Braiding Knowledges towards Federal Science Priorities

Sîpihkokîsikowiskwew nitisiyihkâson ekwa Nêhiyawiskwew nitohciyan Nipisihkopahk.  My name is Blue Sky Woman, and I am a Four-Spirit Woman (She, Her, Hers) from Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacîs, Alberta. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environment and Civil Engineering at the University of Alberta.

I am an Indigenous scholar with over a decade of experience in developing insights and tools grounded in traditional law that help communities with consultation, community engagement, and Indigenous-settler relations. My areas of expertise are in traditional law and governance, Indigenous legal traditions, Indigenous-Settler relations, Consultation, and Community Engagement. Much of my research is directed towards Indigenous research methods and includes how Indigenous research should be conducted, how relationships with community and Nations should be maintained, and building the voices of Indigenous Elders and knowledge holders I have come to know. My hope is to build more resilient learning communities that are rooted in sharing truths, transparency, and humility. And though my work often lacks one clear path, I have faith that my culture and teachings will guide me.

In my culture, we believe in relationality and reciprocity and as Co-Research Director I will extend my sense of duty and care to mountain systems and the seven hubs already established.

Additionally, I am bound to my Treaty obligations of my grandfathers. I am a descendant of the signatories of Treaty 6, and with that, we are taught as children to be there for our brothers and sisters and in this position, I aim to uphold that knowledge with Dr. Humphries as Co-Research Directors but importantly the integrity of relationships created and maintained in BKC.

Murray Humphries is a Canadian wildlife ecologist based at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, whose research has successfully linked fundamental ecological research to the priorities and engagement of Indigenous communities in northern regions. Murray was born and raised in Brandon, Manitoba, has degrees from University of Manitoba (BSc, hons), University of Alberta (MSc) and McGill University (PhD), and was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Aberdeen, Scotland before returning to McGill to commence a faculty appointment in 2003. He is currently an Associate Professor of Wildlife Biology in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University.

Since 2010, Prof. Humphries has served as academic director of McGill’s Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment, an inter-disciplinary research centre dedicated to community-based research on food and the environment. Murray also holds the McGill Chair in Northern Research, funded by the Institut Nordique du Québec. In this role, Murray initiated and currently leads McGill North, a network of northern and circumpolar researchers at McGill, including professors, post doctorates, and graduate students from 9 faculties and more than 20 departments/units. The objective of McGill North is to promote, mobilize, and interdisciplinize northern, arctic, and circumpolar research at McGill, and to assist McGill researchers in northern community engagement and knowledge co-production. In 2017, Murray received an outstanding alumnus award from the University of Manitoba and was a member of the expert panel that generated the Council of Canadian Academies 2014 report on Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada. Murray co-led with Stan Boutin the Environmental Innovation NSERC-CREATE graduate training program based at McGill and the University of Alberta, which partnered with more than 75 non-government, government, industry, and Indigenous organizations to train 50 graduate students and postdocs for careers in wildlife conservation and environmental impact. Murray is currently serving as a returning co-chair of the Ecology and Evolution Review Panel for NSERC Discovery Grants, is a member of the synthesis team and serves on the board of directors for the NSERC Strategic Network ResNet, and sits on the Board of Directors for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, a leading wildlife research and conservation NGO in Canada.

Murray’s career teaching contributions at McGill combine his love of teaching, passion for wildlife, and respect for people and livelihoods that depend on natural resources. Murray teaches under-graduate classes in organismal biology, natural history, and wildlife management. Most recently his teaching has expanded to a new Indigenous success pathway program, developed in partnership with Cree organization based in northern Quebec, to provide professional development training in fish and wildlife sciences for community officers.

Murray’s research focuses on environmental determinants of wildlife physiology, behaviour, and trophic interactions, as well as the contributions of wildlife conservation to the traditional food systems of Indigenous Peoples. This focus has led him to studies of the evolution of participatory methodologies in the natural sciences, the nature of community-university research partnerships, and documentation of the food knowledge and wildlife stewardship of northern Indigenous Peoples. As a scientist and researcher, Murray extends beyond academia by engaging Indigenous, government, and non-government organizations, in partnered research and graduate training that includes the knowledge and addresses the priorities of local people.

Chris Paci, PhD joined the Braiding Knowledges Canada board in 2025 and serves on its Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. He brings extensive governance experience, including previous board roles with the Great Lakes Water Quality Board, Sierra Club of Canada Foundation, Sport North Federation, Folk on the Rocks, and Friends of Gatineau Park.

Chris is an educator and senior leader with more than ten years of experience in the college sector, where he served as Vice President, Dean, and Chair. He is currently contracted with an Indigenous government in the Northwest Territories and previously served as President of Deep Consulting Inc., working primarily with Dene governments.

He holds an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of Manitoba. His work focuses on bringing together Indigenous knowledge and western science to strengthen environmental and natural resources decision-making.

Dr. Emily Missyabit McAuley is a member of Lake Manitoba First Nation and Director of Science Programs at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She holds an M.Sc. in Biology from Carleton University and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Simon Fraser University. Her work spans federal science policy and modernization, Indigenous Science, research governance, AI-enabled systems analysis, and environmental research. Previously, she led the AAFC-hosted interdepartmental Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (I-STEM) Cluster, which brings federal science departments together to increase and expand support for Indigenous priorities in environmental stewardship and research.