Kraig Matthews

MA Student
School of Earth, Environment and Society
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario
Twitter: @Kraig_Matthews
Email: matthk1@mcmaster.ca

Research

Kraig is currently developing his research focus related to current and past relations between provincial parks and First Nations communities in central Ontario.

 

Background

Originally from Hamilton, I now spend much of my time in the Parry Sound District of Central Ontario where I have worked for the provincial government in natural resource management and conservation. Since 2017 I have worked at Grundy Lake Provincial Park, where I started as a student park ranger before becoming a park warden in 2019. By living and working in the Parry Sound District over the past four years, I became increasingly interested in the local culture and history of the area. 

I completed my undergraduate degree in Geography at McMaster University in 2020, where I gained experience in environmental studies, geographic information systems, regional geography, urban geography, research methods, population geography, and statistics. In my Masters research I would like to learn more about Indigenous geographies and qualitative research. My goal is to develop a deeper understanding of current and past relations between provincial parks and First Nations communities in central Ontario. I would like to learn about the community uses and importance of park lands that are within traditional territories of nearby First Nations, in support of local decision making, park management, and cultural awareness for park staff and visitors. 

I look forward to exploring potential research interests and needs with First Nations communities whose homelands are nearby, or within, Grundy Lake Provincial Park. I hope we can work together to develop research directions that align with community priorities, and that can contribute to community efforts to document and share oral histories and cultural heritage of the region. 

In my free time I enjoy spending time outdoors in all seasons by hiking and camping as much as I can.