Stories of Resilience: Voices from Jasper

In the wake of the devastating wildfire that swept through Jasper in July 2024, which reshaped both the landscape and the lives of residents, the community of Jasper came together in a remarkable expression of healing, reflection, and renewal. Voices from Jasper is part of Stories of Resilience, a signature program of The Resilience Institute, dedicated to amplifying community voices and exploring what it means to be resilient in a changing climate. Through this program, we unite people in dialogue and creativity to reflect on resilience — recognizing that while a single story can change hearts and minds, our collective stories have the powerr to shape the future.

An opening reception was held on July 25, 2025, from 6:30–8:30pm, marking one year since the wildfire reached Jasper. The exhibition remained open until August 16, 2025, a date that commemorated the community’s return after evacuation.

Since February 2025, a group of ten diverse Jasper residents – including local painters, writers, Indigenous community members, and long-standing locals – have participated in reflective workshops exploring the recovery of self, community, and the land. Through storytelling, artistic expression, and thoughtful dialogue, these residents have explored their experiences of the July 2024 wildfire, capturing their journeys through their own moving narratives, art, and photography.

“What does resilience even mean? For me, it’s about being able to sit with loss and still find hope.”

– Paulette Blanchette-Dubé, Stories of Resilience – Voices of Jasper participant

The participants’ reflections have yielded insights that are relevant not only to Jasper but also to any community navigating similar challenges due to climate change. By engaging in open dialogue about their experiences, participants have crafted written stories and visual artworks that communicate the nuances and complexities of resilience, healing, and transformation. As participant Katie Potter writes in her story, “On these fire-ravaged canvases I painted fireweed… These paintings symbolized that there is beauty in resilience, that even a burnt crisp canvas could be brought back to life and be beautiful again.”

Stories of Resilience – Voices from Jasper contributes to a growing collection of stories curated by The Resilience Institute – a testament to our shared understanding of the climate crisis. Audiences see, hear, and feel reflections of themselves in the narratives and artwork. They discover echoes of their own lives in communities like theirs, as the program brings people together in dialogue and creativity to reflect on resilience — recognizing that while a single story can change hearts and minds, our collective stories have the power to shape the future.

The Stories of Resilience program is a signature program of The Resilience Institute that engages citizens in thematic learning and creative expression to explore themes of healing, change, and resilience in the context of climate change.

To explore the journeys of other Stories of Resilience communities accross the globe, click here.

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.