AN IMPACT-DRIVEN NONPROFIT
THE TREBEK INITIATIVE
We support a community of emerging Canadian storytellers, scientists
and conservation leaders whose work helps Canadians better
understand the country they share and the importance of preserving it.
WE INVEST IN PEOPLE, NOT JUST PROJECTS
Behind every project is someone driven by curiosity and passion. We believe lasting impact begins with people.
By providing early funding and guidance, we help emerging storytellers, scientists and conservation leaders
turn promising ideas into work that informs research, strengthens conservation and engages Canadians.
56
PROJECTS FUNDED
13
PROVINCES & TERRITORIES
5
YEARS OF DISCOVERY
"My role is to weave Western and Indigenous knowledge together so that I'm learning from them and they're learning from me.
It's all about trust, and that trust continues to grow as more communities share in these burning practices."
2023 Trebek Grantee - Kira Hoffman
Fighting Fire with Food
Trebek Grantees are documenting environmental and cultural change as it unfolds.
Together, their work is creating a growing record of change across Canada.
▼ Explore the map to learn more about each project ▼
Project Focus Area:
Land
Water
Wildlife
History & Culture
See how individual projects connect to a bigger picture of change in Canada.
TRACKING THE FORCES SHAPING CANADA
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EXPLORE BY SUBJECT
LAND
Fire is changing the composition of forests and the ways communities manage them.
Kira Hoffman works with the Gitanyow Nation to study cultural burning and forest renewal.
Dorian Gaboriau uses lake sediments to trace the long-term impact of fire on forest recovery.
Ellen Whitman studies where forests struggle to recover after wildfire.
Wildfire and Forest Change
Logging is reducing some of Canada’s oldest forests, along with
the habitat and ecological records they hold.
Featured work: TJ Watt | Annie Sakkab
Living in a Warming Arctic
Thawing permafrost, coastal erosion, and shifting treelines are altering
northern landscapes and the communities connected to them.
Featured work: Kaitlyn Van De Woestyne | Jenine Otto | Raquel Alfaro Sánchez
Forces Beneath the Surface
Volcanic caves and newly discovered faults are revealing
geological forces shaping the land beneath our feet.
Featured work: Christian Stenner | Edwin Nissen
Empowering the Next Generation
Young people and Indigenous researchers are taking a more active role
in developing and applying environmental knowledge.
Featured work: Kehkashan Basu | Jessica Kolopenuk
Ancient Forests Under Pressure
WATER
Rising temperatures are reshaping coastal ecosystems and the life they support.
Brian Timmer retraces past surveys to reveal 50 years of kelp forest loss in the Salish Sea.
Nicolas Winkler documents eelgrass ecosystems as they change across seasons.
Liam Brennan studies how warming waters are reshaping the Bay of Fundy food web.
Warming Waters
As the North warms, glaciers retreat, sea ice becomes less predictable and thawing permafrost releases contaminants into freshwater. These changes are reshaping northern waters and the people who depend on them.
Featured work: Anna Crawford | Bruno Tremblay | Kasia Staniszewska
Life Beneath the Surface
Much of aquatic life remains out of sight. Research beneath the water is
revealing unfamiliar ecosystems and changes that are hard to detect.
Featured work: Andrew Budziak | Ryan Eagleson | Nicole Holman | Yvonne Drebert | Alexander Dungate
Where Water Shapes Life
Access to freshwater and life along the St. Lawrence reflect
water's profound role in community life.
Featured work: Sara Hylton | M'Hammed Kilito
Freshwater Recovery
Forests can regrow after logging, but nearby streams may
carry its effects for decades.
Featured work: Dalal Hanna
As Northern Ice Retreats
WILDLIFE
Changing habitats can alter where wildlife travels and whether familiar migration routes remain viable.
Malkolm Boothroyd follows the return of the Fortymile caribou herd in the Yukon.
Isabelle Groc follows shorebirds' coastal migration on the East and West coasts.
Kateri Monticone documents corridors that help wildlife move across the Northeast.
Wildlife Migration
Rising temperatures and nutritional deficiencies can affect wildlife long before populations decline.
Featured work: Zenon Czenze | Susan Kutz
Sharing Space with Wildlife
As human activity reaches further into wildlife habitat,
encounters with animals are becoming harder to avoid.
Featured work: Mitch Bowmile | Mônica Taís Engel | Samantha Stephens
Salmon Under Pressure
Wild salmon face threats throughout their lives, in freshwater and at sea. Understanding these pressures can inform recovery and management efforts.
Featured work: Nick Hawkins | Sara Cannon | Robert Masaki Hechler
Reading Wildlife
Wildlife behaviour and health can signal early signs
of environmental change.
Featured work: Ryan Tidman | Scott Parent | Rhiannon Kirton
The Hidden Lives of Animals
Much of animal life happens beyond our view. Research is bringing
rarely observed behaviour and organisms into focus.
Featured work: Camille Martel | Valeria Vergara | Ariel Waldman
Wildlife Recovery
Fewer than 30 Vancouver Island marmots once remained in the wild. Recovery efforts are helping the species return to places where it had disappeared.
Featured work: Ryan Tidman
Species Health Under Stress
HISTORY & CULTURE
Physical traces preserved in the land are revealing stories that reach far into the past.
Taylor Roades documents ancient ice patch artefacts emerging as alpine ice melts.
Kirsten Kennedy uses LiDAR and Indigenous stories to map deep history in Georgian Bay.
Ancient Worlds Revealed
Victoria Arbour searches northern BC for dinosaur fossils that reveal its ancient past.
Inuit knowledge and women’s accounts are bringing overlooked stories of Arctic history into the record.
Featured work: Shelly Elverum | Jessica Houston
Food, Land and Identity
In northern communities, access to country food remains closely connected to culture and relationships with the land.
Featured work: Patrick Kane
Living Landscapes
Indigenous knowledge brings generations of observation to questions about how landscapes and wildlife are changing today.
Featured work: Maia Wikler | Sam Rose Phillips | Michael Christopher Brown
A Changing Sense of Place
Environmental loss and growing tourism can change more than a landscape. They can alter what it means to call a place home.
Featured work: Amy Romer | Melissa Renwick
Rewriting the Record
The 2025 Impact Report explores how Trebek Grantees are sharing important discoveries from the field with audiences across Canada.
Read the 2025 Impact Report.
2025 IMPACT REPORT
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