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Stories

A single story has the power to change our hearts and our minds. Our collective stories, if shared, have the potential to change our futures.   

Stories of Resilience is a signature program of The Resilience Institute that brings people together to explore what it means to be resilient in a changing climate. Through place-based learning and shared experiences, participants explore the climate risks that matter most to their communities and consider the strengths, relationships, and knowledge that help people and places adapt and thrive.

Through facilitated workshops, participants deepen their understanding of climate risks and strategies for addressing them, while reflecting on resilience through their own lived experiences. These reflections become personal narratives paired with visual art, including paintings, photography, sketches, and other forms of creative expression.

Together, these stories form a growing collection of lived experiences from communities facing a changing climate. They offer a window into experiences of disruption, recovery, strength, renewal, and collective care, while creating opportunities for audiences to see reflections of their own lives and communities in the stories of others.

Explore the stories below to discover how participants and communities are defining resilience in their own words and through creative expression.

 

Intergenerational Voices from Hinton

Our Stories of Resilience, Our Future

Understanding Natural Climate Solutions

Pathways to Resilience in Rural and Indigenous Communities Across Canada

Stories of Resilience: Water

Celebrating and learning from Indigenous women’s deep connections to water across the prairies.

Voices from Jasper, Year 1

Honouring lived experiences through story, art, and connection, one year after the fire.

Piikani Stories of Resilience

Reducing risk to future disasters and adapting to climate change will depend very much on our perception of what it means to be resilient – personally and culturally.

Monitoring Change – Inspired by the Piikani Winter Count

Bringing Blackfoot values to the forefront in monitoring environmental change.

Voices from across British Columbia’s Interior

Reducing risk to disasters and being climate resilient begins with perceptions and attitudes about ourselves and our capabilities to adapt.

Climate Resilience and the Nama Peoples of South Africa

Interdependence with the land makes Indigenous peoples particularly vulnerable.

Fire and Ice in the Region of Wood Buffalo, Canada

Thematic learning to help citizens address the wicked problem of climate change.

Building Regional Capacity for Climate Adaptation

Better understanding the risks of changing fire regimes in the context of climate change and developing innovative practices for adaptation.

Bison & Climate Change in Alberta’s North

The Willow Lake Métis Nation partnered with TRI on the Bison & Climate Change project.

Carole Beaton

Science Communicator and External Engagement Specialist

Carole brings over two decades of small-business ownership experience, having built and run several ventures across construction, food production, and retail. Through running her own companies, she became self-taught in bookkeeping, administration, and financial management, developing a close eye for numbers and a disciplined approach to expenses. She also brings experience supporting executive leadership in a nonprofit setting. A longtime Canmore resident, Carole spends her free time mountain biking and Nordic skiing, and is glad to bring her community roots and hands-on administrative skills to TRI’s finance team.

Nakita Rubuliak

Science Communicator and External Engagement Specialist

Nakita is a science communication professional with extensive experience in knowledge synthesis, fieldwork, art and design, and creative collaboration. Using a multidisciplinary lens, her work bridges research and storytelling, translating complex scientific topics into engaging messages and compelling graphics that resonate with a range of audiences.

Before joining TRI, Nakita worked as a Science Illustrator and Writer at Fuse Consulting and later with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, experiences that nurtured her skills in science communication.

Above all, Nakita has a passion for connecting with people and communities, both in person and through visual storytelling. She approaches projects with a place-based lens and a deep respect for diverse perspectives and knowledge systems. 

Jill Decker

Controller

Jill brings 20 years of experience in financial reporting, assurance, and compliance, with a strong specialization in the not-for-profit sector.  She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Saskatchewan (2005) and a CPA (CA) designation, earned in 2010. Jill’s background in public practice has provided her with the opportunity to work with a variety of not-for-profit organizations in Alberta, as well as the joy of serving Canada’s Arctic over the past decade, supporting organizations in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut. 

Cassidy Grimes

Climate Analyst & Coordinator

Cassidy holds a Master’s degree in Climate Change from the University of Waterloo, where she studied topics such as climate science, climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, and community planning for climate change. Cassidy is passionate about supporting communities in preparing for and adapting to climate change through education, community engagement, and applied research. Her work focuses on fostering climate resilience by connecting scientific knowledge with local experiences and community-driven solutions.

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. Saracurrently works as a freelance consultant with the United Nations, governments, and humanitarian organizations on recovery, risk governance, and community-based resilience. Sara 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.