Profiles | Martina Paloheimo

Graduate Researcher | PhD Student

Martina is a PhD Candidate in the Human Geography department at Queen’s University with Dr. Heather Castleden in Health, Environment, and Communities Lab. She is passionate about bridging understanding between Indigenous Knowledge and Western perspectives. Martina originally graduated from Dalhousie university with Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Environmental Studies. After travelling, tree-planting, and living in South America. She went on to complete her Master’s in international Peace Studies at Trinity College in Dublin, where she examined the intersection of Indigenous Issues and environmental issues through resource development conflicts in Canada and Brazil. Her current research is looking at Critical Geographies of living well (Buen Vivir) in the Ecuadorian Amazon where she is examining decolonial knowledge production, power in neocolonial extractive landscapes, feminist political ecology and geographies of peace. She is working in collaboration and partnership with members of the Indigenous Shuar Community through community-based participatory research to preserve their ancestral territory and traditional ecological knowledge located in and around the Kutukú-Shaimi Forest of the Ecuadorian Amazon reserve called: Inisha Nunka “Grandmother’s Mother Earth.” Her PhD work is activist oriented looking to help protect Shuar knowledge and territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon against rising transitional (Canadian) mining interests in the area. Prior to her PhD work she was a mediator and peacebuilder. Martina worked across both Irish as well as across the Latin American-Caribbean contexts in environmental, human rights, violent conflict reduction and Indigenous issues. She spent time working and living in Peru, Haiti, Ireland and Brazil. Her research aims to promote both Indigenous livelihoods, reconciliation and planetary health. 

She is also working to support their Community Based Eco-Tourism Projects, as well as development of a University Course Field school, and broader Foundation founded by the Shuar for Indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon and stewardship of their forests. You can check out our project at Inishanunka.org