What is Blue Sky Research Lab?
We are a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous interdisciplinary students and people from Indigenous communities, led by Nêhiyaw scholar Dr. Paulina Johnson. We work at the University of Alberta.
We collaborate with Indigenous communities and individuals to amplify their voices, past and present. Our work focuses on amplifying Indigenous futures by making knowledge accessible and contributing to the decolonization work led by Indigenous Peoples.
Dr. Paulina Johnson
Hi, I am Dr. Paulina Johnson, Sipihkokisikowiskwêw, Blue Sky Woman, and Nêhiyaw, Four-Spirit or Plains Cree. I am a citizen of Nipisihkopahk, Samson Cree Nation, in Maskwacis, AB.
I am the daughter of Paul and Luci Johnson and the granddaughter of Chris Johnson, Ginger Wildcat, the late Fred Hodgson, and the late Grace Swampy. My work continues to braid Indigenous and Western Knowledge Systems together through research, teaching, and community-grounded collaboration.
Rooted In Community
Our community partners are the roots of our research. The land-based knowledge, skills, and needs of these partners anchor our work to place and give it life and meaning. As we grow together, we challenge boundaries between researcher and participant, knowledge and practice, theory and story, and science and spirit.
Placed In Ceremony
Our research has no beginning or end. It is already happening even if we have not noticed it yet. Ceremony helps us become attuned to the intentions of our ancestors, lands, and generations to come. It moves our research beyond the constraints of linear time and toward accountability to all our relations.
Our Research Team
Dr. Diana Moreiras Reynaga
She/Her · Post-Doctoral Fellow
Jessica Morrison
She/Her · Research Assistant
Hannah Louis
She/They · PhD Student
Community Collaborators
Luci Johnson
Chris Johnson
