Alyssa Allchurch

Education

• BA (Hons) Kinesiology and Exercise Science, Western University
• MRM, Simon Fraser University

Biography

I am a coastal marine ecologist and PhD candidate at SFU working with Dr. Anne Salomon. I was raised on the prairies in Treaty 7 territory, a fourth generation settler Canadian, and hold a BA (Hons), and a Masters of Resource Management (MRM). My expertise sits at the intersection of marine ecology, applied research and climate adaptation strategies. I have a passion for the outdoors and am at my happiest when diving through a kelp forest, running down a beach or teaching someone a cool ocean fact.

I earned her Masters in Resource Management in 2023, where I worked alongside the Kwakiutl Nation to better understand how commercial kelp harvest was affecting kelp forests in Kwakiutl territory and how those kelp forests were reacting and recovering after harvest. Formerly I worked for a non-profit that focused on increasing the capacity and skillsets of marine managers globally to initiate conservation and management action in their communities. Working with coastal communities has fundamentally shaped how I see kelp forests, not just as ecosystems to study, but as relationships that have sustained coastal peoples for millennia. This perspective constantly pushes me to grow as both a scientist and collaborator, and has shown me that the most meaningful science happens when community priorities are centered and multiple ways of knowing are respected.