Introducing R4FL’s Research Coordinators:
Marcia Mac Donald (she/her/elle) has many years experience working with non-profit groups to serve the research needs of community. She was Associate Director, Research at the World Anti-Doping Agency and Director, Research Programs at Genome British Columbia. Her background in genetics and biochemistry prepared her to produce rigorous evidence-based research outputs, while her Secwépemc ancestry drives her responsibility to practice solidarity with Indigenous-led movements for climate and environmental justice.
Jaimie Vincent (she/her) is Anishnabe (Algonquins of Barriere Lake) from her dad’s side and of mixed English and settler-Canadian descent on her mom’s side. She grew up in Hull, Quebec, on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory. Jaimie’s background is in ecology and conservation science. Her credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Université Laval, a Master of Science in Biology and a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Policy and Administration from Carleton University.
Niloofar Golkar is an activist, teacher, researcher and journalist. She has been involved in environmental activism, specifically anti pipeline organizing, as well as labour organizing in Canada. She also has contributed to feminist movement in Iran. She is currently completing a Ph.D at York University.
Tyler Chartrand (he/him) is an advocate, activist, organizer and finance professional who supports liberatory social movements. His family is Métis, Anishinaabe and a mix of European settlers. He has experience in non-profit bookkeeping, labour unions, radical publishing, student/youth organizing, and academic research. He has a MA in Political Science and Cultural, Social, Political Thought from UVic and is an ABD PhD Candidate at York University – Department of Politics.
Jen Gobby (she/her) is a settler living on unceded Abenaki territory in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. She is the founder of the Mud Girls Natural Building Collective and founder of Research for the Front Lines. In 2019, she completed her Ph.D at McGill University. She teaches courses on environment and climate change at Haida Gwaii Institute and University of Victoria and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. http://www.jengobby.ca
Introducing R4FL’s Advisory Council:
Bianca Mugyenyi
Bianca is an activist, journalist and director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute. She is the former Co-Executive Director and co-founder of The Leap. She previously coordinated programming and campaigns at Concordia University’s Centre for Gender advocacy and currently sits on the board of directors of the Council of Canadians. Bianca is the author of Stop Signs: Cars and Capitalism on the Road to Economic, Social and Ecological Decay and has written for the Toronto Star, CBC, Ottawa Citizen, teleSur, and Hill Times. She is based in Montreal.
Deborah McGregor
Deborah McGregor, Anishinabe, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair: Indigenous Environmental Justice. Osgoode Hall Law School and Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University. Professor McGregor’s research has focused on Indigenous knowledge systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including environmental and water governance, environmental justice, health and environment, climate change and Indigenous legal traditions. Professor McGregor remains actively involved in a variety of Indigenous communities, serving as an advisor and continuing to engage in community-based research and initiatives. Professor McGregor has been at the forefront of Indigenous environmental justice and Indigenous research theory and practice. Her work has been shared through the IEJ project website https://iejproject.info.yorku.ca/ and UKRI International Collaboration on Indigenous research https://www.indigenous.ncrm.ac.uk/.
Tia Kennedy
Tia Kennedy is First Nations from Oneida Nation of the Thames and Walpole Island First Nation, Bkejwanong territory. She is an advocate for clean drinking water in First Nations communities. She works with Osgoode law school to engage youth on decolonizing water and Indigenous environmental justice. She also works with Indigenous youth across Ontario to feel culturally empowered through various programs and initiatives. She is currently completing her undergraduate degree in Public Administration and governance while studying her traditional language to further her education on Indigenous law and ancestral knowledge and practices.
Molly Murphy
Molly is an activist, organizer, builder and mother of 3, living in so-called BC. She is of Ukrainian and Guyanese decent. She is founding member of the MudGirls Natural Building Collective. She is currently coordinating the Resistance Resilience Network to support the mental health of those on the frontlines of resistance to colonial capitalism and extraction.
Waba Moko (Shannon Chief)
Waba Moko was born and raised to the wolf clan of the Anishinaabe-Algonquin Nation. She lives in western Quebec, on traditional Algonquin territory in and around what is known as La Verendrye Park. In all the work she does she work in defense of Indigenous cultures. She contributes at various levels to the decolonization and the restoration of the sovereignty of her people. She fights ardently against the challenges stemming from extractive development – from logging to sport hunting – and climate change which all have cruel repercussions in her nation. She is project coordinator of the Anishnabe Moose Research Committee.
Research for the Front Lines 