Lauren King

PhD Candidate, Environment and Resource Studies

Biography

Lauren King

My name is Lauren King, and I am a second-generation settler Canadian. My maternal grandparents, Ivy Brown and George Davies, immigrated from England and settled in Simcoe, Ontario, and my paternal grandparents, William King and Eva Hyde, immigrated from Japan and England and moved to Edmonton, Alberta. My parents are Elaine Davies and William King.听听

I was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario on Head of the Lake Purchase Treaty No. 14 land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and Mississaugas of the Credit. I now live in Somba K鈥櫭 (Yellowknife), Denendeh (Northwest Territories) on Treaty 8 territory of the D毛nes懦艂谋n茅 and M茅tis with my husband, Sean Magee, and our wonderful daughter鈥檚 Isla and Ivy King.听听

I began my PhD in 2013 in the School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability. My research is with the 艁uts毛l K鈥櫭 Dene First Nation on the establishment of Thaidene N毛n茅 Indigenous Protected Area as an expression of 艁uts毛l K鈥櫭 self-determination. I took a three-year hiatus from my formal studies to work as the Manager of the Wildlife, Lands, and Environment Department for the Lutsel K鈥檈 Dene First Nation. As the Manager, I had the privilege of working on a wide range of activities including land-based programming, a guardian program, stewardship planning, wildlife co-management, a community-based digital archive, environmental assessments, and regulatory processes. During this time, my husband and I welcomed our first daughter, Isla, in summer 2017. In 2019, my family and I moved to Somba K鈥櫭 where I continued to support 艁uts毛l K鈥櫭 and work on my PhD until our second daughter, Ivy, arrived. I recently began working for the Territorial Government as a Protected Areas Management Planner in November 2021. I am currently inactive but plan on resuming my studies on a part-time basis.

Research interests

Indigenous protected and conserved areas, protected areas co-governance, Indigenous self-determination, decolonization, community-based participatory research.

My research interests center around relationships. My dissertation research focuses on the relationship between Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and Indigenous self-determination; between Crown and Indigenous governments; between settler and Indigenous participant-researchers.听听

Research highlights

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