Bruce McLean

Bruce is the project manager for the Mikisew Cree First Nation Community Based Monitoring program and Coordinator for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s Community Based Monitoring and Guardian programs. He is the current co-chair of the OSM Indigenous Community Based Monitoring Program.

Bruce has spent the last decade leading regional community-based monitoring that integrates Indigenous Knowledge with Western Science to understand the impacts of oil sands, hydro development, and climate change on the Peace Athabasca Delta and its people. He obtained his B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Manitoba in 1997 and an unconventional breadth of education from living and working with Indigenous people from the Amazon to the Arctic.

His experience includes the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources where he helped build the capacity of First Nations to deal directly with their concerns through education and training, targeted research, restoration activities, and facilitated workshops. He also contributed to research related to Environmental Impact Assessments for the proposed Keeyask and Conawapa generating stations in northern Manitoba with Split Lake Cree, Fox Lake Cree, York Factory Cree, and War Lake first nations. This work focused on the movement of lake sturgeon along the Nelson River and involved working with Elders and resource users in the community, resulting in three publications. His international experience includes working with the government of Mexico on the protection of the Meso-American barrier reef and sustainable fisheries. He is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

Bruce is motivated to create opportunities for Elders, scientists, and youth to come together to explore the margins of knowledge, especially as relates to environmental restoration. He is also a hockey coach, a board member for the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, and in his imaginary spare time, an avid cyclist. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife, two kids, and an enormous dog.