Congratulations to Jo Fitzgibbons, a 2019/2020 recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (CGS D) program!
About the Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (CGS D) Program:
The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Doctoral (CGS D) Program is to promote continued excellence in Canadian research by rewarding and retaining high-calibre doctoral students at Canadian institutions. By providing support for a high-quality research training experience to awardees, the CGS D program strives to foster impacts within and beyond the research environment.
Jo Fitzgibbons, IRES PhD Student
Research Summary:
Jo’s PhD research will expand on her previous work on participatory processes, exploring how relational values can be harnessed to enhance the inclusiveness, communication, and effectiveness of conservation efforts. Specifically, during her PhD, Jo hopes to design and pilot an experimental platform for multi-stakeholder collaboration to advance net-positive sustainability in BC’s Lower Mainland region. The project will test key hypotheses about value-based engagement with the goal of producing an adaptable template for advancing net-positive sustainability at a regional scale. The project will be situated within “CoSphere“, a CHANS Lab initiative that strives to create transformative change in supply chains, conservation, and community-building efforts.”
Bio:
Jo Fitzgibbons is a PhD student in CHANS Lab at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). With a background in urban planning, geography and international development, her work has always been oriented to issues of inclusion and participation in co-creative processes surrounding sustainability and community resilience.
During her undergraduate studies at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, NS, Jo gained experience facilitating citizen science and community-based research both locally and abroad, on topics ranging from water quality to local economic development. These experiences sparked an interest in issues of equity and representation in participatory processes, which she explored further in her Honours and Masters theses. In 2019, Jo completed a Master’s of Environmental Studies in Planning at the University of Waterloo, where her research examined issues of justice and inclusion in the processes of planning for urban resilience.