Conference Program

IASNR Canada Hub Conference Program

Location: Augustana Campus, University of Alberta (June 17–19, 2026)

Wednesday, June 17

• 6:00 PM: Welcome Reception (optional) at Norseman Brewing Co. (Tap Room Bar & Brewery at the Norsemen Inn)

Thursday, June 18

• 8:30 AM: Arrival and Welcome (Coffee & Light Breakfast) – Learning Commons (2nd Floor, Forum Building)

• 9:00 AM: Plenary Session (45 min) – Bruce Cutknife (Elder, Samson Cree Nation) - Library Classroom

• 10:00 AM: Concurrent Sessions (A)

• Session 1a: Themed Session – Reciprocity, Trust, Learning: Key elements for engaged research in sustainable land management (Library Classroom - L2-102)
  
  

• Facilitator: Maureen G. Reed, Presenters: Andrew Batycki, Stephanie Le Courtois, and Brenda Wallace (University of Saskatchewan)

• Session 2a: Wildlife Health and Management Networks (Epp Room 2-004)
  
  

• Alberta’s caribou social network: Implications for decision-making and management (Carly Sponarski, Howard Harshaw, Janelle Goodine, Nelson Jatel)

• Hope for the future? Chronic Wasting Disease Vaccine Uptake and Benefits to Cervid Producers (John Pattison-Williams, Fakir Baig, Vic Adamowicz)

• We all have a voice regarding wildlife health: Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQIA+ risk perceptions and concerns about chronic wasting disease (Arlana Redsky)

• Tracing the constellations in Canadian conservation: Connecting the stars to understand collaborative efforts in Alberta’s boreal woodland caribou recovery (Janelle Goodine, Carly Sponarski, Howard Harshaw, Ashlyn Boland)
  
  

• 11:30 AM: Poster Session & Lunch (Learning Commons)

• Bioenergy from Woody Biomass in Canada: Research Trends and Potential (Shamim Anowar, Ryan Bullock) 

• “Yes, I know but what choices do I have?”: Navigating Poverty, Biodiversity Loss, and Climate Risk in Rural Nigeria (Toyin B. Ajibade, Uswat T. Adeyemi, Mercy F. Salami, Asake A. Omotoso) 

• Promoting robust marine spill planning, preparedness and response: A case study in Chesterfield Inlet (Ashley Adams, A. John Sinclair, Glen Hostetler) 

• Identity Formation in Energy Transitions: Canadian Industrial Communities (Maeve Rothlin, Ryan Bullock) 

• Public Participation Pathways Under the Building Canada Act (Conlan Donahue, David Wright, A. John Sinclair) 

• Environmental Assessment Follow-Up as a Tool for Inuit Self-Determination (Klara Gagnon) 

• Informed Pine Management in Manitoba: Generating Actionable Forest Management Policy through Forest Sector Engagement and Dendroclimatological Study of Red Pine, Jack Pine, and Scots Pine (Quincy Houdayer, Ryan Bullock, Jay Maillet) 

• Rewiring innovation governance for collaborative energy futures (Bex Mertz-Shea)

• Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Treaty Rights in Forestry: Indigenous Methodology from Sîkîp Sâkahikan  (Kennedy Mitchell, John R Parkins)
  
  

• 1:00 PM: Concurrent Sessions (B)

• Session 1b: Energy Transitions and Governance (Library Classroom)
  
  

• Understanding Citizens’ Preferences for Governance Design in Community Renewable Energy Projects: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Alberta (Jiaxun Li, Philippe Marcoul, Sandeep Mohapatra)

• Co-producing Knowledge through Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Energy Transitions in Northern and Southern Canada  (Tabitha Evans, Ryan Bullock)

• A Theoretical Analysis of Efficiency of Residential Energy Retrofitting: Private Firms and Renewable Energy Cooperatives (Alma Ali Chowdhury, Philippe Marcoul) 

