Teresa Ryan

Artist, Change agent, Concerned citizen, Connector, Educator/Teacher, Environmentalist, Event planner, Filmmaker, Photographer, Producer, Scientist, Single, Writer/Editor

Teresa (Sm'hayetsk) Ryan is Gitlan, Ts'msyen (Tsimshian). Teresa has a BSc in Biology (Fisheries/Aquatic Ecology), an MSc in Natural Resource Management (Central Washington University), and PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies (University of British Columbia). She conducted field studies in Baja Norte studying epiphytes and the North Cascades studying old growth forests. She completed an internship with the Yakama Nation in helping to map their entire administrative forest on the Yakama Reservation. Dr. Ryan examined colonial dispossession of Aboriginal lands and trade for her dissertation and demonstrated how the ecologic and social harmony enjoyed by Aboriginal peoples was dismantled, with enormous costs to them, to the natural resources, and colonial society. She described how the social institutions of the Pacific Northwest Aboriginal people were connected to communities as part of a network across a heterogenous mosaic landscape. These social institutions included the feasting system, also known as “potlatch” that was the locus for social reproduction, recitation of history and law, transmission of knowledge and demonstration by the hosts of their success in stewardship of their lands, resources and people. The laws Canada enacted to erase and remove these connections to place continue to marginalize and oppress Indigenous people and First Nations communities. Teresa works with First Nations in coastal BC and participates in the Advisory Committee for Climate Action and the Environment (ACE) - an Assembly of First Nations (Ottawa) Chiefs committee. She also participates in a local Indigenous Technical Analysis Network through the First Nations Fisheries Council, and the First Nations Caucus of the Pacific Salmon Commission. Teresa is appointed to the Pacific Salmon Commission Chinook Technical Committee (Canada). She is also a Senior Policy Advisor to the Native Brotherhood of BC. At UBC she participates in Uproot (Pharmaceutical Sciences Indigenous Advisory Committee). Dr. Ryan is also a member of the Port of Vancouver ECHO Advisory Working Group. Dr. Ryan currently holds the position of Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Science Lecturer in the UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship. She has been a Research Associate, Sessional Lecturer and Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences facilitating Indigenous Natural Science at the forefront of future forest management, and exploring old growth forests in supporting protection of biodiversity while working on the Mother Tree Project (Prof. Suzanne Simard). She participates in the research of the Mother Tree Project investigating the connections and relationships between and among the many plant, fungal, avian, and wildlife species and mineral composition above and below ground contributing to forest regeneration. Teresa is currently investigating relationships between salmon and healthy forests and revitalizing traditional Indigenous stewardship in the Salmon Forest Project (funded by Donner Canadian Foundation). Her research focuses on the intersections of Ancestral Knowledge systems and science in these complex adaptive systems. She is a Producer of The Salmon Forest Project, an award nominated documentary (Bill Heath, Heath Productions). Teresa is a traditional Ts’msyen basket weaver using primarily redcedar and yellow cedar inner bark but also whole cedar bark, wild cherry bark, maple bark, cedar roots and spruce roots. All weaving materials are gathered and prepared by her including various ferns, grasses and sedges. Visit Teresa’s TEDxBerkley talk for the inspiration to her journey. She is also a photographer.

Restoring Indigenous stewardship to bring ecosystems back into balance. The last few centuries of extractive exploitation have caused significant environmental damage in many places all over the world. It has instigated wars over control of scarcity. The diminishing returns are a flashing beacon of over-consumption from systems that have capacity to regenerate themselves if they are provided the right mix of use and stewardship. The cyclic rhythms of the Earth ecosystems in tune with the celestial events of Earth’s rotation around the sun, changing seasons of the elliptical path, and the life-giving light of the sun and the moon are natural thresholds to guide extractive use while ensuring productivity of living renewable natural resources for future generations. Respecting the life of others is a defining principle of generosity, pervasive in many Indigenous worldviews. All life forms share the same air and water of the planet. Balance is restored when the natural rhythms and cycles are honored for giving life to future generations of all living things. I’m passionate about engaging a mind’s eye to new dimensions for people in places and things not often thought about, or to conceptualize something different than might have been expected. This is the joy of teaching and learning outside of the ‘box’ and in a way that advocates growth of ideas. To see thought processes in the eyes of a learner is to know inspiration has landed. I’m passionate about sharing information on biodiversity and why it’s so important to appreciate protecting it. Food production has experienced and continues to exploit mono-culture methods to the detriment of healthy soils and is producing homogeneous sterility unable to support any plant life. Forest plantations are showing the signs of productivity decline with loss of biodiversity which leads to loss of species, including extinction. Pacific salmon (and Atlantic salmon) are disappearing before our eyes and even if all fishing were stopped, they would still be on the decline because their habitat has been destroyed through land use changes, destructive logging practices, water withdrawals, and effluent sediments and toxins. Regrets once the species are gone will not be any consolation and apologies will have no meaning. Saving old growth forests is a critical way to ensure a chance to maintain biodiversity. Designating areas for secondary forests, such as actively managed plantations, would provide more certainty in production capability. Removing the shareholder dividends from the forest makes them more valuable. Trees in the forests live above and below ground, the only living thing on the planet that produces more benefits that it consumes. They consume carbon dioxide and in return produce oxygen above ground and below ground they produce sugars in exchange for water and nutrients delivered by fungal species. The trees help modulate precipitation in a watershed, provide shade in the heat and hold a hillside in place. Forests are amazing!

