Kelly Panchynshyn is a 2018-2019 Jane Glassco Northern Fellow.

Kelly was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the Traditional Territory of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation.  They are committed to deepening their understanding of challenges facing Northern peoples and will continue this work through a Master’s of Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus.

Kelly’s paper Accounting for our Plant Citizens: Proposed Collaborative Approaches for Supporting Wild Plant Harvest in Whitehorse, Yukon examines how the wild plant harvest – an important cultural practice, as well as a means of subsistence and source of recreation for the Whitehorse community – is under threat. The paper outlines three potential options for intergovernmental protection of, and support for, wild plant harvest in Whitehorse, Yukon.

The Gordon Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to protecting Canada’s water and empowering Canada’s North. Since 2010, The Foundation’s Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship has been providing northerners aged 25 to 35 with a unique opportunity to influence change in the North by participating in an 18-month policy and leadership development program.