Nicolas D. Brunet

University of Guelph | UOGuelph · School of Environmental Design and Rural Development

Over the past 3 decades, indigenous guardian programs (also known as indigenous rangers or watchmen) have emerged as an institution for indigenous governments to engage in collaborative environmental governance. Using a systematic review of peer‐reviewed literature for research conducted in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa‐New Zealand, and the United St...

This study seeks to gain a better understanding of the implications of Indigenous community-based monitoring (ICBM) for Indigenous governance in resource extractive regions. Using a comprehensive review of the literature and the author team's personal involvement, we review an ICBM program in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada. We use sustaina...

Canada is a prominent leader in the global extractive sector, with more than 800 Canadian mining corporations active in over 100 countries across the globe. Canadian mining assets overseas are valued at $144.2 billion, accounting to approximately 65 percent of the nation’s total mining assets. However, Canada’s dominance in the international mining...

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted fisheries at every step of the global seafood supply chain, through such challenges as trade stoppages, lockdowns, and restaurant closures. We performed a scoping review of the literature published during the first two years of the pandemic to examine the challenges of new and unpredictable shocks to fisheries in cou...

Support for nature-based solutions (NbS) has grown significantly in the last 5 years. At the same time, recognition for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing ‘life-enhancing’ climate solutions has also increased. Despite this rapid growth, the exploration of the intersection of NbS and Indigenous Peoples has been much slower, as questions rem...

The roles of Indigenous youth in environmental research remain largely unexplored with little practical guidance for achieving meaningful engagement in environmental research. This paper aims to characterize the varying types of Inuit youth engagement in environmental research conducted in Inuit Nunangat. Findings were derived from a community-enga...

The international mining industry is responsible for the dispossession of lands, extensive degradation of ecosystems and impacts upon the socio-cultural fabric of mining communities. To this day, neoliberalist ideals have driven the mining sector; large-scale extraction is expected to generate capital to finance development, trigger economic activi...

As the world’s dominant actor, the Canadian mining industry has historically been scrutinized for its socio-environmentally egregious operations in the Global South, particularly in mineral-rich nations, such as the Philippines. Canadian multi-national corporations are known for causing extensive ecological devastation; contaminating critical water...

Community leadership in Arctic environmental research is increasingly recognized to contribute to Indigenous self-determination and sustainable development in the Arctic. While experienced Inuit harvesters, hunters, trappers, and other recognized environmental knowledge experts are largely included in research, similar opportunities for Inuit youth...

Citizen science is filling important monitoring gaps and thus contributing to the conservation of rare or threatened animals. However, most researchers have used peer‐reviewed publications to evaluate citizen science contributions. We quantified a larger spectrum of citizen science's contributions to the monitoring of rare or threatened animals, in...

Political traction for nature-based solutions is rapidly growing as governments recognize their role in addressing the simultaneous climate and biodiversity crises. While there has been recognition of the role of Indigenous Peoples in nature-based solutions, there has also been limited academic review on their relationship. This paper explores how...

Plant diversity is critical to the functioning of human societies, and evidence shows that plant conservation success is driven by integrative approaches that include social and biological factors. Plants have a unique capacity to reproduce asexually, and propagation practices can yield large numbers of plantlets. These plantlets can be used in sev...

Community leadership in Arctic environmental research is increasingly recognized as one of many pathways to Indigenous self-determination in Nunavut, Canada. While experienced Inuit hunters, trappers, and other recognized environmental knowledge experts are commonly included in research, similar opportunities for Inuit youth to meaningfully engage...

This special issue is an interdisciplinary collection of papers that explores the many dimensions of Indigenous community-based monitoring (ICBM). The focus is on areas/sites in Canada, and to a lesser extent internationally, where Indigenous peoples have assumed a role in the monitoring of industrial activities. This collection provides the reader...

