Reconciliation through research – graduate students build framework for collaborative research with First Nations communities

Reta Meng doesn’t defend her PhD thesis until next spring yet her work is already a national award winner.

Back in March, Braiding Knowledges Canada recognized Reta and Alexis McGregor for weaving together Indigenous knowledge and Western science to protect freshwater turtles at Whitefish River First Nation – a community of approximately 1,200 citizens of the Anishinabek Nation on the shores of Georgian Bay and the North Shore Channel. Along with receiving the Knowledge Braiders’ Award, the collaborators and friends showcased their work in a poster presentation during the Braiding Knowledges Canada 2025 Gathering.

Reta was part of the McMaster team assembled by biology professor Pat Chow-Fraser in 2021 to monitor turtles in McGregor Bay. It’s important work – Ontario is home to eight species of freshwater turtles and all are considered to be federally or provincially at-risk.

Pat’s team was introduced to Alexis through a local cottager – at the time, she was a Trent University undergrad studying water science. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, Alexis was back at Whitefish River First Nation.

“Trent had sent all of their students home,” says Alexis. “Most of my course material consisted of field trips to various habitats and ecosystems so I had spent most of my school year outside and in waders. When I heard that Reta and her team were looking for volunteers, it was a very easy yes for me even though I had no experience working with turtles. My first week in the wetlands was definitely more scary than I thought but now it’s one of my favourite places to be with Reta.”

Alexis first volunteered with the team, was later employed as a field technician with Whitefish River First Nation and is now a graduate student at Carleton University studying environmental engineering.

“When I started helping Reta five years ago, I never would’ve guessed that it would lead to this amazing friendship and professional career together. I love being able to work on projects that highlight my heritage and allow me to use my two-eyed seeing to help my community voice what is meaningful to them.”

Around the time Alexis befriended Reta and started volunteering, the Manitoulin Expositor ran a story about the McMaster research team – the story includes a photo of Reta at the water’s edge holding a Blanding’s turtle. That story caught the attention of Keith Nahwegahbow, the Lands Officer with Whitefish River First Nation. Keith and his team got in a boat and made the 20-minute trek to meet the McMaster research team while they were out in the field.

Keith asked if they’d be interested in co-designing and implementing a conservation program for mshiikenh (freshwater turtles in Anishinaabemowin) at Whitefish River First Nation. They’d work together to identify, protect and increase freshwater turtle populations within the reserve and traditional territory.

Reta immediately said yes and had the full support of her supervisor. “It just felt right,” says Reta.

The unexpected opportunity lined up with Reta’s passion for getting science and research out of the ivory tower and into the community. It was also a chance to practice the polar opposite of “parachute research” where scientists arrive in a community uninvited and unannounced, do their work in isolation and leave without sharing any results or knowledge.

“Developing a project like this was important to my community because so many of us care about our land,” says Alexis. “It’s rooted in our traditions and culture to care for all of the land, plants and animals. When the community was informed of the threats many of our animals are facing, it became very important to all of us to do what we could to develop a project to help us all learn not only about the turtles but what we could do to protect them and the many other animals we care about.”

Building the conservation program was a long-term commitment for both the community and Reta – it’s the reason she decided to spend the next four years pursuing a PhD in biology after transferring from her master’s program with the support of her supervisor.

The Whitefish River First Nation Chief and Council were briefed and gave their approval and support for the project. Annual updates would follow during council meetings, with additional guidance from Elders and community members to keep the project aligned with community objectives and values. Their ongoing input shaped each stage of the research program, says Reta. “Our goal was to do that research ‘in a good way’, grounded in the principles of genuine respect, reciprocity and trust.”

The first two years focused on setting common goals, building allyship and honoring Anishinaabe teachings by conducting field work together.  The mshiikenh conservation program was officially launched in 2023 with three parts. Twenty-one Blanding’s turtles were tagged and tracked. The project identified road mortality hotspots, focusing on a stretch of Highway 6 that cut through Whitefish River First Nation lands. And the project studied predation rates of freshwater turtle nests along the reserve’s western shoreline.

The entire community could not have been more welcoming, says Reta. A family allowed Reta and her labmates to stay in a trailer on their property through the summer months. It would become her home away from home for the next couple of years. Reta would return through the fall, winter and spring for workshops, presentations, Q&A sessions and community celebrations.

All of that consultation and collaboration culminated in the award-winning publication: A Framework for Doing Things in a Good Way: Insights on Mshiikenh (Freshwater Turtle) Conservation Through Weaving Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge in Whitefish River First Nation.

The framework offers six themes for meaningful collaboration:

• Co-develop objectives
• Honor community priorities
• Respect knowledge and data sovereignty
• Learn and unlearn
• Follow a community-guided trajectory, and
• Promote tangible outcomes

By highlighting specific examples from Whitefish River First Nation’s mshiikenh conservation project, Reta says the framework demonstrates the value of community-engaged research as a way forward for species at-risk conservation efforts across Canada and beyond.

““Being welcomed into Whitefish River First Nation and working alongside Alexis and so many others has been such an incredible gift – these experiences will forever influence my career as a scientist. It’s such a privilege to work together with Whitefish River First Nation community members in their traditional territory. The relationships I’ve built throughout my PhD project will absolutely continue long after my defence next year.”

Looking back on what they’ve accomplished feels surreal, says Alexis. “The work Reta and I do together very rarely feels like work. Not only do we love being outside and seeing the turtles – we’re having so many opportunities to engage with the community through info sessions, youth activities and knowledge keeper visits. Those opportunities have been the highlight of our work. I’m proud of all that we’ve done and how our passion for weaving knowledges has spread throughout my community.”