Deborah McGregor

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| name = Deborah McGregor

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| birth_place = Birch Island, Ontario, Canada

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| nationality = Whitefish River First Nation, Canadian

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| spouse = Steve

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| education = BSc., University of Toronto
MES, York University
PhD., 2000, Forestry, University of Toronto

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| thesis_title = From exclusion to co-existence: aboriginal participation in Ontario forest management planning.

| thesis_url = http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape2/PQDD_0016/NQ53738.pdf

| thesis_year = 2000

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| discipline = Environmental Studies

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| workplaces = University of Toronto
Osgoode Hall Law School

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| main_interests = Indigenous Knowledge Systems

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Deborah B. McGregor (Anishinaabe) is a Canadian academic and environmentalist.{{Cite web |title=Deborah McGregor |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/deborah-mcgregor |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}} She is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at Osgoode Hall Law School. In 2023, the University of Calgary announced that McGregor had been awarded a Canada Excellence Research Chair at their institution. The start date remains to be announced.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-21 |title=UCalgary awarded 2 prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chairs {{!}} News {{!}} University of Calgary |url=https://ucalgary.ca/news/ucalgary-awarded-2-prestigious-canada-excellence-research-chairs |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=ucalgary.ca |language=en}}

Early life and education

An Ojibway person from Whitefish River First Nation, McGregor was born in Birch Island, Ontario, to Elder Marion McGregor.{{cite web |author1=Ainslie Cruickshank |title=Addressing on-reserve water issues needs more than infrastructure, money |url=https://ipolitics.ca/2016/04/11/addressing-on-reserve-water-issues-needs-more-than-infrastructure-money/ |website=ipolitics.ca |accessdate=January 30, 2020 |date=April 11, 2016}}{{cite web |title=Biidwewidamoog Anishinaabe-Ogimaakwewag: Mnidoo Mnising Neebing gah Bizh'ezhiwaybuck 2019 |url=http://activehistory.ca/2019/09/aanikoobijiigan-baswewe-anishinaabekwe-ogimaawiwin-mnidoo-mnising-neebing-gah-bizhezhiwaybuck-2019/ |website=activehistory.ca |accessdate=January 30, 2020 |date=September 20, 2019}} She earned her PhD in Forestry from the University of Toronto.{{cite book |author1=Damien Short |author2=Corinne Lennox |title=Handbook of Indigenous Peoples' Rights |date=February 5, 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136313868 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L1GFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR13 |accessdate=January 30, 2020}}

Career

After earning her PhD, McGregor was an assistant professor in Aboriginal Studies and Geography at the University of Toronto where she also served as Interim Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives.{{cite web |title=PROGRAM INFORMATION 2011–12 |url=http://sites.utoronto.ca/abs/new/info.html |website=utoronto.ca |accessdate=October 24, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024194829/http://sites.utoronto.ca/abs/new/info.html |archivedate=October 24, 2019}} McGregor also worked at Environment Canada-Ontario Region as a Senior Policy Advisor.{{cite web |title=Deborah McGregor presents the 2019 Katherine A.H. Graham Lecture on Indigenous Policy |url=https://carleton.ca/fpa/cu-events/2019-kgl-deborah-mcgregor/ |website=carleton.ca |accessdate=January 30, 2020}} In 2010, McGregor co-edited "Indigenous Peoples and Autonomy: Insights for a Global Age" with Mario Blaser, Ravi De Costa, and William D. Coleman.{{cite journal |last1=Guillermo |first1=Delgado-P |title=The Practice of Autonomy by Indigenous Peoples |journal=Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies |date=July 3, 2015 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=146–154 |doi=10.1080/17442222.2015.1034435 |s2cid=142721209 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0sd6w53q }}

McGregor was promoted to a full-time faculty member at Osgoode Hall Law School on July 1, 2015.{{cite web |title=Osgoode announces three new full-time faculty appointments |url=https://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/news/osgoode-announces-three-new-faculty-appointments-this-year/ |website=osgoode.yorku.ca |accessdate=August 13, 2019}} The next year, she was renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice,{{cite web |title=York University gains six new and two renewed Canada Research Chairs |url=http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2016/02/09/york-university-gains-six-new-and-two-renewed-canada-research-chairs/ |website=yfile.news.yorku.ca |accessdate=October 24, 2019 |date=February 9, 2016}} which allowed her to continue working on York's Indigenous Environmental Justice Project.{{cite web|title=Indigenous Environmental Justice Project offers unparalleled resource|url=https://research.info.yorku.ca/2018/01/indigenous-environmental-justice-project-offers-unparalleled-resource/|website=osgoode.yorku.ca|accessdate=January 30, 2020|date=January 12, 2018|archive-date=January 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130143551/https://research.info.yorku.ca/2018/01/indigenous-environmental-justice-project-offers-unparalleled-resource/|url-status=dead}} Her research focus is understanding Indigenous environmental justice through a lens of unity between humanity and the environment.{{cite web |title=Indigenous environmental justice works to turn long-standing stewardship into recognized governance |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/earth-day-indigenous-scientists-academics-and-community-members-take-the-lead-in-environmental-causes-1.4605336/indigenous-environmental-justice-works-to-turn-long-standing-stewardship-into-recognized-governance-1.4605340 |website=cbc.ca |accessdate=January 30, 2020 |date=April 19, 2018}}

