Alex Sousa 
Supervisor: Dr. Agnieszka Pawlowska-Mainville
Topic: Landscape, health, phenomenology 

Cheri Brown, Hlgu K'andox
Supervisor: Dr. Jessie King 

I am Cheri Brown, Hlgu K'andox of the Nisga’a First Nation. My mother originates from the Nisga’a Village of Laxgalts’ap, in the Nass Valley of BC, our traditional lands from time immemorial. Our family line is Gisk’aast, the Killer Whale Clan, and the Wilp, or House of Niisyuus. I currently live in Langley, BC on Kwantlen and Stol:o traditional unceded territory. I graduated my BA at Trinity Western University in 2014 with Great Distinction, double-majoring in Communications and Psychology and minoring in French.

I study Indigenous post-secondary student experience. I initially focused on faculty-student interaction and impact of Indigenous cultural understandings about elders. Currently I am looking at how Indigenous post-secondary students mobilize support and strategies to navigate the university experience, including factors such as resistance and alignment of culture and identity. In my research, I employ a strengths-based rather than a deficit-based approach and I apply critical theory and a story-telling conceptual framework to capture the lived experience of Indigenous students and to honour Indigenous ways of knowing. I am passionate about increasing education attainment and opportunities for Indigenous students while also working toward the broader goal of social justice, respect, and equitable treatment of Indigenous Peoples and culture in Canada. 

Eugenia Oudie
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Sims 

I am Anishnaabe /Ojibway from Waywayseecappo First Nation, Manitoba.  I reside in New Westminster, B.C.  

Thesis/Project: Walking Softly for Missing and Murdered Men and Boys: A Vision of Healing and Transformation through a Tribal Epistemology.     

Gerald Bent
Supervisors: Dr. Tina Fraser and Dr. Theresa Healy

Yeatekshenwenwen. Gerald Han skwasht.  Good day. My name is Gerald Bent. I am Two-Spirit Status Indian from the Lytton Indian Band, which is located in the traditional territory of the Nlaka’pamux Nation.  I would like to acknowledge that the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) resides on the unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh Nation.

Title of Research: Indigenous restorative justice: An investigation of Xitl'ix and the Lytton restorative justice prevention and education program. 

Levi Black-Amstutz 
Supervisor: Dr. Agnieszka Pawlowska-Mainville

Research Area: Language revitalization, traditional food systems and the use of art and ceremony to promote a holistic approach for health: spiritual, emotional, physical and mental.

Marco Antonio Medina Jr. 
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Sims 

I plan to research how recent strides towards reconciliation has played a role on Indigenization within classrooms in British Columbia, and its subsequent effect on the identity of Indigenous youths.