On July 14, 2021, Elaine became the first female in her family to earn a PhD. Since then she has completed a community-based project in partnership with Garden River First Nation as part of her Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology at Algoma University, where she also teaches part-time for three academic programs.
Elaine only relocated to the Sault Ste. Marie region in March 2020, but she has already played a key role in the community on various initiatives. For example, in her role as Project Coordinator with the Rural Agri-Innovation Network at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, Elaine drove the formation of Lake Huron North, a regional network of non-profit organizations striving to achieve common freshwater objectives. She was also a core member of the Canada Water Agency Task Force with the City of Sault Ste. Marie, in which she facilitated a six-month community engagement process that led to the co-authoring of a community perspectives report, which will inform the City's proposal to invite the future Canada Water Agency to the Sault. Her efforts in this initiative have been reported on CBC Radio-Canada (ICI Nord de l'Ontario), CBC (Sudbury/Up North), and CTV News (Northern Ontario). As a result of these efforts, Elaine was awarded two Strive Young Professionals Group (Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce) Algoma Visionary Awards in January 2022: Environmental and Natural Resources Industry Award and Young Professional of the Year.
This year, Elaine hopes to expand her network on both sides of the border, across Lakes Superior and Huron. After a regional freshwater meeting she hosted in February 2022 - which attracted 62 registrants and 48 attendees from more than 20 organizations/agencies in Canada, the US, and six Indigenous nations - she is developing her most collaborative project yet: an 18-month community-based environmental monitoring initiative to be implemented with more than 15 collaborating organizations. In addition to her existing projects, Elaine is also in the early stages of developing two other networks: an Upper Great Lakes community environmental monitoring network, and a Northern Ontario network for environment and health scientists to collaborate, share knowledge, and leverage each others' facilities and related capacities. This spring, Elaine and partner Sam will embark on Year 3 of their 5-year plan to develop a small homestead and educational field camp at their property.
Congratulations Elaine, and we look forward to whatever comes next!
