Exciting Announcement from Minister Wilkinson on our Adaptation Initiative

Recently, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources announced our initiative, Expanding Understanding of Community-Relevant Climate Adaptation in Small, Rural and Indigenous Communities across Canada, as part of over $2.6 million in funding for the Canadian Prairies under the Natural Resources Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP).

"The impacts associated with climate change — including intense wildfires, devastating floods, stronger tropical storms and hurricanes, and permafrost thaw in the north — are being felt environmentally and economically in every single region of Canada. That is why this federal government is acting now to help our communities and our economy prepare for and protect against the threat of climate change. Today’s announcement of seven projects based in the Prairies under the CCAP supports the vital long-term, community-based work to keep people safe now and into the future."

Thanks to this funding, over the next several years our team will be strengthening the understanding of equitable and meaningful engagement and advancing community-relevant approaches to climate. 

This work will also help us to strengthen our contribution to the Roots for Resilience program in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross.

“People in small, rural, and Indigenous communities are on the front lines of climate impacts; their economies, cultures and identities are deeply entwined with local industries that are very vulnerable to climate-induced disasters—for example forestry, agriculture, fisheries and tourism. This initiative will help us develop critical knowledge toward holistic approaches to adaptation that are representative of diverse voices and values and reflect local realities. It is at the intersection of local and cultural knowledge, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction where resilience to climate change will be strongest.” 

Laura Stewart

Board Member

Laura Stewart is the Community Wildfire Resilience Coordinator with Forsite Fire, supporting communities across Canada with wildfire risk assessments, mitigation planning, and program delivery. She has more than a decade of experience advancing wildfire resilience at Indigenous, municipal, provincial/territorial, and national levels. Previously, Laura served nearly eleven years as Alberta’s Provincial FireSmart Specialist, leading community, WUI, neighbourhood, and Home Ignition Zone programs, coordinating funding, and partnering with communities and fire services across the province. She has also served as Board Chair with both the Partners in Protection Association (FireSmart Canada) and the Community Wildfire Resilience Association of Alberta.

 

Sara Walsh, PhD

Board Member

Sara Walsh, PhD, is a disaster risk reduction and climate resilience specialist with more than 15 years of experience spanning Canada, Nepal, the Middle East, and North Africa. Until November 2025, she served as Thematic Lead for Climate and Resilience with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), where she supported Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to strengthen their climate and risk reduction work across the region. Sara currently works as a freelance consultant with the United Nations, governments, and humanitarian organizations on recovery, risk governance, and community-based resilience. She teaches at a Canadian university and holds a PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction. Her work emphasizes anticipatory action, equity, and bridging research with practice to shape more resilient and sustainable futures.

Alison Criscitiello

Board Member

Alison Criscitiello, PhD, is an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer who explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Alison’s work also focuses on environmental contaminant histories in ice cores from the Canadian high Arctic and the water towers of the Canadian Rockies. In 2010, she led the first all-women’s ascent of Lingsarmo, a 22,818-foot peak in the Indian Himalaya. Alison has earned three American Alpine Club (AAC) climbing awards, the John Lauchlan and Mugs Stump alpine climbing awards, as well as the first Ph.D. in Glaciology ever conferred by MIT. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta. She is the co-founder of Girls on Ice Canada.