Alison Blay-Palmer

• 
• 

Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer is the founding Director for the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and an Associate Professor in Geography and Environmental Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Blay-Palmer’s research and teaching combine her passions for community viability, green economic development, food systems and citizen engagement.  She is the author of ‘Food Fears: From industrial to sustainable food systems’ (2008) and ‘Imagining sustainable food systems: Theory and Practice’ (2010).   She is also the guest editor for two themed issues in, Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, the first on ‘Sustainable Communities’ 16(8) and the most recent one titled  ‘Sustainable local food spaces: Constructing communities of food’. The latter builds on her work with colleagues in Canada and the EU through her Nourishing Communities research project (http://nourishingontario.ca) funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.  Her work includes collaborations with practitioners and academics in Canada including Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, the Maritimes, The Northwest Territories and Quebec, and internationally including partners in Brazil, France, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, the United States and Wales. 

Shauna Morgan

• 
• 

Shauna Morgan leads the Pembina Institute’s northern program, based in Yellowknife. She was born and raised near Barrie, Ontario but moved to Yellowknife in 2008 and is here to stay. She has been working with First Nations in the Dehcho and Sahtu regions on a variety of projects, including assessments of environmental and socio-economic impacts from oil & gas and mining projects, as well as assessments of proposed Protected Areas. Her focus has been on supporting First Nations to collect the information they need to make the best decisions they can about their lands and resources. She has also worked with communities to look at climate change impacts and adaptation opportunities.

Shauna has a B.A.(Hons) in International Development Studies (Coop) from the University of Toronto, which included a one-year internship in the Philippines working with indigenous and rural communities. Shauna completed an M.A. in International Affairs from Carleton University.

In her free time, Shauna enjoys outdoor activities during all seasons, including cycling, cross-country skiing, paddling, running, gardening, and collecting berries and other wild foods.