Meet the Advisory Team

Dr. Norma Shorty is an Indigenous researcher and scholar in Indigenous education and pedagogy. She has worked for over twenty years among Arctic Indigenous peoples and has been an advocate for Yukon First Nation education. She worked as the Education Director for the Council of Yukon First Nations during the Yukon Education Act review process, and has served on the Board of Governors for Yukon University. She is passionate about Tlingit language learning and is an advocate for the deep sense of healing that arises from Indigenous language speakers and holders. She brings cultural knowledge, varied leadership, and research expertise to her role as Principal Applicant, to cultivate health and well-being from a culturally grounded perspective.

Mary Jane Johnson (Gùdia) is a Lhu’ààn Mân Ku Dashaw - an Elder and knowledge carrier who has worked for Kluane First Nation and with Parks Canada for over 50 years on protected areas, environment, cultural, and Indigenous language issues. She is part of several boards and committees in her community, including the Canadian Mountain Network Research Management Committee. She was part of the first cohort of people in Canada to be trained as a community health representative in 1974, and continues to draw from this experience by advocating for bringing home births back into the community. She is knowledgeable about plant medicines and country foods, and works to make sure they are taken care of and in the home.

Math’ieya Alatini is deeply-rooted in her heritage as a Southern Tutchone matriarch and member of Kluane First Nation. As the former Chief of Kluane First Nation, she worked with two Councils to develop and implement a vision of energy self-sufficiency and economic resilience through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts.  Currently she is the Chief Strategist of her Company GSD Strategies Inc. She unites communities and stakeholders to build a stronger, healthier Yukon through her position as CEO for One Yukon Coalition. One Yukon's mission is advanced by initiatives like the Wastewater Monitoring Program and Community Based Testing, which are designed to foster emergency readiness and health awareness across Yukon communities.   

Jared Gonet is an Indigenous researcher and PhD candidate. In his work and research, Jared focuses on how Indigenous, non-human, and Western knowledge systems may work together for conservation solutions. Jared is currently involved in several community-based research initiatives in the Yukon and northern British Columbia, including working on various salmon related projects and land and water relationship planning for Carcross Tagish First Nation. He is also working to transform universities to respectfully recognize indigenous knowledge. He has been an advisor for the How We Walk With the Land and Water initiative; a representative for Taku River Tlingit on the Southern Lakes Caribou Steering Committee; a consultant for Ta’an Kwach’an Council, the Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board; and a co-facilitator for the Conservation Through Reconciliation Student Group. In this project, Jared supports the integration of health and wellness with environmental conservation efforts, emphasizing their interdependence.

Norma is a citizen of the Vuntut Gwich’in First Nation (People of the Lakes) and a member of the Wolf Clan. She gained her depth of traditional, scientific, and ecological knowledge in Old Crow flats where her grandfather, mother, and the land were the bearers of this invaluable, ancient knowledge. In 2007, Norma co-founded the Arctic Institute of Community-Based Research and served as Director of Indigenous Collaboration until May 2019. The goal of AICBR was to promote community-based northern-led research aimed at improving the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples of the north and promoting the health of their environments. Norma is the Co-Research Director of the Canadian Mountain Network, a recipient of the 2020 Arctic Inspiration Prize, and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Science at McGill University in Montreal. She has co-led many community-based research and training initiatives focused on climate change adaptation. She serves as Senior Advisor to the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, which advocates for Indigenous-led land use planning, Guardians programs, and the creation of Indigenous Protected Areas.

Lianne Marie Leda Charlie is Wolf Clan and Tagé Cho Hudän | Big River People (Northern Tutchone speaking people of the Yukon). Her maternal grandparents are Donna Olsen (first generation Canadian of Danish ancestry) and Hjálmar Benedict Lárusson (second generation Canadian of Icelandic ancestry), and her paternal grandparents are Leda Jimmy of Tánintsę Chú Dachäk | Little Salmon River and Big Salmon Charlie of Gyò Cho Chú | Big Salmon River. She has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa (UHM). Her research focuses on modern treaty politics in the Yukon, where she now lives. Lianne is multimedia artist and mom to Luka Gyo. She has created community murals in Whitehorse, Łu Ghą, Somba K’e, and Mayo; and co-created four pieces for To Talk With Others (Valerie Salez, 2018), including a life-size hot pink papîer maché bull moose made out of the Umbrella Final Agreement. Lianne is a faculty member with Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning