Over her professional career, Dr. Gillis has contributed to the field of health promotion as a public health nutritionist and adult educator in a range of health, education and community settings. As an academic, much of her scholarly work has focused on applying participatory research approaches to effect positive change in addressing challenging nutrition relevant issues such as health and food literacy, and food security across the life course.

Presentation Title: Healthy Aging and Eating: A Challenging Balancing Act.

Description: Developing healthy eating practices can put individuals in a better position for positive health and active aging. This presentation will highlight the complex interplay of individual and environmental factors influencing eating practices and the nutritional health of community-dwelling older Canadians.

Dr. Carrier was one of the co-principal investigators for the Making the Most of Mealtimes (M3 study) a pan-Canadian research project. She is currently co-researcher on a project investigating perceptions of residential care providers on relationship-centred care and the influence of the pandemic. Her area of research is in LTC residents’ diet quality and nutritional status and foodservice-related factors, such as menu variety and dining environment.

Presentation Title: Relationship-centred care practices during mealtimes in long-term care and influence of COVID-19

Description: This presentation will show how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted relationship-centred care during mealtimes in long-term care and therefore could influence nutritional health and overall well-being of LTC residents. This presentation will also explore the challenges of residential dining during a pandemic and identify ways to better support relationship-centered care practices at mealtimes.

Kara Pictou, Bsc;
Kara is an L’nu’skw (Mi’kmaw woman) and Kiju (mother) born in Epekwitk (P.E.I.). She is a member of Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia). Kara graduated from the Human Nutrition program at Saint Francis Xavier University in 2018 and completed her degree with a directed study, called “Reclaiming Traditional Foodways in Mi’kma’ki, which was at the time a gap in the HNU program. This later led her to pursue the Land2Lab project by delivering the program to her home community of Paqtnkek. She is now exploring her role as the Community-Based Climate Monitoring Coordinator at the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq in Truro, NS. Kara joined CMM in 2019, where she has brought expertise on Mi’kmaw knowledge, climate monitoring, community engagement, skill development for Mi’kmaw youth, and traditional knowledge interviews emphasizing the importance of Elder-youth intergenerational knowledge transfer. Before working for CMM, Kara worked as a research assistant for Dr. Ann Fox, where she integrated and strengthened the Indigenous content into the Nutrition program at St FX University. Since then, Kara has presented to numerous HNU students sharing her Mi’kmaq cultural knowledge, respect for ceremony and living experiences to students. Kara believes this will help minimize the negative stigma against Indigenous people in the health care setting.

In addition, Kara has worked closely with her home community of Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation on many projects reclaiming traditional food and land-based education, particularly with Elders and youth. Kara’s background in Human Nutrition paired with her desire for local resurgence in Mi’kmaw foodways, has provided her a unique perspective on the undeniable connection between the land and food as it relates to accessing healthy, traditional foods thus reinforcing her inherited treaty right to fish, hunt and harvest traditional foods and medicines. Kara continues to be the community lead for the Land2Lab project and is grateful to work with her project team and is now looking forward in upscaling the Land2Lab program to eight other Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia.

Ann Fox, PhD PDt
Ann Fox is the Chair of the Department of Human Nutrition at St Francis Xavier University (StFX) in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Ann has been a registered dietitian for over 30 years and her practice has focused on chronic disease management and prevention, women’s health, and health education innovation. Ann completed her undergraduate degree in Food and Nutrition at Ryerson University, a Master of Health Science in Community Nutrition and a doctorate in Nutritional Science, both at the University of Toronto. Ann was the director of the Master of Public Health Nutrition program at the University of Toronto where was also a Faculty of Medicine Education Scholar. Ann’s research interests are rooted in promoting community health and well-being.

In 2016, Ann and her family made Nova Scotia their home, where she aims to support her local community through research, teaching, and collaboration. She is an advocate for local food, local arts and culture, and Traditional Knowledge. Ann is committed to learning with and from community leaders and blurring boundaries that separate old and young, arts and science, and different ways of knowing. Ann feels privileged to be working with Kara and Renée, Knowledge Keeper Kerry Prosper, and local youth on the Land2 Lab project.

