Tristan COOK is a first year Masters student studying under the supervision of Dr. Silvia Sarapura in the Rural Planning and Development thesis program at the University of Guelph. He is also part of Dr. Sarapura’s Braiding Food Systems project, a collaborative initiative between researchers and Ojibwe First Nations communities in Northern Ontario that aims to re-localize and co-develop seed systems in order to strengthen food security and Indigenous food sovereignty through community-led action.
Tristan’s research builds on the project’s goals but shifts the focus to traditional, wild staple foods, in particular wild blueberries. Participating Ojibwe communities have noted a marked decline in wild blueberries in recent years due to climate change, extreme weather conditions and land use pressures. Wild blueberries are vital in supporting not only Indigenous lifeways but broader ecological relationships within Northern Ontario’ boreal forest ecosystem. Native pollinator species are also disappearing across Canada. While their status in Northern Ontario is understudied, it is known that many species have mutually beneficial relationships with blueberries, making both of crucial conservation value.
Tristan’s research aims to identify how the loss of wild blueberry plants in Northern Ontario affects local pollinator networks and what impact this has on First Nations communities’ food security and food sovereignty. He addresses this by documenting, analysing, and strengthening the interconnected relationships among wild blueberries, pollinators, and Northern Ontario Ojibwe communities. He will take the first steps to conserve wild blueberries and their associated pollinators within participating First Nations communities, and the findings of his sequential research objectives will be integrated in ways that respect and value community leadership and interdependence among humans, plants, and pollinators while recommending culturally and ecologically restorative strategies.
