From Harvard to the Arctic, one Robertson Scholar spent her summer exploring the nexus between Indigenous cultures and conservation.

“I’ve always been really interested in social science approaches to climate change and climate policy, looking at how climate change is affecting Indigenous and other vulnerable communities and how, in turn, community-based environmental knowledge can be better used within climate policy,” says Gabrielle Moreau (Robertson ’26). “What I was hoping to do coming into Exploration Summer was to learn about Indigenous environmental knowledge in contexts beyond those I have learned about within my own Métis community.”

For the first eight weeks of her summer Gabrielle conducted research as part of her internship with the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance & Development, gathering data on Indigenous conservation initiatives and outcomes.

“The goal of the scoping review that I’m working on is to demonstrate that Indigenous conservation has real environmental and communal benefits, especially compared with what we term ‘fortress conservation.’”

It’s an important distinction that focuses on integration models and honoring the wisdom of these communities. “Indigenous conservation differs from fortress conservation because fortress conservation largely involves the siphoning off of protected areas and the displacement of communities from those areas in the name of preserving wildlife and ecosystems. What this ends up doing is displacing communities who are engaged in practices that have helped preserve these ecosystems for generations. And ultimately this also leads to a lot of violence between Indigenous communities and officials working in these protected areas. Indigenous conservation, by contrasts, constitutes Indigenous peoples’ visions for and stewardship of territories and ecosystems. Indigenous ontologies also guide conservation: plants, animals and the land itself are understood as ‘kin,’ and being good stewards is a responsibility that comes with being on the land.”

The Harvard Project is working to advocate for the importance of Indigenous conservation: the idea is that with support from government agencies, NGOs, and philanthropies, these Indigenous conservation initiatives can be implemented on larger scale, resulting in better outcomes for ecosystems. An example? Controlled burning in the Amazon. “Indigenous communities have used fire to regenerate the soil and reduce the buildup of undergrowth for centuries. Programs like the PREVFOGO program, which use Indigenous knowledge to conduct controlled burns, have been shown to significantly reduce rates of land that are being ravaged by wildfires. Support for Indigenous conservation also leads to positive effects for the Indigenous communities themselves, because you’re preserving the territories and livelihoods of these communities.”

For Gabrielle the research isn’t just theoretical… its practical and personal. Gabrielle is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario. “I’ve really been thinking more about my Indigenous identity this summer, especially since last spring when I traveled on a LEAD Grant to Winnipeg. I had really long conversations with my grandmother, who is Métis and grew up not learning much about her culture, because her mother was afraid she would be sent to residential schools.” Gabrielle’s grandmother was forced to say she was French Canadian, if asked about her identity. “It is really exciting for me now to be involved with the Métis Nation of Ontario as we move forward with developing a constitution and a climate change strategy, at a time when youth across the province are now able to embrace their culture.”

The second half of Gabrielle’s summer took her to the Canadian Arctic, where she got to learn from other Indigenous students from across the country about their identities. “I had some really interesting conversations with the other Indigenous students on this trip. We all have different and complicated relationships to our identities: I have only recently learned more about my culture, and because I am white passing, I have sometimes been questioned about whether I am “authentically” Indigenous; whereas some of the Inuit students in the group shared both their pride in their culture but also experiences of overt discrimination. Talking with my peers drove home for me that there is no one “Indigenous” perspective, and it is really important for governments to engage with Indigenous communities authentically to ensure that social and climate policy meet their particular needs.”

Those types of conversations are what drive the Students on Ice program that Gabrielle participated in. “The organization was founded to send young people to the Arctic and Antarctica to give them a better understanding of Arctic ecosystems and cultures, and to increase our desire as young people to be involved with the protection of these ecosystems and the advancement of perspectives from Arctic communities so that the Arctic economy and ecosystems can really thrive.”

Gabrielle’s voyage took her from Greenland through Canada, ending in Resolute in Nunavut. “Over the course of the expedition we stopped in various communities in both Greenland and Nunavut, learning about the differences between Greenlandic and Canadian Inuit cultures. We also got to experience incredible natural sites like the Ilulissat Icefjord, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. And the goal is really for us to understand how climate change is affecting ecosystems in the Arctic and how communities are perceiving and responding to these effects.”

One experience really hit home for Gabrielle, “I was lucky enough to witness in Croker Bay in Nunavut a polar bear dive from an iceberg into the water to catch a seal, then drag it back onto another iceberg. This behavior is unique because polar bears typically hunt from sea ice. As sea ice extent decreases year after year, so do their hunting grounds. Polar bears have really become the center of the environmental movement in the Arctic and are used by a lot of activist groups to show the frailty of the Arctic and how Arctic ecosystems are at risk, but to me this changed and challenged that narrative because it showed how the polar bears are adapting.”

For Gabrielle the metaphor is clear, “I see in all of us the same desire to adapt and to try and make sense of the changing world around us. And I think if we can understand both wildlife and communities in this way, as communities that are successfully adapting and trying to navigate changes and challenges, we will be far better equipped to actually address climate change.”

“When we’re thinking about how Indigenous people are experiencing climate change I think the same thing can be true – that there’s no one way that Indigenous people across Canada have experienced climate change. And all of these different perspectives are incredibly valuable for how we take that knowledge forward.”

Collaboration both between the government and Indigenous communities and between Indigenous communities themselves is incredibly important. According to Gabrielle, “The key is for the state to really listen to these communities and ensure that they’re not just taking a single perspective from a community, but creating space where different Indigenous communities can have dialogue with each other and share their knowledge. As climate change is changing weather patterns and ecosystems, one community’s knowledge may actually be more usefully for another community now.”

“As a result of this trip I’ve realized how important it is that I not only feel comfortable in my own shoes as a Métis person, but also that I look to finding and creating spaces where I can share my perspective and listen to other Indigenous people’s perspectives and ensure that they’re all treated with value.”

Gabrielle’s message is one of hope, “I came into this trip feeling really depressed about our environmental situation. But I realized that if we adopt that attitude, we’re never going to be able to do anything. Just because things are going to change doesn’t mean that we should give up. Staying hopeful can look like different things for different people, and I think for me that means finding beauty in spaces where there’s still turbulence and finding signs of hope within community resilience.”

Like the polar bear adapting to its new environment, Gabrielle says, “We are going to need to adapt and we can’t respond by giving up and losing hope. I think if that polar bear is able to successfully adapt, then we and our communities need to as well.”