The Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE) is a multi-disciplinary research and education centre created in 1992 through the collaboration of founding director Professor Harriet Kuhnlein, former Director of the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition (now the School of Human Nutrition), and leaders of major Canadian aboriginal organizations, territorial and federal governments, and McGill University. CINE is located within the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on McGill University's Macdonald Campus in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. CINE’s mission is to respond to Indigenous Peoples’ concerns and priorities about their traditional food systems and environment through education, and initiatives conducted in partnership with Indigenous communities and organizations. Through multidisciplinary knowledge co-production, sharing, reciprocal learning, and capacity-building, CINE seeks to promote well-being, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health, Indigenous self-determination, culture, and language. CINE’s goal is to enhance the quality of life of indigenous and local communities, across Canada and around the world, by advancing understanding of both natural and human-generated environmental impacts on food systems.
CINE-based research continues to operate under the guidance and approval of an Indigenous Advisory Board currently composed of Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey (Kanien'kehá:ka-Kahnawake, QC), Norma Kasi (Vuntut Gwich'in, Yukon) and Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine (Tureg, University Ottwaa).
Current projects include:
- Design, build, and test New Approach Methods founded on Indigenous knowledge related to contaminated sites assessments. The work and partnership focuses on Kanesatake, but the learnings and outcomes will have broader impacts for other Indigenous Communities
- An Indigenous and community-led project that includes an interdisciplinary team of scholars and knowledge holders working together seeking to 1) build the capacity of Indigenous organizations to document, share, and use their knowledge about the interconnections between biodiversity conservation and health and well-being, ii) support Indigenous-led research projects that evidence the health and well-being outcomes of biodiversity conservation, and iii) support Indigenous leaders in driving institutional change at local, regional, and global scales to improve health and well-being, and curb the decline of biodiversity.
- An evaluation of the World Vision intervention to improve the well-being of the most marginalized populations in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Tanzania. Through a multi-year intervention in rural areas, integrating nutrition-related determinants (e.g., WASH interventions, health systems strengthening) to improve access to quality and gender-responsive health systems with increased capacity to prevent and treat malnutrition, especially at the primary health care level.
CINE website: www.mcgill.ca/cine
CINE RESEARCHERS
murray.humphries [at] mcgill.ca (Murray M. Humphries) , Ph.D.
Director, CINE
Wildlife Biologist
Professor Murray M. Humphries' work examines how climate change, and other forms of environmental change, affect the food systems and
wildlife resources of Indigenous Peoples.
treena.delormier [at] mcgill.ca (Treena Wasonti:io Delormier), Ph.D., P.Dt.
Associate Professor, School of Human Nutrition
Associate Director, CINE
Human Nutritionist and Indigenous Scholar
Professor Delormier's research focuses on food, nutrition and health of Indigenous Peoples. She is involved in health promotion interventions that address the social determinants underlying health inequities that Indigenous Populations experience, particularly in a historical context of colonialism.
niladri.basu [at] mcgill.ca (Niladri Basu), Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Natural Resource Sciences and School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition
Ecotoxicologist
Professor Niladri Basu's work researches on, develops and applies ecosystem-based approaches to address key problems in the environmental health sciences, applying ecotoxicology and environmental epidemiology to increase understanding of risks associated with contaminants arising from the extraction of natural resources.
hugo.melgar-quinonez [at] mcgill.ca (Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez), M.D., Sc.D.
Associate Professor, School of Human Nutrition
Margaret Gilliam Faculty Scholar in Food Security
Human Nutrition
Professor Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez's research focuses on the validation and applicability of easy to apply instruments to assess food insecurity and hunger in the developing world and in vulnerable populations in industrialized countries.
brittany.jock [at] mcgill.ca (Brittany Wenniserí:iostha Jock), Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine.
Brittany Jock is Bear Clan from the Akwesasne Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Territory. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in chemistry. She holds a master’s degree in epidemiology and a doctorate in social and behavioral interventions from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Her public health training centers on the design and application of mixed methods research and the development, implementation, and evaluation of health programs
grace.marquis [at] mcgill.ca (Grace Marquis), Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Human Nutrition
Human Nutritionist
Professor Grace Marquis' work includes community-based program to examine how social, cultural, institutional, biological, and environmental factors interact to influence a household’s ability to provide optimal feeding and caregiving for mothers, infants, and young children.
harriet.kuhnlein [at] mcgill.ca (Harriet V. Kuhnlein), Ph.D., F.A.S.N., F.I.U.N.S., LL.D. (hon.)
Professor Emerita, School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition
Founding Director, CINE
Human Nutritionist
Professor Harriet V. Kuhnlein’s work brings recognition to the excellent nutritional qualities of unique traditional foods experienced by Indigenous Peoples.
