Research

We conduct research on a range of issues related to environmental governance and change.

Current Projects

  • We are co-creating research with Carcross/Tagish First Nation aimed at developing a water strategy to protect the Tu/Héen (“water” in the Tagish and Tlingit languages) within their transboundary traditional territory in Yukon and British Columbia. The project builds on a long-term research partnership between Dr. Wilson and C/TFN.

    Funder: Polar Knowledge Canada and the Canada Research Chairs Program.

  • Just Water Futures asks how we can advance approaches to water governance that contribute to just and resilient water futures in the face of environmental uncertainty and change. The objectives of this project are two-fold: 1) To critically assess present approaches to adaptive and resilient water governance; and 2) To co-develop novel and just approaches to adaptive and climate resilient water governance.

    Funder: Canada Research Chairs Program

  • This research systematically assesses the relationship between Arctic CBM and environmental governance processes. It has two overlapping research objectives: 1) to explore how environmental governance systems shape the development, implementation, and mobilization of CBM data in decision-­making; and 2) to evaluate what elements of CBM program design facilitate or constrain the use of CBM data in decision-­making processes.

    Funder: SSHRC Insight Development Grant

  • This project uses microbial genomics for oil spill preparedness in Canada’s Arctic marine environment. Our research group is contributing to this project in two ways. 1) the co-development of a sustainable genomics-informed Community-Based Monitoring (CBM) program that combines social and natural sciences with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit while building a baseline understanding of seasonal cycling in the Arctic marine microbial communities and serving as a sentinel in the case of an actual spill. 2) We contribute to efforts to ensure policy uptake of our research findings by developing implementable policy recommendations based on genomics-informed Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA).

    Partners:

    Aqigiq HTO and the Foxe Basin Kivalliq North Sapujiyiit Society/Guardians of the Sea.

    Funder: Genome Canada, Large-Scale Applied Research Project Competition