Nawash - University of Guelph Faculty Partnership
The Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph
welcomed Dr. Stephen S. Crawford as a contractually limited Assistant
Professor as of September 1, 2004 for an initial term of 5 years. The
appointment is the result of an innovative partnership agreement between
the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and the University of
Guelph to meet particular needs for research and teaching by both
parties, and is jointly funded. Dr. Crawford’s responsibilities will be
to undergraduate and graduate teaching and research in the areas of
Great Lakes fisheries ecology, adaptive resource management and
relationships between Aboriginal traditional knowledge and Western
science. It further enhances the unique role of the Axelrod Institute of
Ichthyology as a centre for Great Lakes fisheries ecology and
management. A similar innovative partnership agreement with the Great
Lakes Fisheries Commission resulted in the appointments of two new
faculty to CBS two years ago.
Dr. Crawford has been the Fisheries Management Biologist for the
Chippewas of Nawash, whose traditional fishing territory includes the
waters around the Bruce Peninsula of Lake Huron, for over 10 years. He
will retain that role in his new position. Over that period, however,
the University benefited periodically from his wide experience and his
excellent reputation as an undergraduate instructor. Between 1993 and
2003, as a sessional lecturer, he developed web-based instructional
materials for distance education and lectured in six different courses
over 14 semesters, particularly in the areas of ecology and resources
management, and received excellent evaluations. At the same time, the
Chippewas of Nawash and the University of Guelph collaborated on several
research projects, resulting in post-graduate degrees and publications,
much of it facilitated by Dr. Crawford. In his full-time position as a
management biologist, he also conducted fisheries ecology research
related to the management of the Nawash commercial fishery through the
Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology.
By 2001, the Chippewas of Nawash perceived a growing need for greater
emphasis on research required to manage a state-of-the-art fishery, and
proposed the idea of a formal partnership to the University of Guelph,
which was endorsed by the CBS Dean’s Council and the Offices of the VP
Academic and VP Research. The partnership allows Dr. Crawford to
directly supervise, and to access new sources of support for graduate
students. In turn, students will benefit from the close working
experience, related infrastructure and research opportunities associated
with the largest First Nations fishery deployed on the Great Lakes.
Moreover, during the present period of transition in CBS, the agreement
also provides stability for planning longer-term teaching assignments,
particularly for introductory undergraduate courses.
Research
Dr. Crawford's research program is comprised of three project areas
established by the Nawash-UofG Assistant Professorship in Fisheries
Ecology and Management. As outlined in the Faculty Partnership, the
long-term goals of this collaborative research program are as follows:
1. To investigate key ecological uncertainties related to dynamics of
harvested fish populations in the Great Lakes;
2. To develop and evaluate Adaptive Resource Management as a basis for
Great Lakes fisheries management; and
3. To improve relationships between Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and
Western Science, especially with reference Great Lakes ecology.
These goals have been designed to ensure that the First Nations
fisheries on the Great Lakes benefit from an effective mix of scientific
rigour, participatory decision-making, and cross-cultural communication
of ecological knowledge. With these research tools available to them,
First Nations such as Nawash can ensure that they are protecting their
fisheries and associated Aboriginal and Treaty Rights for future
generations.