Jennifer is an Assistant Professor and Indigenous Scholar in the Department of Forest Resources Management jointly appointed between the Faculty of Forestry and Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. She is pushing the bounds of science to work beyond a singular worldview helping others to “make the old new again” by applying a relational lens. Her scholarly work challenges us to think differently about our role in ecosystem management and managing food systems (agrarian and traditional) as we face a changing climate. Jennifer has a B.Sc in Agroecology from UBC, and from there, went on to a nearly two decade career working on ecological restoration, invasive species management, and science communication for non-profit organizations and all levels of government. She completed her PhD in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems at UBC in 2020 which focused on the application of an Indigenous worldview to ecology and invasion biology. A trade book version of her dissertation titled, “Medicine Wheel for the Planet”, is being published by Knopf Canada (imprint of Penguin Random House) and the University of Minnesota Press. As a proud Nlaka’pamux woman of mixed ancestry, whose family comes from the Lytton First Nation, Jennifer takes time to continue the traditions of her great grandmother and grandmother as a gifted textile artist and grower of foods and medicines.

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