Feeling Welcomed: Creating Space for Indigenous Students at the University of Guelph

Dani is a Red River Métis-settler PhD candidate in Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph. She uses novel DNA methodologies to understand the biodiversity of freshwater invertebrates on Innuinait Nuna, or the Canadian Middle Arctic. Outside of this project, she is dedicated to furthering important work being done to create a more supportive, inclusive, and respectful intersection of Indigenous people and academia, both during field work in Inuit communities and in her home department at the university.

Dr. Perreault is an Associate Professor and neuroscientist in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph and is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in the Royal Society of Canada. She is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, descended from the historic Métis Community of the Mattawa/Ottawa River. Dr. Perreault’s primary preclinical research focus is to understand sexual dimorphisms in the cellular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders and to identify novel biomarkers. She also spends much of her time on Indigenous initiatives at local and national levels for which she received a Minister of College and Universities Award of Excellence.