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NiCHE: Network in Canadian History & Environment / Nouvelle initiative canadienne en histoire de l’environnement is a Canadian-based confederation of researchers and educators who work at the intersection of nature and history. We explore the historical context of environmental matters and communicate our findings to researchers, policymakers, and the public.

Meet Our Executive

Running the network is a team effort. NiCHE is administered by an executive committee who also edit our online content, including blogs, podcasts, videos, and other resources. They are:

Heather Green

Saint Mary’s University
Editor-in-Chief, The Otter Blog

Sean Kheraj

York University

Peter Stevens

Humber College
Book Reviews Editor

Andrew Watson

University of Saskatchewan

Daniel Macfarlane

Western Michigan University

Sara Spike

Dalhousie University
Chair, Executive Committee

Nuala Caomhanach

Nuala Caomhanach

New York University | American Museum of Natural History
New Scholars Representative

Shannon Stunden-Bower

Shannon Stunden Bower

University of Alberta

Jessica DeWitt with bangs, wearing a light green shirt

Jessica DeWitt

Social Media Editor
Editor-in-Chief, The Otter Blog

Mica Jorgenson

Independent Scholar
Book Reviews Editor

James Murton

Nipissing University

Blair Stein

Clarkson University

Ramya Swayamprakash

Ramya Swayamprakash

Grand Valley State University

Meet Our Editorial Team

Our Executive is supported by an Editorial Team who edit content for our blog, edit and maintain our resource pages, and help develop new NiCHE initiatives.

Caroline C.E. Abbott, NiCHE Editor, at Grand Teton National Park

Caroline C.E. Abbott

Independent Scholar

Paul Hackett

Paul Hackett

University of Saskatchewan

NiCHE Editor, Philip Gooding

Philip Gooding

McGill University

Addie Hopes

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

NiCHE Editor Estraven Lupino-Smith

Estraven Lupino-Smith

University of British Columbia

NiCHE Editor, Isabelle Gapp

Isabelle Gapp

University of Aberdeen

Blake Butler

Blake Butler

Know History

Gabrielle McLaren

Gabrielle McLaren

Concordia University

Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller

Independent Scholar

Alex Souchen

Alex Souchen

Guelph University

Getting involved

NiCHE is first and foremost a community of people who share an interest in nature and the past. Most of our more than 400 members are Canadian, but we have many members from around the world. Most are students or scholars in some fashion, but others are government employees, environmental activists, and members of the general public. Membership is free. If you are interested in joining, please contact us via our user account request page.

Contributing to the website

The NiCHE website is a popular forum for activity and information about nature and the past in Canada. If you want to get a message out about an upcoming event, call for papers, or news item, we welcome submissions. And if you have an opinion about any issue related to nature and the past, The Otter ~ La Loutre also welcomes submissions. A complete guide for contributing to the website can be found in our Submission Guidelines page.

How we got here

NiCHE was founded in fall 2004 by a small team of scholars. Membership jumped quickly in the network’s first years, from 5 to 50 to 200, and activity accelerated apace. In 2007, NiCHE was awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Strategic Knowledge Clusters grant which provided the network with stable funding through 2015.

The executive during the Clusters years consisted of Laura Cameron, Queen’s U; Stéphane Castonguay, UQTR; Colin Coates, York U; Matthew Evenden, UBC; director Alan MacEachern, UWO; Liza Piper, U Alberta; Bill Turkel, UWO; and Graeme Wynn, UBC. The executive was supported by an Advisory Board of Stephen Bocking, Trent U; Michèle Dagenais, U Montréal; Philip Enros, Environment Canada; Tina Loo, UBC; Joy Parr, UWO; and Donald Worster, U Kansas.

NiCHE also greatly benefited by the assistance of Maude Flamand-Hubert, French-language editor of The Otter ~ La loutre, 2013-15; Josh MacFadyen, project manager, 2012-14; Jess van Horssen, Qu’est-ce qui se passe editor, 2010-12; Jim Clifford, project manager, 2010-12; Adam Crymble, webmaster, 2008-13; Shawn Day, webmaster, 2007-08; Michael Commito, McMaster U, new scholars rep, 2011-13; Lauren Wheeler, U Alberta, new scholars rep, 2011-12; Will Knight, Carleton U, new scholars rep, 2009-11; Sean Kheraj, new scholars rep, 2008-09; Jennifer Bonnell, new scholars rep, 2007-08; and Daniel Rueck, McGill U, longstanding regional networks rep.

NiCHE thrives today thanks to the commitment and creativity of all these people and the members of the network at large.

Contact us

nichecanadawebsite@gmail.com