Bio

Dr. Justine Townsend is a first generation Canadian of European ancestry who gratefully resides in K’ómoks territory on Vancouver Island.

Currently a Mitacs postdoctoral fellow in IRES working with Drs. Terre Satterfield and Don Carruthers Den Hoed, she is investigating knowledge mobilization practices in the conservation sector through a decolonial lens. This builds on her doctoral research in which she critically analyzed possibilities for reconciliation through Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) and conducted community engaged research with three First Nations in BC.

Since 2020, she’s been working with the IISAAK OLAM Foundation advancing Indigenous-led conservation. Recently, she started a new role establishing a National Centre for IPCA Research at Vancouver Island University where she teaches in the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Planning Certificate.

Justine is enthusiastic about decolonization and systems change. A political ecologist by training, she has worked in cross-cultural and Indigenous contexts for nearly 20 years and has a background in environmental assessments, community engagement, and research.

Email: justine.townsend@ubc.ca

Featured Publications

Townsend, J. (2022). Indigenous and Decolonial Futurities: Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas as Potential Pathways of Reconciliation [Dissertation, University of Guelph]. https://hdl.handle.net/10214/27210

Townsend, J., Bunten, A., Iorns, C., & Borrows, L. (2021). Rights for nature: How granting a river “personhood” could help protect it. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/rights-for-nature-how-granting-a-river-personhood-could-help-protect-it-157117

Townsend, J., Moola, F., & Craig, M.-K. (2020). Indigenous peoples are critical to the success of nature-based solutions to climate change. FACETS. https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2019-0058

Townsend, J., & Roth, R. (2023). Indigenous and decolonial futures: Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas as potential pathways of reconciliation. Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2023.1286970

Townsend, J., & Roth, R. J. (2024, January 4). Canada’s Nature Agreement underscores the need for true reconciliation with Indigenous nations. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/canadas-nature-agreement-underscores-the-need-for-true-reconciliation-with-indigenous-nations-217427

Townsend, J., Youdelis, M., & Moola, F. (2019, August 6). Tsilhqot’in blockade points to failures of justice impeding reconciliation in Canada. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/tsilhqotin-blockade-points-to-failures-of-justice-impeding-reconciliation-in-canada-120488

Youdelis, M., Moola, F., Townsend, J., & Bhattacharyya, J. (2021). Proposed mining threatens Grassy Narrows First Nation’s long struggle for environmental justice. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/04/24/proposed-mining-threatens-grassy-narrows-first-nations-long-struggle-for-environmental-justice.html

Youdelis, M., Townsend, J., Bhattacharyya, J., Moola, F., & Fobister, J. B. (2021). Decolonial conservation: Establishing Indigenous protected areas for future generations in the face of extractive capitalism. Journal of Political Ecology, 28(1). https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/4716/