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Fire & Ice – The Art of Climate Change Engagement Series

Initiative Overview

Location:

Canadian Rockies

Duration:

1 year, 2018

Major Supporters:

Government of Canada New Horizons for Seniors, The Town of Canmore, Alpine Helicopters, Calgary United States Consulate, Banff Canmore Community Foundation

Through a series of engagement activities, nearly 400 community members in the Canadian Rocky Mountains learned about glaciers and wildfires in the context of climate change. In one of the activities, close to 250 seniors learned new knowledge about climate change risks from scientists (wildfire and water security through glacier melt), plus photography skills by a professional landscape photographer. Participants attended field trips focused on these themes to capture images and inspire essays which became part of an exhibition at the Canmore Public Library and Cave & Basin Historical Site that an estimated 70,000 people from around the world will view.

An evening dialogue event was also hosted featuring a keynote presentation from wildfire expert Dr. Toddi Steelman, Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University in conversation with Blackfoot knowledge-holder, Travis Plaited Hair from the Kainai First Nation. The conversation focused on how values shape decision-making when managing large wildfires that cross communities and cultures.

Photo by Gary Finley

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.