Alia Payne
About
Alia Payne is a graduate student at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. Raised on an island in the Salish Sea, she has since found her way to the Peruvian Andes and to the southern Pacific Ocean to do earth science research, spent years guiding whitewater on rivers across the Western US, and worked on environmental films focused on Pacific Northwest salmon recovery and Humpback whale song. She is interested in marine systems, collaborative stewardship, and building resilience in the face of unprecedented socio-ecological change. Through the FLAS Fellowship, she aspires to gain an understanding of Indigenous-led conservation efforts and self-determination in the Canadian Arctic, where communities with deep local knowledge are living at the frontlines of global change and at the center of critical international negotiations.