UBC Forestry wishes to congratulate Cissy Zhang on being awarded UBC’s Spring 2025 Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund.
About Cissy
Cissy Zhang is a Master of Science student in the Department of Forest Resources Management and a member of the Indigenous Ecology Lab at UBC. Her project, Sasiwala: Centering Kwiakah Knowledge Systems in Regenerative Forestry, supports a two-day gathering bringing together Kwiakah First Nation members and UBC co-researchers to build relationships and share knowledge before beginning a Kwiakah-led forestry project. Held in Campbell River and on the Nation’s Core Territory, Sasiwala emphasizes land-based learning, storytelling, and collaboration grounded in both Indigenous knowledge and Western science. PRE funding supports an Indigenous facilitator, recommended by Dr. Jennifer Grenz, to guide respectful dialogue, as well as a videographer to document the gathering for future community and research use.
About the PRE Fund
The Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund celebrates inspiring initiatives that bring together UBC students, faculty, and staff with community partners to address shared goals across a wide range of themes.
By supporting the development of reciprocal, ethical, and impactful partnerships, the PRE Fund reflects UBC’s ongoing commitment to community-led engagement, experiential learning, and socially responsible research and teaching.
Each year, the PRE Fund provides up to $1,500 to help bridge resource gaps and strengthen new or existing university–community collaborations. Since 2017, it has supported over 445 partnerships with more than $667,000 in funding. Approximately 40% of this support has gone to IBPOC-led projects, including 25% led by Indigenous partners.
See the official announcement and learn more about the awarded projects here.