Professor Scott MacIvor, of the Department of Biological Sciences at UTSC, sits on the Western Science Technical Committee for the Network of Nature project at CIER. After collaborating on the project, Professor MacIvor asked Kat to do two presentations at UTSC.

On March 11 and 12, 2025, Kat was a guest lecturer, providing presentations titled “Braiding Knowledge Systems: The Inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge in Conservation Strategies”, with slight modifications based on the audience for each day.

For the first session, Kat designed a presentation for post-graduates, post-doctorate students, and department faculty, and was requested that she include a section about her journey from graduation to her current professional role. The second session was designed for a third-year Conservation Biology course and included more detail on different Indigenous Knowledge Systems across Canada. Each presentation highlighted key projects Kat has been involved with at CIER, largely within the Species At Risk project.

Professor MacIvor secured funding for Kat’s presentations through the Pedagogies of Inclusive Excellence (PIE) with the framework of supporting the advancement of equity-based, holistic, accessible, anti-racist, and anti-colonial pedagogies and curricular development with particular attention to Indigenous knowledge and knowledge systems, Black knowledges, racialized perspectives, and international and intercultural perspectives (PIE, 2025).

Kat’s presentations have helped to spread the word about important work being done at CIER, and in Indigenous communities across Canada. The presentations further the growing interest from students and faculty on respectful, transparent fieldwork and project activities on Indigenous Lands.

Here is a link to the March 11 presentation (please excuse the quality of the audio and video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFBQWGrZlHI