The Internship Offices Network and the Coady Institute are pleased to announce the selected McGill students for the 2016-2017 OceanPath Fellowship. Learn more about their projects below.
Jordan Bowden, BA Political Science and Geography
My initiative will connect people with physical disabilities to existing local Makerspaces, so they can create their own assistive devices according to their individual requirements. Makerspaces have emerged in most Canadian cities, and contain shared tools ranging from 3D printers to woodworking equipment. These tools hold huge, largely untapped potential to create assistive devices that would otherwise be very expensive and potentially inaccessible.
I have close relationships with several people who live with disabilities, and these friends and family are the inspiration behind my OceanPath initiative. For example, two of my partner’s sisters have vision loss, and their experience has been that, while complex assistive devices (such as Tactile Maps) may tend to be inaccessible and unaffordable, they regularly design and build simple items to make the world more interpretable. Further, my father coaches wheelchair curling and many of his players already create a significant number of assistive devices using the limited tools in their garage workshops
Reach Jordan jordan.bowden [at] mail.mcgill.ca (here).
Clare Heggie, BA Geography
This initiative aims to increase availability and accessibility of traditional foods and community- held food knowledge. A centrally located pantry will collect both community donations and purchases from Haida food producers to simplify the storage and acquisition of healthy, local foods for community programs. The pantry space will also be used for knowledge-sharing programs, driven by the requirements and desires expressed by the community.
In 2015 I participated in a field semester on Haida Gwaii focusing on natural resource management as it intersects with Indigenous rights and governance. I continued to live, work and volunteer in the community beyond that semester and was fortunate to witness a vast amount of locally-held knowledge on the harvesting and preparing of traditional foods.
Reach Clare clare.heggie [at] mail.mcgill.ca (here).
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Alicia Mori, MA Anthropology of Development
There is currently concern that indigenous Maasai communities might be risking further loss of control of their grazing lands by joining newly formed Wildlife Management Areas. In partnership with Sauti Moja Tanzania, this initiative seeks to provide accessible information and opportunities that will help to mitigate concerns and build capacity among locals as they engage in land-use management issues.
Over the last three years I have worked closely with a local organization called Sauti Moja Tanzania that focuses on providing health and education opportunities for Maasai in the Longido District of northern Tanzania. This organization is currently moving to expand its reach to address some of the land issues faced by pastoral Maasai communities. Together, we will work to provide platforms for the sharing of ideas, resources and knowledge to help educate the local people and influence a positive trajectory of wildlife conservation and tourism in their communities.
Reach Alicia alicia.mori [at] mail.mcgill.ca (here).
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Leslie Anne St. Amour, BA Political Science
My initiative is to support my community in developing programs based around mental wellness from a holistic perspective, based in traditional knowledge and culture. This will mean developing goals through collaboration with the community as to what these programs should include and ensuring that other community members are supported in order to enable them to maintain the programs on a sustainable basis.
The Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation community is a non-status Algonquin community located in the Ottawa Valley in Eastern Ontario. Being non-status means that the community is not federally funded nor is it a reserve with a land base. I was born here, but have not been actively engaged with the community while I lived elsewhere. However, I hope to re-engage and develop a deeper connection as I pursue the OceanPath Fellowship.
Reach Leslie leslie.stamour [at] mail.mcgill.ca (here).
Kai Thomas, BA Anthropology and African Studies
My initiative will engage a diverse group of high school-aged volunteers of various skill levels to participate in the building of an ‘earthship’-inspired greenhouse on a farm used as a summer camp for inner-city Montreal youth. The greenhouse, built primarily with natural and recycled materials, will take care of itself year round by catching and filtering its own water, heating and cooling itself with passive solar technology, and generating its own electricity. My hope is that the construction will serve as a catalyst for creating a unique, land-based learning community space that will then be shaped and used collectively for the remainder of my time in community and beyond.
One of my communities is that of Montreal black youth. We represent one of many populations that is being distanced from the land and connections to land-based learning. After a few years of working and organizing in black community spaces in the city of Montreal, I feel keen to create a healing bridge that allows diverse groups to reconnect with the land.
Reach Kai kai.thomas [at] mail.mcgill.ca (here).