Assistant Professor of Ethnoecology

Indigenous Studies, Simon Fraser University

Reviews Editor, Human Ecology

Publications Liaison, Society of Ethnobiology

Email: chelsey_geralda [at] sfu.ca

Education

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia

Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution

PhD, Simon Fraser University

MA, University of Western Ontario

BA Hons., Simon Fraser University

Research Interests

Ethnoecology, historical ecology, phytogeography, environmental archaeology, traditional resource & environmental management, heritage management, Indigenous Rights and Title, extractive industries, ethnobotany, paleoethnobotany, organismal botany, dendrology, modern and ancient population genetics, Pacific Northwest

I study human-landscape interactions in the past and how those dynamics relate to the present — particularly towards Indigenous sovereignty and socially just environmental conservation. I am interested in the historical ecology of northern landscapes and in understanding the co-evolution of humans and the inhabited landscape. To study these relationships I look at landscape ethnoecology, functional botany, ancient plant macrofossils,, settlement history, and molecular biology (plant genetics). I've investigated ancient and recent management of Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystems and hazelnut varieties (Corylus cornuta). Currently I'm exploring the environmental archaeology of northern homelands, traditional resource and environmental management of ancient forest garden ecosystems throughout British Columbia, and the evolution of the Malus genus. I am currently Assistant Professor in Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University and am accepting exceptional graduate students with a desire for outdoor adventure and research with a purpose.