• Improving Access to Procedural Energy Justice in Manitoba: A Conceptual Framework of Best Practices (Heather Fast)
  
  

• Session 2b: Water Systems and Impact Assessment (Epp Room)
  
  

• The Social Dimensions of Changing Water Levels in the Mackenzie River Basin (Brenda Parlee, Kristine Wray, Carter Gortiza, Kátł’odeeche First Nation, Akaitcho Territory Government, Deninu Kue First Nation, Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board, Fisheries Joint Management Committee, Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat)

• Diverting Waters: Examining the Potential for Community-Based Strategic Environmental Assessment of Small Hydropower Projects in the Kullu District, India (A. John Sinclair)

• Economic assessment of land use change in the Tamasopo marshes, San Luis Potosí, Mexico (Pedro Perez Medina, Guillermo Espinosa Reyes, Ángel de Jesús Quiroz Gaspar)

• Extractive Energy Transition in the Gobi Desert: Water, Mobility, and the Marginalization of Herders (Brenda Parlee, Altanzaya Yansanjav, Carmen Hamel)

• 3:00 - 3:30 PM: Break (Beverages Provided) - Learning Commons
  
  

• 3:30 PM: Concurrent Participant-Led Workshops 

• Workshop 1: Bridging the Academic-Policy Gap (Tom Beckley)
  
  

• Workshop 2: Data Infrastructure and AI in Social Science (Kate Sherren) 

• 5:00 PM: Dinner on your own (Camrose restaurant ideas)

• 10:30 PM: Field trip - Hesje Observatory (star gazing) - 20 minute drive

Friday, June 19

8:00 AM: Coffee & Light Breakfast (Learning Commons)

• 8:30 AM: Concurrent Sessions (C)

• Session 1c: Forestry and Social Dimensions (Library Classroom)
  
  

• Playing in Their Sandbox: Late Career Forays into Science in Order to Set the Record Straight (Tom Beckley)

• The impact of gender on careers in forestry: access, development, and advancement of women as professional foresters in Quebec (Amélie Chabot, Stephen Wyatt, Solange Nadeau)

• Assessing the feasibility of implementing Climate-Smart Forestry based on management, policy, and social acceptability in northwestern Ontario (Shanti Subedi, Ryan Bullock)
  
  

• Session 2c: Agricultural and Global Perspectives (Epp Room)
  
  

• What do farmers think, feel, and do about wetlands? A systematic map of agricultural producer perspectives (Katie Sainsbury, Janelle Goodine, Howard Harshaw, Allison Sivak, Jillian Zielke)

• Food and nutrition security in an era of climate change and the significance of millet production in India (Varghese Manaloor, John Pattison-Williams, Shabin Paul)

• Effects of U.S. LNG Exports on Gas Prices and Emission Levels (Douglas Mugabe)

• The Mismatch in Benefits: Evaluating Producer Incentives and Predictors of Grassland Conversion in the Canadian Prairies (Dylan Perrott, John Pattison-Williams)

10:00 AM: Break (Beverages Provided) - Learning Commons

• 10:30 AM: Concurrent Sessions (D)

• Session 1d: Emerging Frontiers in Conservation (Library Classroom)
  
  

• The potential for dark sky tourism to support dark sky conservation in Canada (Glen Hvenegaard, Cindy Cueva Quimiz)

• Values and Incentives for Inuvialuit Harvest Study (Julia Poissant, Brent Swallow, Brenda Parlee, Xiaoli Fan)

• The empirics strike back: climax thinking revisited (Kate Sherren)
  
  

• Session 2d: Participant-Led Workshop (Epp Room)
  
  

• How can global sustainability frameworks meaningfully incorporate the lived realities and agency of resource-dependent communities in the Global South to avoid reproducing interventions that deepens poverty and informality? (Toyin Ajibade)
  
  

• 12:00 PM: Lunch and Conference Completion (Learning Commons)

1:00 - 3:00 PM: Field Trips – Battle River Watershed Alliance