Education student explores environmental science through I-STEAM Pathways

Alyssa-Mae Laviolette had a demanding career in marketing and event planning, and had just started a business degree when the pandemic hit. Suddenly, her hectic work life ground to a halt and she found herself with a lot of time on her hands.

Artistically inclined, she began doing beadwork, a traditional artform in her Denesuline culture, and thinking about the future. Laviolette had been struggling with burn-out and realized she wasn’t enjoying her career as she once had. “I wasn’t feeling satisfied working in business,” she says. “I wanted to help others, to use my voice.” It was time to make a change, but Laviolette wasn’t sure what that change should be.

She gained clarity when her nation, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, hired her to provide virtual beading workshops to members stuck at home during the pandemic. It reminded her how much she enjoyed teaching other people and that her calm, patient manner made her good at it. “I thought, ‘You know, maybe this is something I could do.’ ” With a keen interest in environmental science, she could picture herself delivering land-based education, in particular.

She applied to do a Bachelor of Education through the University of Alberta’s Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP) and was accepted. This fall Laviolette will start her third year, but this summer she is exploring her interest in environmental science through the I-STEAM Pathways program, which helps First Nations, Métis and Inuit students at the U of A explore career possibilities with summer internships.

Laviolette is particularly interested in water issues as the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is directly downstream from the Kearl Oil Sands. After the pandemic, she worked for a non-profit called the Keepers of the Water and sat on the Athabasca Watershed Council. Amazingly, I-STEAM Pathways was able to place her in the lab of Dr. Jennifer Nafziger, a professor of water resources engineering who has conducted a great deal of research near the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and actually knows some of Laviolette’s family members. “What are the odds?” she says.

At the moment, she is contributing to a project examining the causes of the flooding of Katlodeeche First Nation and Hay River a few years ago. Laviolette has been gathering historical data from satellite imaging to track changes in water levels at Hay-Zama Lake, which Hay River passes through on its journey north to the Arctic Ocean.

Laviolette is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to water research and learn about environmental science, which she plans to study after finishing her Bachelor of Education degree. The I-STEAM Pathways program has also connected her to a community of Indigenous scholars and students, which has buoyed her confidence.

“It makes such a big difference to have people believe in you,” she says. “Having support and respect, and being in spaces where you can be yourself, is so impactful.”