Picture of Dr. Jebunnessa Chapola

Dr. Jebunnessa Chapola PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, U of R

Dr. Chapola is a postdoctoral fellow working under the guidance of Dr. Margot Hurlbert, Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability Policy, and a Professor in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

Areas of Interest

  • Environmental Reconciliation as Cross-cultural Responsibility
  • Decolonial Feminist Research
  • Transnational Feminism and Justice
  • Anti-racist Theory and Practice
  • Indigenous Women-led Climate Change Solutions

About

Dr. Jebunnessa Chapola is a settler woman of colour trained as an anti-racist, decolonial, transnational feminist educator. She is a community activist and mother of three daughters. She received  Student Changemaker MOMA Award 2023 from the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship (IAMAS), USA. In addition to her academic accomplishments, she is also engaged in decolonial social justice community activism and community-building activities.

As a community-engaged activist scholar, she has worked in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for the last ten years and has lived in Calgary for the last four years. She was involved with the Usask community garden, Saskatoon CFCR community radio, and transnational cultural activities in Saskatoon. Various federal, provincial, and local organizations have recognized her community-building work. In 2015, she received the provincial Anti-racist champion recognition (Betty Szuchewycz Award) from the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan, the Anti-racist Beyond Trailblazer Honor (2015), CBC Future 40 Award (2015), and the University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students’ Association's Excellence in Community Services Award (2016). CBC, CTV, Global TV, The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon Express, CFCR, The Sheaf, the YWCA in Saskatoon, Flow magazine, and the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 have featured her.

In 2022, she joined as a contract faculty at the general education department at Mount Royal University (MRU), Calgary. Besides her teaching at MRU, Calgary, Dr. Chapola is an SSHRC postdoctoral fellow working under Professor Margot Hurlbert, Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability Policy at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina.

Download Jebunnessa Chapola's abridged CV

Awards and Honours

Academic Awards and Recognitions

  • Arctic Science Summit Week Travel Award, Edinburgh, Scotland, $2500 (2024) 
  • Midwest Climate Resilience Travel Award, Duluth, MN, USA, $1000 (2023) 
  • Arctic Science Summit Week Travel Award, Vienna, Austria, $3000 (2023)
  • Excellence in Community Services Award winner, UofS (2019)
  • ASPA Stipend U of S, $4500 (2019)
  • George & Arlene Loewen Family Bursary, UofS, $7000 (2016)
  • Gail Appel Global Citizenship Award 2016, ISSAC, UofS, $1000 (2016)
  • Norwegian Government Scholarship (NORAD), $30,000  (2005-)
  • University of Bergen, Norway (2009)
  • Rotary International Scholarship, University of Göteborg, Sweden, $1500 (2003)                                                                                                    

National and International Awards and Honours

  • International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship (IAMAS) Student Changemaker Award, Chicago, USA (2023)
  • Excellence in Community Services, Graduate Students Association, University of Saskatchewan (2016)
  • BBC Bangla listed as 100 Inspirational Women (2016)
  • YWCA Women of Distinction, Community Building (Nominated),Saskatoon, SK, Canada (2016)
  • Anti-racist Champion (Provincial Award), Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan (MCOS), Saskatchewan (2015)
  • CBC Future 40 Award, Saskatchewan, Canada (2015)
  • CFCR Community Radio Volunteer, Saskatoon, SK (2014)
  • Beyond Trailblazer, Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan (2014)

Research Funding

  • Nutrien Community Investment Development ($6500) Principal Investigator, 2017. Project: Environmental Reconciliation through Cross-Cultural Activities in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
  • Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan ($2500). Principal Investigator, 2018. Project: Building relationships between Indigenous Peoples and Newcomers

On Review 

  • Joint International New Frontiersin Research Fund (NFRF)  ($4M). Collaborator. Project Title: Decolonial feminist approach for climate change adaption and mitigation from Indigenous Communities in Canada, Mexico, Norway, Brazil, USA, South Africa, Colombia, UK, and Bangladesh.
  • Natural Resources Canada (2024). Co-applicant. ($500000). Project Title: Indigenous Land-Based Wildfire Training
  • Mount Royal University Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Fund- 2024. Co-Applicant. Project Title: Anti-racist perspectives on climate crisis and solutions from and within MRU BIPOC faculty and students

