Research Interests

My research interests include ethnobotany, mycology, natural product chemistry and Aboriginal health. I am especially concerned with organismal and chemical diversity and their intersection with human and environmental health. I am interested in Indigenous peoples’ worldviews and their use of ecosystem resources to maintain health and wellness, particularly plants and fungi used in traditional medicine. In the last 10 years, I have taken an active role in Aboriginal health research, including Indigenous medicinal systems, food security, environmental health, research ethics, and Indigenous research methodologies. Through my research program, I have addressed health issues affecting Aboriginal people (e.g., environmental contaminants in traditional foods; impact of indoor moulds in Aboriginal housing). I strive to integrate interprofessional research practices and education, and merge Indigenous knowledge traditions and Western academic disciplinary positions and cultural contexts, while maintaining academic rigor. By doing so, I embrace values of respect, tolerance and diversity in my research and education  involvement.

Research Projects

• ecological and socio-economic intensification for food security in smallholder agriculture in the Andes, Peru
• assessment of indoor moulds in Aboriginal housing and impacts on  health
• identification of potential sources of bioactive molecules from BC fungi
• impacts of environmental contaminants on traditional marine foods and  medicines
• antioxidant activities, total phenolic content, and antimicrobial properties of BC native plants and entomogenous fungi
• evaluation of plants with mercury chelating  properties