Deborah Simmons
Executive Director, 蓙ehdzo Got鈥櫮碧╪e台 Gots鈥檈台虂 Na虂ked谋 (Sahtu虂 Renewable Resources Board)
Dr. Deborah Simmons is trained as a social scientist specialising in social and environmental issues relating to Indigenous peoples. She was raised in the Northwest Territories and completed her doctorate in the field of Native Studies at York University. Deborah has been involved in interdisciplinary research combining traditional knowledge and science in the Sahtu虂 Region since 1999, including work for the Sahtu虂 Land Use Planning Board and De虂l谋台ne台 Uranium Team (Dene N谩ow茅r菨虂 Chets鈥檈l菨) and De虂l谋台ne台 Knowledge Project. She is Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at University of Waterloo, and Special Graduate Faculty at Trent University in Environmental and Life Sciences at Trent University. She welcomes opportunities to mentor graduate students interested in pursuing Sahtu虂-based research to support preservation of both wildlife and Dene and Me虂tis ways of life. Dr. Simmons has served as Executive Director of the 蓙ehdzo Got鈥櫮碧╪e台 Gots鈥檈台虂 Na虂ked谋 (Sahtu虂 Renewable Resources Board) since 2012. In implementing vision, goals and objectives of the Board, she remains actively involved in community-collaborative research and conservation planning. She helped to found the Ne台 K鈥櫱� Dene Ts鈥櫮碧╨谋台 (Living on the Land) Forum. She is a member of the NWT Species At Risk Committee and Canadian Mountain Network, and helps to represent the Board on the NWT Conference of Management Authorities (CMA) on Species At Risk and the Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management (ACCWM).