Catherine Febria

Dr. Febria (she/her/siya) is a Pinay/Filipina immigrant settler to Turtle Island and an assistant professor at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) & Dept. of Integrative Biology at the University of Windsor situated in Waiwiyaataanong (Windsor). Her lab – Healthy Headwaters Lab – advances freshwater science and restoration ecology efforts that connect land, water and people. Her research engages diverse knowledge systems and interdisciplinary approaches. Her lab hosts both a Farmers Advisory Board and Ode’imin Indigenous Knowledge Circle, the latter centres Indigenous science practitioners and communities in restoration and stewardship projects including one with co-panelist Clint Jacobs and others to launch the University of Windsor National Urban Park Hub in 2023. The Hub is the only university-based, research-focused initiative seeking to co-create and evaluate wise practices for equitable and inclusive engagement, Indigenous-led stewardship and programming to inform the National Urban Parks Policy and Programs.

In addition, Catherine also leads the Healthy Headwaters Lab and research team and serves as: co-Director of the GLIER Organic Analysis & Nutrients Laboratory (a central research facility), the Associate Director of FishCAST (an NSERC CREATE graduate student training program), is Canada’s nominated Multidisciplinary Expert Panel member with the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Co-Chair of the International Science Advisory Panel for New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, and as Coordinating Editor with the journal Restoration Ecology. Since 2019 she has successfully received more than $7.5 million in research-based funding and in 2022 was an inaugural recipient of the Great Lakes Champion Award from the International Association of Great Lakes Research for her efforts in championing equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of her teaching, research and service.