In recent years, wildfires have become an all-too common phenomenon in Canada, forcing evacuations of entire communities and ravaging forests and wildlife. And due to climate change, it is expected that wildfires will only get worse: starting earlier, lasting longer and becoming more extreme, particularly in Northern Canada. 

While there is plenty of research into understanding wildfires from a scientific and management perspective, there are few studies on their cultural and economic impact on Northern Indigenous communities. 

Dr. Abra Wenzel is about to fill that gap. 

As Trent University’s 2024 Roberta Bondar postdoctoral fellow in Northern and Polar Studies, Dr. Wenzel will broaden the body of research into climate change and wildfires and pass along her knowledge to fourth-year undergraduate and master’s students at the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies. Her seminar-based course, “The Changing Arctic,” is available for the Winter 2025 term.  

“Her work is about understanding the impact of wildfires on Indigenous communities and how the experience has affected local land and wildlife resources,” said Dr. Heather Nicol, director of the School for the Study of Canada and the Frost Centre at Trent. “Oral histories about the experience of fire really provide a deeper Indigenous understanding of how fire fits into the culture and how those stories contribute to Indigenous knowledge, identify, and resilience. It’s a really different way of looking at wildfires.” 

Wildfire research

Importantly, students taking Dr. Wenzel’s courses will gain insight into the lived experiences of Northern Indigenous peoples, added Professor Nicol. 

“There’s a saying, ‘nothing about us without us,’ and she’s bringing the reality of that, having studied in the North, having had the conversations and having been advised and having consulted. What students are going to learn is knowledge based on the lived realities of Northern peoples.” 

Dr. Wenzel completed her Ph.D. in anthropology at Carleton University in 2023 where her research examined the relationship between Northern Indigenous women’s textiles and art, and the Canadian tourism industry. 

As Bondar Fellow, she is pivoting slightly to look at the cultural and economic threats of climate change in the Northwest Territories, specifically in Yellowknife and Hay River, two communities that were evacuated during the 2023 wildfire season while she was conducting research in that region. 

She has already forged strong relationships with Indigenous communities and local government agencies through her research that could lead to the prevention of further wildfire catastrophes through co-management of the forests. 

Registration for “The Changing Arctic” course now open

Dr. Wenzel is the Frost Centre’s fifth Roberta Bondar Fellow, a prestigious appointment awarded to young academics conducting promising and relevant research. The term lasts 12 months, with an option to renew for another 12 months. She will be a featured speaker in the Frost Centre’s public lecture series in the fall. 

Dr. Bondar made history as the first Canadian woman to fly in space. A neurologist, scientist, pilot, astronaut and photographic artist, Dr. Bondar also served as Trent University’s ninth Chancellor. An endowment at the University named in her honour was established to fund the Fellowship. 

Dr. Wenzel’s course, “The Changing Arctic,” is offered to fourth-year undergraduate humanities and social sciences students in Canadian Studies or Anthropology and to master’s students in Canadian Studies & Indigenous Studies.