Noémie Gonzalez Bautista, PhD candidate, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

I am a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Université Laval in Québec, Canada. For my PhD project, I am working with the Atikamekw community of Wemotaci in the Nitaskinan territory (Quebec province) and the SOPFEU (the forest fire protection agency of the province). I am analyzing the social interactions between these two entities them and with the fire, the territory and other non-humans during 3 forest fires that burnt near Wemotaci in 1977, 1997 and 2010. The project’s main applied goal is to contribute to the improvement of the relationship between these groups for potential future collaborations in a context of cyclical wildfire.

I hold a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (France) and after a few years working in environmental education I went back to the university to obtain a Master’s degree in Ecological Anthropology from Museum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris which led me to my present PhD in Anthropology. This path encourages me to build bridges between social science and environmental science in my research, and my interest in studying disasters allows me to do that.

As a white immigrant settler in Canada I also try to use my privileges in and out of academia to pursue social justice. In my research projects, I am working at creating more space for marginalized people in places dominated by more privileged people. I also include a feminist perspective and a reflection on decolonization in my research.