Keara Lightning

Keara Lightning is a PhD student in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta. She is a member of Samson Cree Nation. She holds an MA in Native Studies and a BA in Indigenous Environmental Studies from Trent University. Her research centers on Indigenous-led science and environmental management, with a focus on collaborative research, environmental histories, and wildfire management. 

Keara is a historian laureate for the Beaver Hills Biosphere, a research fellow at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, and she currently sits on Parks Canada's advisory Indigenous Fire Circle. She teaches the course 'Indigenous Peoples and Technoscience' at the University of Alberta and has interned with the Summer Internship for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics. Her current research focuses on collaborating with Indigenous communities to apply mapping technologies and cultural burning practices for the mitigation of wildfire risk.