazing thinkers/doers on the PICS ‘Living with Water’ project. LWW is a diverse, multidisciplinary team helping communities living on British Columbia’s South Coast prepare and adapt for sea level rise and flooding through the development of multi-level governance arrangements for regional coastal flood adaptation. Read more about our work here.

My research asks:

How coastal flood-planning design and decision-making tools in BC foreground local community values & Indigenous governance as key sources of expertise on adaptation projects.
How nature-based/alternative coastal adaptation projects (e.g. living dikes, multi-functional dikes, blue-green infrastructure) can support coastal fish species, habitat restoration and Indigenous food sovereignty.

in order To address:

Coastal and watershed adaptation
Threats to Salmon and fish
Watershed health
Transboundary decision-making processes
Transdisciplinary communications
Barriers to legal pluralism
Regional governance and coordination challenges
Complex systems dynamics

RECENT/UPCOMING STUFF:

Workshop presentation: Coastal Zone Canada Conference June 11 - 15, 2023 - Victoria, B.C.
Workshop presentation: “The values in your work” Adaptation Futures Conference October 2023, Montreal
Presenter: "Climate planning from a fish's perspective" - Paper for presentation at Earth Systems Governance Annual Conference, Toronto | November 2022
Workshop presentation "Putting values in climate adaptation' - Workshop with PICS Researcher-in-Residence, Vanessa Lueck and MRM Student, Tira Okamoto at the National Adaptation Forum (NAF) in Baltimore, MA

lessons from fish: Salmon-centered adaptation planning on bc’s south coast.

Watersheds and intertidal areas are good physical representations of the figuratively complex and boundary-spanning work involved in climate adaptation governance. And when we zoom in on the exchanges/processes occurring in the spaces between land and ocean, valuable insights into liminal governance processes reveal themselves, as well as good advice from the natural world on how to re-tool our broken relationships with other living things. On British Columbia’s South Coast, there is a wealth of planning knowledge held in Indigenous communities, who have been stewarding their traditional lands and waters since time immemorial, and for the many First Nations living along the province’s vast coastline or in its connected interior waterways, stewarding abundant fisheries and safeguarding fish habitat are not only important measures of community well-being, they are also expressions of Indigenous laws and sovereignty.

My research explores how multi-level climate networks can learn from traditional fisheries experts - and the fish themselves - on how to connect with one another in boundary-spanning work. I am interested in the realm of possibilities that arise when we explore the spaces in-between, and I see coastal waterways as unique sources of inspiration for governance innovation. As climate adaptation planners continue to grapple with the inevitable challenges that emerge when multiple levels of government seek to co-govern shared spaces, fish are there to offer important lessons in cooperation, flexibility, and power-sharing. When we plan for fish and fish habitat from a place that respects legal pluralism, a range of useful trade-offs and co-benefits will reveal themselves in both physical and conceptual environments - strengthening ecosystems of support and mutuality across species, scales, disciplines, and worldviews.

Key topics of interest: Estuary science, Indigenous-led habitat restoration & coastal planning, fisheries governance, legal rights of nature, cumulative effects, ecosystem restoration, legislative frameworks, environmental law, community planning, knowledge translation & policy engagement strategies.