About Lisa

Lisa is a Canadian of northern European descent. She was born and continues to live and work on the unceded, ancestral lands of the Anishinabe people. She and her partner raise four humans who are now young adults and teenagers. Lisa loves to bike, walk, and be in nature. She has been a vegetarian/vegan for 35 years for environmental and ethical reasons.

Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Ottawa. Her SSHRC-funded doctoral research asked how teachers unlearn colonialism. Specifically, Lisa asked how teachers unlearn colonialism, moving from a space of “learning about” Indigenous people to a place of “learning with and from” them. After completeing her PhD, he was a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Tricia McGuire-Adams, who was an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Ganandawisiwin (Good Health) Sovereignties.

Prior to her Ph.D., Lisa completed her Masters of Education. Her thesis examined the movement for education for reconciliation across Quebec before and during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. She worked with incredible teachers doing grassroots activist work during this project.

During her PhD studies, Lisa was the lead researcher on Just because we're small doesn't mean we can't stand tall: Reconciliation education in the elementary school classroom. This SSHRC-funded, multi-year project was a collaboration between the Faculty of Education and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. The project led to the creation of the Spirit Bear Virtual School for teachers, including a curriculum, learning gudies, and video series.

Prior to becoming a professor, Lisa taught for many years at Pierre Elliott Trudeau School in Gatineau, Quebec, where she taught diverse learners from Canada, around the world, and from Eeyou Istchee, Nunavut, Kiigan Zibi, and Rapid Lake. It was her students that taught her how to teach. During her time as a classroom teacher, Lisa was a mentor-coach to over twenty teachers. In 2018, Lisa was honoured to receive three awards that recognized her years of teaching: a “Partner in Indigenous Education” Award from Indspire; a Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching; and a Teaching Excellence Award from the Western Quebec School Board.

Currently, Lisa is a professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, and a researcher with Dr. Dwayne Donald, Canada research Chair in Reimaging Teacher Education with Indigenous Wisdom Traditions.

Since 2014, she has been a member of Ottawa Teachers for Social Justice and a Member of the Governing Circle with Justice for Indigenous Women. From 2016-17, Lisa appreciated being part of The Secret Path Education Advisory Group. From 2017-2018, Lisa was honoured to be on the Indigenous Advisory Group at the National Film Board of Canada as well as the Canadian Geographic Society Indigenous Map of Canada Education Advisory Group. She is one of the co-founders of “ReimagineCanada(day)-the bike or virtual tour around Ottawa. She has learned so much from all the inspired educators she has met through this work.