In many environmental monitoring and impact assessment processes, Indigenous communities are treated as intellectually homogenous and intracultural variation in environmental knowledge often goes unaccounted for. This not only poses obvious risks to the effectiveness of environmental impact assessments but also gives standing to those who question...

In the Oil Sands Regions of Alberta, Canada, Indigenous reassertion of rights and responsibilities has lead to a renewed leadership in monitoring the effects of industries on various environment receptors. This study, conducted with Cold Lake First Nations, Alberta (CLFN), sought to explore local concerns regarding fish consumption safety and popul...

This paper presents the results of a Cultural Consensus Analysis (CCA) that was conducted to determine the degree to which Indigenous residents of the Peace and Athabasca oil sands regions of Alberta, Canada share cultural knowledge about the associated impacts of oil sands development. We found that 87% (64/75) of respondents believe that oil sand...

Communication is recognized as the foundation of developing partnerships in science. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of several communication processes, practices, and tools used by wildlife researchers in northern communities in Arctic Canada. A case study was conducted in the communities of Cape Dorset and Coral Harbour (Salliq), Nunav...

The term biodiversity is widely used by scientists, international policy makers and the general public. Its representation in mass media plays a key role in shaping public perceptions of biodiversity and informing the public about scientific developments with implications for ecosystem conservation and management. Our exploratory case study of majo...

This report contains recommendations to assist Pond Inlet ECCC research station managers, staff, and visiting researchers in fostering meaningful communications, long-term partnerships, and relationships with community members of Pond Inlet, Nunavut. The recommendations we present support the five priority areas outlined in the National Inuit Strat...

This study expands the Inter-Institutional Gaps (IIGs) framework to conceptualize the legitimacy associated with different types of ecological knowledge (e.g., scientific, traditional and local) used in natural resource governance. We draw on primary qualitative data, and document analysis to examine a case of inland fisheries management in the nor...

In this paper, we present the Inter-Institutional Gap (IIG) framework as a novel approach to conceptualizing the often-overlooked interconnectivity of different rule-levels between formal and informal institutions in a natural resource system. This framework goes beyond the existing concepts of legal pluralism, institutional void, structural hole,...

Understanding the benefits and outcomes of Canada's public investment in Arctic science and associated community–researcher partnerships represents a significant challenge for government. This paper presents a capital assets-based approach to conceptualising northern research partnership development processes and assessing the potential outcomes. B...

Many describe farming in the peri-urban countryside as farming in a land of uncertainty (Brunet 2006; Bunce and Maurer 2005; Esseks et al. 2010). It is a dynamic space where change is the norm and agricultural activities compete with pressures for urbanization, turning once intact rural communities into areas of transition and instability. This cha...

Many have argued that monitoring conducted exclusively by scientists is insufficient to address ongoing environmental challenges. One solution entails the use of mobile devices in broadly-applied participatory monitoring (PM) programs. But how digital data entry affects programs with varying levels of stakeholder participation, from volunteer data...

An important component of northern research in Canada has been a strong emphasis on local participation. However, the policy and permit landscape for community participation therein is heterogeneous and presents specific challenges in promoting effective partnerships between researchers and local participants. We conducted a survey of northern rese...

We address first, the lack of documented indigenous knowledge of climate change in Nunavik, Quebec, regarding impacts on plants; and second, the frequent underutilization of indigenous knowledge in decision making and policy. Our study of three communities indicates that there are similarities and contrasts among and within different areas of Nunav...

Arctic science is often claimed to have been transformed by the increased involvement of local people, but these claims of a new research paradigm have not been empirically evaluated. We argue that the "new" participatory research paradigm emerging in Arctic science embodies many of the principles of the Mode 2 knowledge production framework. Using...

Environmental assessment (EA) has long been recognized as one of Canada's most important regulatory tools for protecting the environment while meeting the public's expectations for economic growth. The value of this process resides in its ability to provide useful information to decision-makers in an efficient and effective manner. In Canada, the f...