On April 27, deans of science and other senior representatives of Science Atlantic member institutions welcomed special guest speaker, Leah ML Creaser (she/her/nekm). Leah, an Acadia Masters student and an NSCC instructor, is working to address the lack of Indigenous perspectives in science education by introducing the concept of Etuaptmumk, two-eyed seeing, which means learning to view both Mi’kmaw and Western knowledge together.
Leah created a science lab based on Mi’kmaw traditional knowledge that has now become part of the core biology course for first-year science students. Leah presented her work titled: “Braiding Knowledge Systems in Academia; initial conversations leading to continued communication, collaboration, and work.” The presentation was an overview of Leah’s own journey with knowledge systems including her interactions with academia as a knowledge system with its foundation in western systems.
Chair, Dr. David Gray thanked Leah warmly for her presentation and immediately invited her back for a follow-up meeting to have an open discussion.
You can also read about her work in this CBC article.