In 2018, McGregor and co-editors Jean-Paul Restoule and Rochelle Johnston published "Indigenous Research: Theories, Practices, and Relationships," a book exploring research methodologies centred in Indigenous worldviews.{{cite web |last1=Hele |first1=Karl |title=Book review: Indigenous Research: Theories, Practices, and Relationships |url=https://anishinabeknews.ca/2018/12/03/book-review-indigenous-research-theories-practices-and-relationships/ |website=anishinabeknews.ca |accessdate=November 8, 2019 |date=December 3, 2018}} She also sat on the Assembly of First Nations Advisory Committee on Climate Action and the Environment and attended the "Reconnecting with Mother Earth" gathering with 80 Elders and youth.{{cite web |title=Colonialism and Climate Change: Deborah McGregor Calls for More Indigenous Input |url=https://newsroom.carleton.ca/2019/colonialism-and-climate-change-deborah-mcgregor-calls-for-more-indigenous-input/ |website=carleton.ca |accessdate=November 8, 2019 |date=June 11, 2019}}

Her research focuses on Indigenous knowledge systems and how they can be applied for water and environmental governance, environmental justice, forest policy and management, and sustainable development.{{Cite web |last=York University |date=n.d. |title=Deborah McGregor |url=https://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty-and-staff/mcgregor-deborah/ }}

Personal life

McGregor and her husband Steve have two sons together.{{cite web |title=Deborah McGregor |url=http://muskratmagazine.com/author/deborahmacgregor/ |website=muskratmagazine.com|date=4 March 2013 }}

Journal Publications

From 'Trust' to 'Trustworthiness': Retheorizing dynamics of trust, distrust and water security in North America. (2022). Environment and Planning E. Nature and Space. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/25148486221101459
Exposing the myths of household water insecurity in the global north: A critical review. (2020). Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 7 (6). http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1486
Including Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Environmental Assessment: Restructuring the Process. (2019). Global Environmental Politics 19 (3), 120-132. http://dx/doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00519
Mino-Mnaamodzawin: Achieving Indigenous Environmental Justice in Canada. (2018). Environment and Society 9 (1). https://doi.org./10.3167/ares.2018.090102
Reconciliation and environmental justice. (2018). Journal of Global Ethics 14 (2). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2018.1507005
Shifting the Framework of Canadian Water Governance through Indigenous Research Methods: Acknowledging the Past with an Eye on the Future. (2018). Water 10 (1), 49. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w10010049
Source Water Protection Planning for Ontario First Nations Communities: Case Studies Identifying Challenges and Outcomes. (2017). Water 9 (7), 50. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w9070550
Recommendations for marine herring policy change in Canada: Aligning with Indigenous legal and inherent rights. (2016). Marine Policy 74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.09.007
Traditional Ecological Knowledge: An Anishinaabe Woman's Perspective. (2005). Atlantis 29 (2). https://journals.msvu.ca./index.php/atlantis/article/view/1057
Coming Full Circle: Indigenous Knowledge, Environment, and Our Future. (2004). American Indian Quarterly 28 (3/4), 385-410. https://jstor.org/stable/4138924

Books

Indigenous Research: Theories, Practices, and Relationships (Canadian Scholars' Press, 2018). ISBN 9781773380858
Indigenous Peoples and Autonomy: Insights for a Global Change (UBC Press, 2011). ISBN 9780774817936

Contributions to books

"COVID-19 and First Nations' Responses," In Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19 (University of Ottawa Press, 2020).
"Truth Be Told: Redefining Relationships through Indigenous Research," In Renewing Relationships: Indigenous Peoples and Canada (Indigenous Law Centre, 2019).
"All Our Relations : climate change storytellers," in Rising tides : reflections for climate changing times (Caitlin Press, 2019).