Gretchen MacNaughton

Support Staff | she/her

Hi! My name is Gretchen MacNaughton. I recently completed my degree in Natural Resources Conservation student in the Faculty of Forestry here at UBC. I am of settler and Indigenous descent from the Tobacco Plains Band of the Ktunaxa Nation.

Throughout my time at UBC I have become passionate about fisheries management, particularly in relation to Indigenous knowledge systems, and have been very fortunate to be a part of two aquatic labs in NSERC research assistant positions. In 2022, I was a member of John Richardson’s lab working with white sturgeon and stoneflies in the Nechako river, along with ecological restoration projects in the lower mainland. In 2023 I was in Scott Hinch’s lab working with Chinook salmon in Bamfield and juvenile Sockeye salmon in Vancouver. In 2024 I joined the CIF team in the Indigenous Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program and started as a research assistant in May 2024, supporting work on revitalizing Indigenous fishing methods on the Lower Fraser River and other projects. As of September 2024, I am support staff for the centre.

I am so grateful to be a part of the CIF team and am so excited to learn from the lovely folks here and in community! In the future, I hope to work in fisheries research and educate in a community college setting – focusing on a holistic connection between Western and Indigenous knowledge systems.