The goal of this UBC Okanagan research team is to develop and advance watershed ecosystem-based science and governance knowledge through interdisciplinary and community-engaged research. Indigenous syilx rights, knowledge, and water law are integral to this pilot study which is focused on the sqʷʔa (Peachland Creek) community watershed.
We are committed to ongoing cultural awareness and sensitivity training for all team members, and working in a manner that reflects the 4Rs of Indigenous-engaged research: relevance, respect, reciprocity and relationship building. We acknowledge syilx knowledge as empirical, evidence-based, verifiable and modern science.
“For me, the people in the water cluster really represent a diversity that’s needed, a diversity of voice. The cluster itself really represents a whole-system view, and a whole-system voice that would be a good model, I think, for the future.”
– Dr. Jeannette Armstrong, Syilx Knowledge
Research activities
Our researchers are active in the areas of hydrology, urban water, fish, syilx knowledge, integrated modeling, and governance. We also have an extension program to help build connections and working relationships between researchers and other interested parties in the wider community.
