Two UVic women win Fulbright awards

by Maria Lironi

Campbell Patrick

Two UVic women will take part in the world's premier academic exchange program this coming academic year.

Indigenous governance master's student Lyana Patrick and UVic geography grad Kirstin Campbell will each receive a $15,000 (US) Canada-U.S. Fulbright award to study south of the border.

The worldwide Fulbright program attracts exceptional scholars from more than 150 countries. Patrick and Campbell are among some 60 Canadian and American students and scholars participating in the Canada-U.S. Fulbright program's bilateral academic exchange in the 2004/05 academic year.

As a visiting scholar in the University of Washington's native voices program, Patrick will produce a documentary film tentatively titled, Travels Across the Medicine Land.

"I want to look at the impact of the Canada/U.S. border on First Nations communities, how that artificial border bisected those communities," says Patrick. "I'll look at these issues in the context of post-9/11 and in particular how the 1792 Jay Treaty, which allowed First Nations to work and travel freely across the border, is now considered abrogated in light of global terrorism."

A member of the Stellat'en First Nation, Patrick has a BA in creative writing and history from UVic. Her background in film includes working as a writing intern with North of 60 in 1994 and as a production assistant and manager with Maori documentary filmmakers in 2002.

As a visiting Canada-U.S. Fulbright scholar at Northern Arizona University, Campbell will learn about "Lurch," a forest management model which evaluates a forest's response to pre-defined management actions.

"I'm interested in this model because of its potential for long-term planning, including First Nations' knowledge and goals for their land," explains Campbell. She holds a master's of science from UNBC and is currently pursuing her doctorate in forestry at UBC, with a focus on the potential impacts of climate change on the Cheslatta Carrier Nation's Community Forest and the surrounding area in B.C.

"The success of these two women reflects the outstanding quality of students and programs at UVic," says Jamie Cassels, vice president academic. "It also celebrates the university's commitment to strengthening its unique relationships with First Nations communities and to making a major contribution to environmental research."

The two scholarships bring the number of Fulbright scholars from UVic to six. With the support of Foreign Affairs Canada, the U.S. State Department, and a host of private-sector partners, the Canada-U.S. Fulbright program has engaged more than 600 students and scholars in high-level academic exchange since its inception in 1990.