Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikkatt
Kaitlyn graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts in Global Politics and Spanish. Her research interests involve small-scale agriculture, agrobiodiversity conservation, and indigenous seed saving/recovery. She has also been involved in research on implementing free, prior and informed consent mechanisms. This included an undergraduate thesis on the consulta movement in Guatemala as a means of resisting unwanted mining and hydroelectric projects and encouraging community renewal through democratic participation. She is a current holder of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Master’s Award, as well as a past recipient of the Carleton University Chancellors’ Scholarship and Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement.
Outside of academics, Kaitlyn is involved in several organizations working on sustainability issues. She is the Graduate Student Co-rep on the University of Winnipeg Students Association, and is particularly passionate about supporting the ecological justice work of the Association through establishing a community kitchen. She is a board member for Development and Peace, a faith-based international solidarity organization that supports movements in the Global South working for human rights, healthy environments, and social justice. She is experienced in building interfaith activist movements, and co-founded an intentional community home in Ottawa for young people of diverse faiths committed to working for justice in their respective communities. From 2012 to 2013, Kaitlyn travelled around North and South America learning from small farms, local food movements, and the people behind them about making the world a better place one organic carrot at a time. Her favourite place to build strong community is in the kitchen, and she loves growing, cooking, and eating food with friends and strangers alike.