International Joint Commission / University of Guelph
Wednesday, June 4
Resilience is the sustainable balance among interdependent relations within a system to resist the imposition of irreversible change. To achieve water resiliency in the Great Lakes, science and governance must be grounded in a common goal to achieve balance among relations through relationships built upon and driven by respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility. This talk will share several “wise practices” from the dynamic learning and shared experiences between Indigenous scientists and the International Joint Commission toward achieving water resilience through water diplomacy. It will also highlight what it means to stand with Indigenous science and scientists, and the framework of “Indigenous Intelligence” to explore and improve humanity’s relationship to water, to help achieve the balance of resilience in all the places where the water brings us together.
Susan (Sue) Bell Chiblow is a Canadian commissioner with the International Joint Commission. She is Anishinaabe kwe, born and raised in Garden River First Nation, Ontario. Chiblow has worked extensively with First Nation communities for the last 30 years in environmental related fields. She has a B.Sc. in Biology, M.Sc. in Environment and Management, and has her Ph.D. in Environmental Science with a focus on N'bi Kendaaswin (Water Knowledge). Chiblow has worked with the Chiefs of Ontario as the Environmental Coordinator of the Environment Unit. Through her company, Ogamauh annag, she continues to work with First Nation communities and Elders as an Anishinaabe Advisor on environmental projects and policy analysis (i.e., watershed planning, source water protection, Anishinabek law development, policy development, facilitation, strategic planning, report writing, environmental assessments, documenting Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and environmental management planning). Chiblow is also a Vanier Scholar and Assistant Professor at the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph.