Publications

Refereed Book Chapters

  • Chapola, J. (2024). Learning importance of Indigenous meaning of land acknowledgment: A racialized settler of colour woman’s decolonial reflection. In R. Datta (Ed). Decolonization in practice: Community reflections. ON: Canada Scholar Press.
  • Datta, R & Chapola, J. (2023). Decolonization of autoethnography. In J. Okoko, S. Tunison, & K. Walker (Eds). Varieties of qualitative research methods: Contextual perspectives. Springer Nature https://link.springer.com/book/9783031043963
  • Chapola, J. & Datta, R. (2023). Feminist autoethnography. In J. Okoko, S. Tunison, & K. Walker (Eds). Varieties of qualitative research methods: Contextual perspectives. Springer Nature https://link.springer.com/book/9783031043963
  • Chapola, J. (2020). Reconciliation through transnational lenses: An immigrant woman’s learning journey. In R. Datta (Ed). Reconciliation in practice: A cross-cultural perspective, pp. 92-110. Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.
  • Chapola, J. (2020). Building bridges among Indigenous and immigrant communities: A visible minority immigrant woman’s journey. In R., Datta (Ed). Indigenous decolonization and reconciliation: Responsibility for social and environmental justice. London: Routledge.
  • Datta, R & Chapola, J. (2020). Community gardens: An immigrant story of food sovereignty Saskatoon City, Saskatchewan, Canada. In J. Gruber, (Ed). Building Community – Twelve Principles for a Healthy Future, pp. 47-52. BC: New Society Publishers.

Refereed Journal Manuscripts

  • Datta, R., Chapola, J., Datta, P., & Datta, P. (2023). Resiliency in disaster: The relevance of Indigenous land-based practice. Journal of Indigenous Social Development
  • Datta, R., Chapola, J., Datta, P., & Datta, P. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: An immigrant family story on reconnection, resistance, and resiliency. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 51(3-4), 429-444. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.51.3-4.016.
  • R. & Chapola, J. (2018). Indigenous and western environmental resource management: A learning experience with Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Journal of Native American and Indigenous Studies, 4(2), 52-80. DOI: 10.5749/natiindistudj.4.2.0052
  • R., Khyang. U. N., Khyang. H. K. P., Kheyang. H. A. P., Khyang. M. C., & Chapola, J. (2015). Understanding Indigenous sustainability: A community-based participatory experience. Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Educação em Ciências, 14(2), 99-108.
  • R., Khyang. U. N., Khyang. H. K. P., Kheyang. H. A. P., Khyang. M. C., & Chapola, J., (2015). Participatory action research and researcher’s responsibilities: An experience with Indigenous community. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 10.1080/13645579.2014.927492.
  • Chapola J. & Datta R. (2007). Indigenous women and labour migration: A case study on Khyang Indigenous in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nation, 5(1), 55-60.

Publication in Progress 

  • Chapola, J., Poggendorf, S., Datta, R., Hurlbert, M., & Starlight, T. (On Review). Indigenous women-led climate change solutions an anti-racist learning reflection. Progress in Human Geography.
  • Datta, R., Chapola, J., Hurlbert, M., Kennedy, C. & Poggendorf, S. (On Review). Climate change challenges and solutions: learning reflections from indigenous Elders conversations. Journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability
  • Poggendorf, S. Datta, R., Chapola, J., & Hurlbert, M., (On Review). Anti-racist Climate Change Solutions: From and Within Racialized Immigrant Women’s Perspectives. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

Non-Peer-Review Publication

Refereed Book (Under Contract)

  • Chapola J. (Under Contract). Indigenous and Racialized Women-led Climate Change Solutions. London: Springer.
  • Datta, R. Chapola, J. & Acharibasam, J. (Ed.), (Under Contract). Indigenous Land-Based Knowledge and Sustainability:  Settler Colonialism and the Environmental Crisis. London: Routledge.

Media Recognition and Coverage