BRIEF BIO
Erin Latham
I’ve spent the last decade working on Indigenous marine resource stewardship, including launching and developing a new shellfish aquaculture company for the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Nation on the central coast of British Columbia (www.kawatsiShellfish.ca). Along with the hands-on learning from both within Band administration and an economic development corporation, I’ve been finishing my PhD research which has focused on the governance of the aquaculture industry and the interests of First Nations as set by their pathways of self-determination.
I started my career in biology & ecology, and at one point in my undergraduate degree, I had to make a choice between studying fisheries or studying bears. I chose to follow the steps (and hair!) of the bears, and I got my first job on a bear project in Montana. After doing research in the Canadian Rockies & the Russian Far East, and a Master’s degree in Geographic Information Sciences, I was keen to return back to BC & the west coast, and focus on matters related to ocean conservation and sustainable, community-based resource development.
Originally from Vancouver, I am a fourth-generation Canadian settler with northern European heritage, and it’s a privilege living on the traditional territories of the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples. I’m passionately committed to supporting Indigenous authority and decision-making in their self-governance and co-governance arrangements.