Renee Bujold, MA (Cand), PDt
Renée is a Registered Dietitian and Master of Arts student (candidate) in Health Promotion at Dalhousie University under the co-supervision of Dr. Ann Fox and Dr. Debbie Martin. She completed her undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at Acadia University and her dietetic practicum in the South Shore of Nova Scotia in 2018. Before starting her Master's degree, Renée briefly worked at a non-profit community resource centre in British Columbia where she developed community kitchen workshops for newcomers and refugees focused on healthy eating and cultural recipes, and worked within the community to support food secure initiatives.

Renée started working with the Land2Lab project in September 2019, both as a research assistant and as partial fulfillment of her master's program. Renée is interested in Indigenous food sovereignty, holistic and environmental health, and sharing her love for food with others. Her thesis has been centered around the Land2Lab project, and she will be exploring how land-based and online learning can come together to teach Indigenous youth about their Traditional foodways. Through the Land2Lab project she has enjoyed learning more about Indigenous knowledge systems surrounding food, health, and learning, and hopes to continue learning about how to support and advocate for Indigenous communities.

Dr. Harvie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition with over 10 years of experience as a Clinical dietitian.

Research Interests:
Diet and microbiome interactions in gastrointestinal disorders
Foodservice strategies for reducing malnutrition in hospitals and long-term care

Title: Importance of Lipid Analysis, Research and Development in Food Quality Evaluation

Biography:

Dr. Thomas has a PhD in Biology specializing in Environmental Stress Physiology and Biochemistry, and has a distinguished record of academic and research achievement including experience with individual, collaborative, and small- and large-scale research projects. He has been awarded over $6M in research funding since 2014, including being the current holder of four NSERC grants simultaneously as PI or Co PI for a value of over $1.5M. Three of the NSERC grants are multidisciplinary team grants involving industry and colleagues across several disciplines of natural and life sciences. He has published over 100 papers and conference proceedings, and given many media interviews and coverage (local, national and international) based on his research publications in the areas of food nutritional quality, lipidomics, functional food production and development. Furthermore, he has had several successful grants funded (i.e., the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Newfoundland Department of Tourism Culture Industry and Innovation, Citizen, Immigration and Naturalization Canada, Agriculture and Agrifoods Canada, MITACS, Ocean Frontiers Institute, Canadian Agriculture Partnership, and National Research Council of Canada), indicating national leadership in his field.

Dr. Thomas also has over 10 years administrative and management experience building world class research infrastructure in an academic setting in Canada. Most notably, he significantly contributed to the establishment of three world class research centers in Canada in the capacity as project manager, research coordinator and faculty respectively {Advanced Facility for Avian Research - University of Western Ontario ($9M - 2009), Boreal Research Institute - NAIT ($5M - 2012), Boreal Ecosystem Research Facility - Memorial ($5M – equipment configuration/ purchase/installation – 2013-2015)}. The most notable of these facilities is the Advanced Facility for Avian Research; the world's first hypobaric climatic wind tunnel for studying metabolism at high altitude using birds as a model. Based on the successful completion and research capabilities of this center, it was featured on the Discovery Channel (April 2010), CBC National and in Science, (News Focus Section), January 2011, 331(6016): 395-397. At Memorial University, he has contributed significantly to the successful development and operation of the Boreal Ecosystem Research Facility, which is a world class research facility dedicated to studying environmental, food and agricultural science in Boreal Ecosystem. He has

several collaborators in his research program at Memorial, as well as with international and local institutions, industry and government including United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA); Agriculture and Agrifoods Canada (AAFC); Newfoundland Department of Fisheries and Land Resources (NLFLR), Qualipu First Nation; Dalhousie University; University of Limerick (Ireland); Harvard University (USA); Riken Brain Institute (Japan); Anaconda Mining Inc.; Allens Seafood; Shellex; and Barry Seafood. Dr. Thomas has trained over 30 students (MS, undergrad and PhD) and 4 post-doctoral fellows in his research program over his career. Trainees have gone on to establish successful careers in medicine, industry, government, and academia.