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A Western University team has received the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity, a $100,000 federal grant to improve equity and break down systemic barriers in postsecondary research. The project proposes to create Canada’s first university Indigenous Community Research Circle (the Circle), a new framework guiding how Western engages with the priorities of Indigenous communities. Canada’s three federal research funding agencies jointly offer the award to help faculty members lead “bold and potentially game-changing initiatives.” The Circle, co-created by four Indigenous faculty and staff, and one allied faculty member, aims to empower Indigenous communities to set their own research priorities and help the university build reconciliation through research. The team includes Katie Big-Canoe, Indigenous research specialist (Western Research); Desmond Moser, Earth sciences professor and assistant dean (decolonization); Chantelle Richmond, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health and the Environment, and professor in the department of geography and environment and in the Indigenous studies program; Christy R. Bressette, vice-provost and associate vice-president (Indigenous Initiatives); and Clinton Jacobs, the Faculty of Science’s Indigenous senior advisor on science objectives, and instructor in Indigenous studies and Earth sciences. “This initiative is transformative because it will fundamentally change the way Western, as an institution, supports Indigenous research engagement and how it is operationalized within our research ecosystem,” said Big-Canoe.  

Indigenous Community Research Circle to support reconciliation through research

This new project addresses two significant concerns: the increasing volume of fragmented requests to communities for consultation or partnership and the lack of pathways for researchers to respectfully engage with Indigenous communities and organizations. These result in “unsustainable burdens” on Indigenous communities, Big-Canoe said. The Circle, which will include representatives from local First Nations, Métis and other Indigenous organizations, would give researchers a single platform for engagement and let Indigenous members identify areas of potential partnership that centre Indigenous priorities. “With the award, we can now start contacting communities to co-develop the best path and process by which they can identify research priorities and receive proposals from researchers,” Big-Canoe said.

“This will bring together academic Indigenous and allied leaders, scholars and staff to elevate Indigenous community research priorities.” – Katie Big-Canoe, Indigenous research specialist, Western Research

The project team plans to consult and co-create the Circle with local Indigenous communities over the next year before they begin shaping the Circle’s work together. “The Circle will create a sustainable, ethical process for Indigenous communities to share their priorities with Western and to choose their partnerships,” said Penny Pexman, Western’s vice-president (research). “It will result in more relevant research that fosters long-term reciprocal relationships.”  

National award supports equity in research

The Robbins-Ollivier Award, granted to just three projects nationally each year, makes the future implementation of this project possible. The Circle is the second Robbins-Ollivier Award that Western has received in the last three years. It recognizes faculty members who invest their time, expertise and experiences into improving equity within their universities and broader research communities. In 2023, Godwin Arku, now associate dean, graduate studies, in the Faculty of Social Science and a professor in the department of geography and environment, was awarded the grant for his project aimed at creating more belonging and opportunities for Black students and youth. It was inspired by a public forum where parents voiced concerns ranging from discrimination in workplaces to mental health challenges and interactions with police. Arku’s project shares a goal with Moser’s – to build new bridges between Western and communities. These projects advance Western’s strategic plan for equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and accessibility (EDIDA), launched in 2024, to guide that work across campus. The university’s commitment to reconciliation is outlined in its strategic plan, Towards Western at 150. The Circle is expected to put those commitments into practice and improve the process for future engagement with Indigenous communities. “We’re excited about the new connections that will be forged between Western and the Indigenous community, and the future research informed through the Circle,” Moser said. “It’s also important to our team to share what we’ve learned with other communities and institutions. We want to support reconciliation through research, both locally and across the country.” Learn more about how Western is navigating new realities.