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Environmental Monitoring

Community-Informed Approaches to Environmental Monitoring

The overall purpose of this project is to engage with communities in the braiding of Indigenous Science and Western Science approaches to i) understand places and spaces; and ii) monitor environmental and ecological changes on seasonal to century timescales can be accomplished.

This work will be primarily conducted early career researchers (undergraduates, interns, graduate students, and PostDocs) supervised by Drs. Myrle Ballard (Earth, Energy and Environment), Allyson Menzies (Biological Science) and Kerry Black (Civil Engineering).

Dr. Ballard’s work will focus through the lens of the original, indigenous names of places and spaces and their connection to water. This work will be conducted along the Lake Winnipeg Watershed, including S’katchewan (Saskatchewan), Obuskudayang (Lake St. Martin First Nation, referring to ‘Land of the Prairies’) and S’katchewanung (Dauphin River) watersheds in Manitoba and will build out to additional watersheds as appropriate relationships are developed. In addition to viewing the watershed through its original place names, the work will collate western science information (e.g., water quality, river flow, lake levels, open water season, etc.). Dr. Ballard’s work will also consider the history of the watershed and its community, and its water influenced socioeconomic aspects. Dr. Ballard’s work is innovative as she has developed a three-eyed seeing framework which includes the lenses of Indigenous Science, Western Science, and our relations.

Dr. Menzies work will focus on Indigenous and Metis community-based monitoring of culturally significant species (e.g., moose in the prairie landscape, geese in the James Bay region). She will start working with communities which she has an existing relationship (e.g., Misipawistak Cree Nation, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, and Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation) seeks to develop community-based wildlife monitoring programs that prioritize community knowledge and values along with Western Science approaches to provide tangible examples of braiding knowledges in a good way.

Dr. Black will seek to initiate a regional lake health assessment protocol and process that is based on Indigenous Knowledges and Indigenous lake usages, with an end-goal of modernizing the ‘Atlas of Alberta Lakes’ in digital format so that it is braiding perspectives and knowledge systems, improve lake health and knowledge mobilization, and support management and decision-making processes. This work will begin with the Blackfoot Confederacy and then extend into other communities.

This work is important because it will prioritize and celebrate community knowledge and values while weaving Indigenous ways of knowing in practice with western science in a novel approach to ecological and environmental monitoring. The body of work will foster innovation in environmental monitoring while fostering the exchange of wise practices between Western knowledge and Indigenous Knowledge. In addition to providing scientific insight, this project will uplift and empower Indigenous and Metis communities for active involvement in decisions about lands and waters.

Project Co-Leads

Dr. Myrle Ballard
Associate Professor, Department of Earth, Energy and Environment, University of Calgary 
Tier II Canada Research Chair in Weaving Indigenous Science and Sustainability Science

Dr. Allyson Menzies
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary

Summary of Overall Project Objectives

The primary objective of this project is to engage communities in the braiding of  Indigenous Science and Western Science to enhance environmental monitoring  practices. This initiative seeks to: 

  1. Advance Conservation, Restoration, Adaptation, and Well-Being – Co-develop research that integrates Indigenous and Western scientific approaches to monitor ecological changes and inform local, regional, provincial, and national  strategies for monitoring and evaluation, conservation, restoration, climate  adaptation, and the well-being of both communities and ecosystems. 
  2. Mobilize Knowledge for Indigenous Self-Determination – Facilitate knowledge sharing that strengthens Indigenous leadership in environmental, economic, and social decision-making, ensuring that research findings directly support  self-determined community priorities. 
  3. Support Community-Based Environmental Monitoring – Establish collaborative research efforts with Indigenous communities to co-monitor ecological and environmental changes, with a focus on culturally significant  species, watershed health, and community-prioritized environmental concerns. 
  4. Enhance Place-Based Knowledge and Watershed Histories – Document and analyze Indigenous place names and their historical connections to water systems while integrating Western scientific data on water quality, hydrology,  and climate-related changes.
  5. Build Capacity Through Knowledge Braiding – Support mentorship and  training of students, emerging scholars, Indigenous guardians, and community  members through collaboration with Knowledge Keepers, established leaders,  and researchers to develop skills in braiding in environmental monitoring, and  governance
  6. Build Research Relationships with Communities – Strengthen relationships within and across knowledge systems, communities, and generations to uplift Indigenous ways of knowing, foster reciprocity, and transform research  practices to adopt a braiding approach, and to be more inclusive, respectful,  and collaborative. 

This project aims to celebrate and uplift Indigenous knowledge while fostering  reciprocal, equitable, and sustainable environmental monitoring partnerships between  Indigenous communities and researchers.

Summary of Overall Project Outcomes

Immediate

  • Aligns Indigenous-led, place-based research with provincial and federal science priorities, including environmental monitoring and evaluation approaches and federal species-at-risk management.
  • Demonstrates the practical value of braiding Indigenous Science and Western Science by integrating both knowledge systems into environmental monitoring programs and highlighting their complementary contributions and combined benefits.
  • Advances Indigenous leadership, mentorship, and equitable participation in research by creating opportunities for Indigenous and Métis students, emerging scholars, youth, Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and community members, while supporting institutional commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
  • Supports Canada’s reconciliation commitments, including the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (particularly Education 11 and 65, and Commemoration 93) and the principles of UNDRIP, especially Articles 18 (participation in decision-making), 23 (determining priorities and strategies), and 31 (maintaining, controlling, and protecting Indigenous knowledge, sciences, and cultural expressions).
  • Translates the ten calls to action for natural scientists working in Canada into research practice (Wong et al., 2020), including understanding the socio-political context of research, building meaningful and reciprocal community relationships, co-generating and sharing knowledge, seeking guidance from Knowledge Keepers and Elders, creating meaningful opportunities for youth and community participation, recognizing Indigenous place names, and embedding knowledge braiding within natural sciences institutions.

Intermediate 

  • Builds capacity across diverse learning pathways by training Indigenous  and Western Science emerging scholars
  • Enhances the influence of BKC research in Canadian science culture and  informs policy and decision-making.

Ultimate

  • Strengthens Indigenous and local knowledge contributions to public policy  and decision-making. 

  • Promotes reciprocity between Indigenous knowledge and federal science priorities. 

  • Advances Canada’s reconciliation commitments through Indigenous-led research. 

  • Expands Canada’s knowledge economy by integrating diverse knowledge systems.

  • Contributes to the long-term sustainability of BKC by fostering collaborative research partnerships.

Project Timeline

Year 1 - Scope & Activities
  • n/a (rolled into Y2)
  • Establish relationships with Indigenous communities to co-develop research priorities and methodologies around this project
  • Conduct initial fieldwork and environmental monitoring in collaboration with local communities, focusing on one of culturally significant species, watershed places and spaces, and/or lakes. 
  • Train and mentor undergraduate students, graduate students, and Indigenous Guardians in community-informed research methods.
  • Compile and analyze preliminary data, integrating Indigenous knowledge with Western scientific approaches.
  •  Host workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions to refine methodologies and  ensure community engagement in research direction.
  • Expand environmental monitoring activities in depth and/or breadth according to first years’ research and/or as appropriate relationships develop. • Strengthen community involvement by continual facilitation of co-leadership in data collection, analysis, and decision-making processes. 
  • Develop educational resources and capacity-building programs to further integrate Indigenous and Western knowledge systems.
  • Synthesize findings into accessible reports, presentations, and policy recommendations for broader dissemination.