Steph Woodworth

Steph Woodworth (they/them) is a trans, non-binary white settler, English on their father's side and German on their mother's. They grew up in northwestern Ontario, in the town of Dryden (in Treaty 3). Dryden is known to many as the hub of mercury poisoning for Grassy Narrows First Nation and Whitedog First Nation (in the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations). The Dryden pulp and paper mill poisoned the English-Wabigoon River system and continues to impact all First Nations communities downstream of Dryden.

Steph is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa, co-supervised by Dr. Sonia Wesche and Dr. Andrew Spring. They are also working as Project Director at Northern Youth Leadership, a charity-based organization in the Northwest Territories that runs land-based programs for northern youth. They completed their BKIN and MSc in Kinesiology at the University of Toronto. For their doctoral research, Steph explores on-the-land camps in the Northwest Territories, which educate and engage northern youth. Specifically, they used photovoice during on-the-land camps with northern youth to capture their experiences of land-based education and their concerns of, and priorities for, changes happening in their communities. In their personal and professional life, Steph works to foster opportunities for youth to connect with the Land, build self-confidence, improve mental health and wellbeing, participate in safe spaces, and strengthen peer networks. Overall, Steph is deeply passionate about empowering and educating youth to be land-based leaders.

Email / Courriel : swood048[at]uottawa.ca

Research Project:

Evaluating on-the-land camps with Indigenous youth, Elders, and scientists in the Dehcho

Steph Woodworth is collaborating with Dehcho First Nations, Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation, and Northern Water Futures to implement and evaluate community-led on-the-land camp programming. By working with Indigenous youth, we are exploring how on-the-land camps create a space to connect them to the land, their culture, knowledge, language, and ways of life, while also providing a space for them to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing programming. Through experience with Indigenous youth camp participants, collaboration with community partners, and based on gaps in the literature, we have identified three iterative research questions: (R1) What is the landscape of youth focused land-based education (LBE) programming in the Northwest Territories? (R2) How do on-the-land camps in the NWT facilitate and build relationships between Indigenous youth and the land? (R3) How can the concerns and priorities of local Indigenous youth be addressed to build more resilient and sustainable LBE programming in the NWT? Using a community-based, participatory action research approach, this research is responsive to the practical concerns of partner communities through active collaboration and co-learning, and values Indigenous Knowledge systems, worldviews, cultures, and experiences. Our research involves the use of mixed-methods and activities at youth-focused camps with partners in the Dehcho region. Watch Steph’s Decho Youth Ecology and Traditional Knowledge Camp videos here: https://dehcho.org/resource-management/youth-camps/dehcho-youth-ecology-camp/