Kate Ballegooyen

Biography

Kate Ballegooyen is the Environment and YESAA (Yukon Environment and Socio-economic Assessment Act) Coordinator for Kluane First Nation. She studied geography and ecological restoration at UBC and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Environmental Management. While her main focus is environmental assessment work for KFN, Kate is also involved in KFNs many renewable energy projects. Currently, she is working as a project manager for KFNs N’tsi (wind) energy project, which will be constructed in Summer 2019. She is dedicated to community building and believes that working collaboratively will enable the transition to clean, community-owned energy systems.

Additionally, Kate works to facilitate research projects throughout the KFN Traditional Territory. More specifically, KFN has partnered with DFO, Yukon Governments Water Resources Branch and Environment and Climate Change Canada to research and assess potential ecological impacts of climate change and hydrological change to Kluane Lake. The goal of this project is to establish baseline information on groundwater discharge around Kluane Lake so that the impacts of climate change and lake level change can be better understood with respect to salmon spawning habitat.

Kate is currently working on a collaborative research partnership with Yukon College, University of Ottawa, AICRB and AINA, called “Bringing Research Home.” This project is in the early stages of development and the key objective is to allow KFN to drive the research agenda and to create the necessary protocols, tools (ie. maps and databases), and processes (ie. youth and community engagement) for conducting research in the traditional territory of the KFN. The resulting protocols and/or research agreements may be used as models for other First Nations to adapt. This Project was conceived in response to a long history of ongoing dialogue to develop research protocols and priorities in KFN.

KFN is one of the smallest First Nations and sees partnerships with researchers, other governments and organizations as invaluable.

Prior to working for Kluane, Kate worked as an Urban Forester for the City of Coquitlam.

Boards and Committees

Co-Chair of Kluane Lake Research Station – Research and Education Advisory Committee