Community-Engaged Work

Restoration, and honestly just being human, is deeply embedded in communities, values, and developing respectful relationships. We have a few projects that explore the connections between people and land, as well as people and each other.

LGBTQ+ Experiences in Field Education

As a part of Sam Ahler's PhD work at the University of Colorado, the lab supports projects exploring the experiences of LGBTQ+/Queer identifying students in field based education and work. The main questions guiding this work are: 1) Do LGBTQ+ students have unique experiences in field-based courses because of their queer identities? 2)What variation in experiences exists within the LGBTQ+ population of students? and 3) What does support look like for this marginalized group of students in order to increase their persistence in the discipline? This work is motivated by Sam's personal experiences in the field and their commitment to increasing inclusivity in the field—a defining experience for many field-based disciplines and professions. 

Campus as Living Lands

In response to a request from four Indigenous women leaders in 2022 for Indigenous-led climate action on campus, the Campus As Living Lands (CALL) project was initiated by Dr. Nancy Shackelford and Dr. Jeff Ganohalidoh Corntassel to return Indigenous management to the lands on campus.

​Out of this project came the creation of a first-ever Indigenous land steward position on campus, currently held by Loreisa Lepine from the Songhees Nation, who co-leads four restoration projects on campus.
We work on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples. The Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt, as well as the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples have deep, historical relationships with the land that continue to this day. Most of our group are uninvited settlers here. We are committed to deepening our understanding of how we can assist in the movement of reconciliation, dismantling the systems that continue to cause harm, and honoring the traditional stewards that have shaped this land.