Jennifer Sylliboy
Jennifer Sylliboy is a Mi'kmaw from Nova Scotia (the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People), and is a Lands & Culture Specialist at TWC. In her role, Jennifer is guided by her lived experience as an Indigenous person, and experience working with First Nations, industry and government groups to provide technical direction on projects using a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach, incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and western science into project deliverables. Jennifer's expertise includes Two-Eyed Seeing, Indigenous knowledge research, fisheries governance, wetlands, and aquatic research to advance stewardship.
Kyle Hilsendager
Kyle Hilsendager is the Technical Lead for Reconciliation at TWC, and also serves as Chair of the TWC Reconciliation Committee. He is a member of ‘Namgis First Nation and is motivated by a strong interest in the land and resource management challenges that affect Indigenous communities. Kyle has extensive experience representing Indigenous interests on projects relating to Reconciliation, land management and natural resource development. He has also spent over ten years teaching and developing curriculum at the post-secondary level, and has years of experience working directly with First Nations students
Melanie Demers
Melanie Demers is a Lands & Culture Specialist at TWC. She is a Kanyen’kehá:ka member of Six Nations and is Québecois. Melanie is a technical resource on reconciliation projects and regulatory services at TWC. Her past experiences as an author, facilitator, researcher, and consultant have strengthened her ability to present results and perform quantative and qualitative data analysis in many contexts. Melanie is passionate about the application of Two-Eyed Seeing in her work with Indigenous nations, and she values community, collaboration, and lifelong learning.
Amber Chong
Amber Chong is a Senior Lands & Culture Specialist with over a decade of permitting and environmental assessment experience. Through her focus on developing a shared understanding of projects and the local and social context, Amber has successfully supported collaboration between proponents and Indigenous Nations to advance Regulatory applications. Her experience working as a proponent and a technical reviewer provide Amber with a unique perspective that supports her work to advance the meaningful and holistic application of Indigenous Knowledge in Regulatory applications.
Aurora Van Buren
Aurora Van Buren is TWC's Human Environment Manager. In this capacity, she leads and supports the performance of the Lands & Culture, Engagement, Social Impact and Reconciliation Teams. Aurora has had the privilege of collaborating with Indigenous Nations across Canada to document Indigenous Knowledge for use by Indigenous Governments, as well as in consultation and Regulatory processes. Aurora as been a technical lead on both federally and provincially regulated impact assessments throughout Canada, providing expert testimony for review panels. The landscape of environmental management is rapidly changing, and Aurora has developed new assessment methods to address emerging project risks and respond to increased expectations of all parties. A proven public speaker, Aurora has also led public open houses and workshops for controversial projects.
Deanna Higginson
Deanna Higginson is a Technical Lead, Lands & Culture, with a strong background in socio-environmental, Engagement, and Regulatory-related services. She is responsible for fostering technical excellence and best practices to help support the successful delivery of projects, and the strategic growth of TWC's Lands & Culture service area and team. Deanna is passionate about working at the interface of Indigenous Knowledge and western science, and has given presentations and papers on the subject. From community-based Indigenous Knowledge and Use studies to collaboratively preparing environmental assessments with Indigenous Nations, Deanna has acted as a technical lead and reviewer for several different types of cross-cultural projects. Deanna's experience spans a variety of sectors (e.g., mining, public, transportation, oil and gas, and renewable energy), Regulatory jurisdictions (e.g., BC EAO, YESAB, IAAC, VFPA's PER) and areas (e.g., British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta, Ontario, Washington State).
Draco Recalma
Draco Recalma is a two-spirit person from the pentl'ach and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm nations, and an Environmental & Social Analyst at TWC. In his role, Draco has expertise in GBA+ and intersectional analyses, OCAP® compliant research, Indigenous research methods, and Indigenous engagement/issues tracking for Indigenous interests assessments.
Heidi Klein
Heidi Klein, Senior Consultant, has over 30 years experience in all matters related to environmental assessment and management including project assessment, human and community well-being related evaluations, legislation and policy advisor, Indigenous knowledge collection and inclusion in decision-making, and Indigenous and stakeholder relations. Heidi has a technical foundation in wildlife biology, land use planning, environmental assessment, and facilitation / mediation. Currently, she is focusing on legislation advice, Socio-economic effects of projects, poverty evaluations including programs and measures intended to improve economic opportunities, and Indigenous knowledge inclusion in decision-making relying on her experience in Indigenous knowledge collection and wildlife biology.
Hereward Longley
Hereward Longley is a Technical Lead, Lands and Culture at TWC. Hereward serves as a discipline lead navigating federal and provincial impact assessment legislation and working to collaboratively apply Indigenous Knowledge to inform the impact assessment process. He works with a range of Métis, First Nation, industry, and government clients on Indigenous land and Knowledge, impact assessment, and historical research projects. Hereward's doctorate in environmental history focused on environmental policy, Indigenous history, and land and resource management issues in the Alberta oil sands region