Staff Spotlight

Ashleigh (Ash) Duffy, MES, BSc

Associate, Interdisciplinary Environmental Specialist

Ash is an interdisciplinary environmental specialist focused on human–environment systems, with expertise in translating complex research into practical terms. She brings multi‑sector experience spanning academia, government, engineering, Indigenous‑led projects: recently synthesizing fire regime findings, developing burn‑model infographics, and teaching conservation biology at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Her skills of investigation, program management, and communication come from 7 years researching with the national Global Water Futures program at the University of Saskatchewan. This included roles with Prairie Water, the Integrated Modelling Program for Canada, and the overarching GWF synthesis. Engaging with researchers and residents alike, Ash found a niche connecting multiple ways of knowing to build community‑based models. In 2021, she received the SENS Graduate Award of Excellence for her social science research on place‑based narratives.

Ash's work is grounded by time in the field: conducting hydrometric monitoring, agronomic trials, bioacoustics, forest surveys, and more. She thanks the patient Elders of Mistawasis, the Saskatchewan River Delta, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, and Muskeg Lake, for their lessons on water, medicine, stewardship, and good fire.

Ash holds a Master of Environment and Sustainability from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Science in Freshwater Sciences from the University of British Columbia.