September / October 2025 Updates!
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DEADLINE EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 10TH FOR LOGO SUBMISSIONS!
Welcome our new Network Director, Lydia Johnson!
This new position is a key leadership role, responsible for developing and implementing the network’s strategic vision, coordinating with our Indigenous-led Advisory Council, supporting network members, and leading external engagement, including with funders and academic partners.
More About Lydia
Aanii/Hello! My name is Lydia, I have mixed Cree (status member of Lac La Ronge Indian Band) and Italian ancestry and currently reside on the shores
of Anishinaabewi-gitchi gami (Lake Superior), where I will be living while holding the Director position. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science (Biology) from Lakehead University and a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Queen’s University. I have diverse experience collaborating with a range of groups including Indigenous governing bodies, academics, government employees, non-profit organizations and youth on projects related to weaving knowledge systems in ecotoxicology, wildlife health, co-management, freshwater ecology, education, and climate change. On a personal note, I am a sister, daughter, drum-carrier, and love spending my time in nature, especially on the water. I am elated to start my journey as IGLN Network Director.
More About Lydia
Aanii/Hello! My name is Lydia, I have mixed Cree (status member of Lac La Ronge Indian Band) and Italian ancestry and currently reside on the shores
of Anishinaabewi-gitchi gami (Lake Superior), where I will be living while holding the Director position. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science (Biology) from Lakehead University and a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Queen’s University. I have diverse experience collaborating with a range of groups including Indigenous governing bodies, academics, government employees, non-profit organizations and youth on projects related to weaving knowledge systems in ecotoxicology, wildlife health, co-management, freshwater ecology, education, and climate change. On a personal note, I am a sister, daughter, drum-carrier, and love spending my time in nature, especially on the water. I am elated to start my journey as IGLN Network Director.
Call for interest: IGLN Advisory Council
In response to participant-identified interests in shaping the network’s governance structure, the IGLN Co-Directors are putting out a call for expressions of interest to join a new Interim Advisory Council. Please see the poster below for details on the council’s purpose, responsibilities, and how to get involved.
New MOU Between Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Trent University to Support Collaboration Among Indigenous and Western Knowledge Systems
Pictured (Left to Right): Dr. Andrew Muir, GLFC, Dr. Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall, Trent University, Dr. Mary-Claire Buell, Trent University, and Dr. Marc Gaden, GLFC.
This press release was provided by GLFC and Trent University.
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OTTAWA, ONTARIO—A new partnership between the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the Indigenous Environmental Institute at Trent University aims to build research-related capacity and develop collaborative programs to support Indigenous Nations and Tribes across the Great Lakes in a way that is respectful of the Treaty and inherent Rights and Interests of participating Nations and Tribes. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) confirms each institution’s commitment to respectful, ethical collaboration of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in a way that will be mutually beneficial for all involved.
"Indigenous-led research is paradigm shifting,” said Dr. Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall, partnership co-lead, associate professor, and director of the Indigenous Studies PhD program within the Chanie Wenjack School of Indigenous Studies at Trent University. “Through this collaboration, we will work to bring together Indigenous relationality and science with dominant science and create a deep and holistic understanding of Great Lakes ecosystems. Our work will honor and bring to the forefront Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing.” |
IGLNi Update: New Network Coordinator - Emma Pirie
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In 2021, while she was completing her masters thesis research, Emma began her work with the Indigenous Great Lakes Network initiative (IGLNi) as a research assistant in a working group at Trent University. In that role she conducted research to help create an environmental scan of Indigenous-related research and monitoring projects that were taking place in the peer-reviewed literature. Her time as a research assistant for the initiative gave Emma significant experience in community-based research leading to her helping to facilitate workshops and take on more event planning and coordinating. Ultimately, the network participants made the decision that such a network would be something that would help to advance their communities’ research and monitoring priorities, and the IGLNi officially convened in person for the first time in October of 2023.
Today, IGLNi is still in the early stage of development. The structure of the network is yet to be officially organized. The conversations that make actions must take place between the network participants, supporters and funders, and the IGLNi administrative hub. This is a product of the network’s emphasis on community driven decisions. And that’s where Emma and her new role come in. As the IGLNi’s first Network Coordinator, Emma helps facilitate the goals and objectives of the Network, whether that’s through activities like knowledge sharing, capacity building and community learning, or youth engagement. The formation of her role was a goal explicitly expressed by IGLNi participants, and it is Emma’s priority that the network continues to operate in an ethical and transparent manner, and is continuously responsive to the priorities of the communities that it serves. |
Emma Pirie earned her natural science focused Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Toronto. She continued her education at Trent University, and recently earned her Master of Arts degree in Sustainability Studies. The focus of her thesis examined the ways in which Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science are brought together.
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