Environmental Policy Analyst

Jean Paul Gladu

I knew when I was ten that I wanted to be involved in the environment. Hunting, fishing, and trapping were a big part of my life. I spent every weekend camping with my family. Being outdoors and a career in the environment was natural for me. I went fishing regularly with my dad for speckled trout. Quite often the creeks where we fished had seen over-harvesting of trees, right up to the stream banks. The creeks were negatively impacted. I could see the damage and it stuck in my mind.

I first thought about being a conservation officer because I didn’t want people to break laws that protect the environment. Some people harvest too many animals and are often wasteful. I wanted to protect the animals from this abuse. I learned a lot from my Elders and my family. I used to sit around and listen to all of the adult conversations. Now, this trait's a big part of my job. I work with and represent people, and therefore I need to listen to their concerns and to try to understand their values.

Originally, I started as a forestry technician. It was a great experience, but it wasn’t my calling. I wanted to get into ecosystem management, people management, and policy design. To do this, I needed to upgrade my education. After returning to school to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry, I began to appreciate the complexities of land management. I see a huge demand for people with my qualifications in the next decade.

There are currently about forty Aboriginal foresters out of twelve thousand foresters in Canada. With more traditional territories being transferred back to Aboriginal communities in one form of ownership or another, the need for Aboriginal people to link communities with western management systems is high. The most challenging component of my job is communicating with different people with different interests and views. People are dynamic. When communicating with people who aren’t aware of Aboriginal knowledge, my experiences in traditional knowledge have been useful.