Everything is connected. In many of the Indigenous languages in the Pacific Northwest, there is a term for how things are connected. In Sm'algyax (Ts'msyen language) Seit goo'dm gaaud (phonectically spelled) means 'of one heart'.

Chinook salmon, colonial history, Complex Adaptive Systems, Ecology, eulachon, Feasts a.k.a. "potlatch", Forest ecology, Indigenous Knowledge, Redcedar, Yellow cedar

TED Discovery was my first interaction with TED. My postdoc supervisor at the time, Suzanne Simard, brought me with her to do a tour in a local forest explaining ecology. Stanley Park was selected because of the convenient proximity to downtown Vancouver. Suzanne and I added in an Indigenous knowledge component and we took a day to do a reconnaissance and plan our event. We had to do this because we can both talk about many things so we needed to scope the content within a reasonable time frame. It was a fun walk on the trails and picking the sites that we would profile in our exploration for patrons. As we were nearing the end of the trails, we passed by some salmonberry brambles along side the trail and I observed a hole leading to a path going through the thicket. I said, "Oh look, it's a bear path!" Suzanne, stopped in her tracks and asked, "A what?!" I said, "It's probably not a real bear path because we're in Vancouver but when we go to the central coast this summer you will see them all over the place and they will have bears at the other end of the trail. It's a path bears use to get from a stream and into the forest. When the salmon are running, they will bring their salmon to a secluded spot for eating." We did go to forests near Bella Bella, BC and indeed saw all kinds of bear paths, bear 'beds' (tamped down grass) and bear scat. Thankfully - no bears. They tend to bugger off when they hear a boat approach. We have remembered this story well. We were honored with doing a nearly annual Discovery event, sometimes both of us, sometimes me and a grad student. For two years we went to the Capilano River forest on the north shore but that was a bit steep for climbing so we returned to Stanley Park for the following events. The chance to go out into any forest is exhilarating and any opportunity to breath some fresh air in a great forest walk is always a welcome diversion. It's one thing to read about forests, and there are great stories to be read, but being in the forest provides that sense of connection to place. Experiential learning is something that remains in the soul of memory. It helps to understand the complexity of forests to actually feel the forests surrounding the mind. We are fortunate to have Stanley Park, one of the world's largest metropolitan parks. As a forest it goes through the natural seasonal cycles as the Coastal Western Hemlock forests surrounding Vancouver. It experiences drought, heat domes, and atmospheric rivers, too. In the midst of an urban city the forest of Stanley Park is soothing, refreshing, and a place for rejuvenation. Another part of my TED story is a TEDx Berkeley talk "Ancestral legacy of nature's connections" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apV0M55uF3Y. In this talk, I describe how harvesting a sedge plant the proper way is important for the protection of juvenile salmon habitat. The sedge plant, sea-sweetgrass (Schoenoplectus pungens) was the topic of my masters degree thesis. It was a demonstration of how Indigenous knowledge is applied in the use of natural resources. It has been an amazing journey to participate in TED events.

Little things, I love little things. A little gesture, a little fun, and a little bit more! No collecting though, please. I try to keep my footprint as small as possible, using biodegradable wherever I can (Love Blue Sky Clothing!). I try not to collect 'garbage' and find it strange that people are too comfortable with a big bin, usually in their kitchen under the sink. I do have one there but try not to use it by consciously not making the ingredients to fill it. I avoid using plastic bags entirely if I am grocery shopping. I think I'm good at this, but it's not 100% yet.