Co-Leads

Co-Lead
​Dr. Mary-Claire Buell is an Assistant Professor, cross-appointed with the School of Environment and Department of Forensic Science at Trent University. Dr. Buell’s research interests include investigating the source, fate, transport, and impacts of legacy and contemporary contaminants, and examining the connections between contaminants and environmental justice; her research is transdisciplinary as it brings together environmental toxicology, chemistry, and community knowledges.

Co-Lead
Dr. Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall, a mixed-ancestry Bodwewaadmii Anishinaabekwe, is an Associate Professor in the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies and Director of Studies for the Indigenous Studies PhD program. She teaches in the Indigenous Environmental Studies and Sciences program. Wall’s research is based in the Indigenous Environmental Institute at Trent University and focuses on the collaboration of Indigenous knowledge systems and euro-centric scientific knowledge systems. Wall holds a PhD in Indigenous Studies from Trent University, MSc in Civil Engineering for the University of California Berkeley, and BSc in Geological Engineering from Michigan Technological University.

Staff

Network Director
Lydia Johnson, has mixed Cree (status member of Lac La Ronge Indian Band) and Italian ancestry and currently resides on the shores of Anishinaabewi-gitchi gami (Lake Superior). She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science (Biology) from Lakehead University and a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Queen’s University. Lydia has experience collaborating with a range of groups including Indigenous governing bodies, academics, government, private industry, non-profit organizations and youth on projects related to weaving knowledge systems in ecotoxicology, wildlife health, co-management, freshwater ecology, education, and climate change.

Engagement Coordinator
​Heléna Mauti, a settler (Italian, Scottish, Austrian-German ancestry) living in relational accountability to Anishinaabe sovereignty and nibi at the Headwaters of the Grand, Humber, Credit and Nottawasaga Rivers in what is currently known as Southern Ontario. I am an anti-colonial land-based educator and Sessional Faculty Member in the Indigenous Environmental Studies and Sciences (IESS) program at Trent University. I have a BA in Equity Studies and Diaspora and Transnational Studies from the University of Toronto and a MA in Sustainability Studies from Trent University, where my research envisioned the boundlessness of Indigenous-Led Conservation to advance place-based Indigenous Sovereignty and Land Back. I have experience educating in a variety of audiences, from third graders all the way through university students to adult community learners, and I am most passionate about connecting learners to their relationship with Creation. When I'm not spending time with the Land in Anishinaabe Aki you can find me practicing sustainable farming in my Italian homelands. I am grateful for the opportunity to work for the water and community in this role!

Student Helpers

Ruth Duncan

Jessica Pauze

Interim Advisory Council

Youth Representative
Alexander Duncan (Niigaanweywidan) is a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and the larger Saugeen Ojibway Nation. Alex is currently finishing a PhD at the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries (UBC) where he is documenting perspectives, experiences, and concerns from First Nations and Tribes regarding sea lamprey and their control. He intends to continue his work with and for people, place, and fish in the Great Lakes following graduation. 

St. Clair River Representative
Clint Jacobs is Deer Clan, Anishinaabe member of Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) and has worked in the conservation/environment field for over 25 years at the Walpole Island Heritage Centre.  Clint also led the creation of the Walpole Island Land Trust to support and enable peoples' connections to nature.  Clint now teaches at Western University and at the University of Windsor to help students understand their connections with and responsibilities to nature and to empower students to bring their gifts forward to reciprocate the love that nature shares with us all.  Clint was elected to the Walpole Island First Nation Council and also appointed as the Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Initiatives at the University of Windsor.

Lake Michigan Representative
Gary Michaud works for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB), in Harbor Springs (MI), as the Great Lakes Fisheries Program Manager. Gary has been working in northern Michigan since 2013 as a transplant from the metro-Detroit area an emigration driven by an infatuation with the water and woods of the tip of the mitt. Currently, work at LTBB focuses on native species restoration and stewardship of Lake Whitefish, Lake Trout, Lake Sturgeon, and Arctic Grayling. When he is not working with fish he most enjoys spending time outdoors with his son Gordon and wife Kelsey.

Lake Ontario Representative
Rod Whitlow holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Guelph. He is a member of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (People of the Flint). His career path, dedicated to public service and First Nations environmental health justice, spans more than 35 years and includes both past and on-going leadership and team roles in prominent Great Lakes water quality and environmental health research initiatives and projects at community, watershed and pre-confederacy treaty levels. 

St. Lawrence River Representative
Abraham Francis

Lake Huron Representative
Aaron Jones is a member of Garden River First Nation, a local harvester, and a Team Lead for the Ketegaunseebee Guardians. Aaron has collaborated and worked on many aquatic projects such as the Garden River Nme (Lake Sturgeon) Research Project, Upper Echo River Restoration Project, local sea lamprey management, broadscale monitoring of Echo Lake, supporting a community member-led fish tissue contamination sampling project, and supporting community member-led Manomin (wild rice) restoration. Aaron is a Natural Environment Technology graduate from Sault College, has a BA in Geography from Algoma University, and a Certificate of Adventure Tourism from the Westcoast Adventure College. 

Lake Superior Representative
Jason Smith – Great Lakes Fishery Assessment Biologist Bay Mills Indian Community. My love of all things fish likely stems from a childhood experience running trot-lines on Kentucky lake with the grandfather of a family friend. From there, I began chasing Aagwadashi (Bluegill) and Noosa’Owesi (Smallmouth Bass) in southeast Michigan, Ogaa (Walleye) and Ginoozhe (Northern Pike) in northern Ontario, Nme (Sturgeon) in the St. Clair River and recently Asaawe (Perch) in the Eastern UP. Fish and fishing in the Great Lakes region have been a source of joy for me for more than 40 years. I earned my BS and MS in fisheries from Michigan State University – a special thanks to Dan Hayes for his invaluable mentoring and friendship - and have spent the last decade plus as a Tribal biologist focusing on Great Lakes native fishes and ecosystems. I am the Great Lakes Fishery Assessment Biologist for the Bay Mills Indian Community and my primary fish species for research and restoration include Atikameg (Lake Whitefish), Otoonapii (Lake Herring) and Jichkes (the Chubs).