What: Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar
Date: February 15th, 2024
Our fifth annual Water Research Roundup featured emerging researchers Ella Martindale, Bridget McGlynn, and Christiana Onabola. They spoke on topics ranging from how governance systems align with the environmental challenges they are trying to address, to how the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals could be adapted for application at a watershed scale, to Indigenous methodologies and groundwater research in the Xwulqw’selu watershed on Vancouver Island.Bridget McGlynn is a Ph.D. candidate at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Her doctoral research looks at how governance systems align with the environmental challenges they are trying to address, with a focus on water resources. Bridget uses network analysis to investigate how patterns of collaboration among different governance actors align with ecological processes and operational tasks.
Christiana Onabola resides within the ancestral lands of the Lheidli T’enneh in Prince George, Northern British Columbia. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her doctoral research focuses on utilizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an equity framework to examine the health equity implications arising from resource nexus activities surrounding a hydroelectric dam in the Nechako watershed. Specifically, her investigation aims to adapt the SDGs for application at a watershed scale, serving as an equitable foundation for exploring the impact pathways of a hydroelectric dam on mental health. This research delves into the nuanced equity considerations along these pathways, with a particular emphasis on biodiversity and populations disproportionately affected.
Ella Martindale (she/they) is a Quw’utsun Mustimuhw community researcher who studies Indigenous methodologies and land-based education. She is interested in the ways Indigenous peoples come to know and learn on their lands, and how they embody “land back” in their actions. She engages in groundwater research on the Xwulqw’selu Sta’lo’, Quw’utsun tumuhw and supports participatory action research projects in the Tkaronto CIRCLE Lab. They live in Montreal, and are a 2nd year PhD student in Social Justice Education at OISE, University of Toronto.
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The Creating a Blue Dialogue webinar series brings together expert water practitioners and thinkers, as well as emerging water leaders, to engage with innovative ideas on water policy and governance in Canada. By creating an online community of interest, the series strengthens the national capacity to engage with and solve problems, and raises awareness about emerging Canadian water issues, best practices, and policies. The series began in 2010 and is hosted by the POLIS Water Sustainability Project at the Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria.