Come Joins us at the Venables Theatre in Oliver and learn first-hand about the Mother Tree Project – its origins, its effect on the Forestry Community, and its future, from Mother Tree Team Leader Dr. Teresa Ryan. The doors will open at 5:30 for a reception including a beverage of your choice and hors d’oeurves as well as a whole list of exciting silent auction items.
Dr. Teresa Ryan will be on stage at 7:00 so we will close the auction and the reception at 6:45 to give everyone a chance to find their seat. The Meadowlark painting for 2023 will be up for live auction after the talk.
The winning bids on the silent auction items will be announced as Dr. Teresa Ryan finishes her talk. Please be sure to take note if you hear you name and go and pay for and collect your auction item.
BIO
Dr. Teresa (Sm’hayetsk) Ryan was born into the Gitlan tribe of the Tsimshian Nation. Her research is motivated by her Aboriginal Tsimshian heritage and the guidance provided by her Grandfather to become a fisheries scientist.
She completed her PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the University of BC. Her research has focused primarily on increasing the profile and appropriate use of Ancestral Knowledge systems in sustainable management of natural resources. Her PhD dissertation is an Aboriginal perspective of Aboriginal economy with evaluation of the eco-socio linkages associated to the eulachon “Grease” producing region in north-central coastal BC.
Her current research investigates salmon fishing technology and strategies that were used to increase abundance and maintain salmon biological diversity while contributing marine-derived nitrogen to healthy coastal forests. She is currently a Teaching and Learning Fellow in the Forest and Conservation
Sciences department in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC in Vancouver. Teresa is a cedar basket weaver, learning Tsimshian cedar weaving from her Mother Bilhaam ne’ex Loa Ryan. Together they have taught several classes in traditional weaving styles
A sought-after public speaker and nation-wide media spokesperson, Dr. Ryan is one of UBC’s Think Forward alumni campaign ambassadors whose Ted Talk Ancestral legacy of nature’s connections has accumulated thousands of online views.
