Nicole Burns
PhD candidate, University of Waterloo

Nicole Burns (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, specializing in Global Justice and Human Rights. Since 2016, Nicole has been engaged in community-led capacity building, primarily working with Indigenous communities across Canada on various health and wellness initiatives. She has worked in numerous capacities supporting the research direction of Indigenous partners, as an allied researcher. Nicole is continuing her PhD research focusing on Indigenous Peoples' inherent right to self-government. In connection with the Modern Treaty Implementation Research Project, Nicole is working with Behdzi Adha First Nation (BAFN) on constitution building; for her dissertation, Nicole is conducting a case study with BAFN examining self-government in theory and practice.