Shane Doddridge

Broadly speaking, I’m from Northern BC. Coming from an avid fishing family I had the fortune to explore the north - lake by lake and stream by stream - throughout my youth. 

My work in geomatics over the past dozen years has allowed me to explore even more of these wild landscapes. My introduction to the field was via legal land surveying in the Cariboo and Chilcotin regions throughout my undergrad. I also worked in the UNBC GIS lab on various conservation and other research projects as geospatial support. Since completing a Bachelor of Arts degree (Major in Human Geography, Minor in GIS) from the University of Northern BC in Prince George, my work has inextricably melded the technical aspects of cartography with the socio-cultural. 

As a development intern in Ayacucho, Peru, I worked with El Equípo Peruano de Anthropología Forense to map mass grave sites from recent political violence, as well as to coordinate culturally-sensitive mapping of water and agricultural resources for communities affected by the violence.

Returning home, I worked with First Nations knowledge keepers from across British Columbia to map cultural values and disturbance concerns along proposed large-scale linear developments, notably oil and gas pipelines. I joined the Tŝilhqot’in National Government in 2014 (directly following their historic victory for Aboriginal Title) as a mapping technician on a two-year traditional use study. My role with the Tŝilhqot’in Nation has grown over the following years to centre on geospatial support for various projects related to ongoing negotiations with British Columbia and Canada. Notably, I’ve been leading a project to research and map the Tŝilhqot’in toponymy and submit these historic place names to the Province of BC for official adoption. It’s been such a successful and interesting project, but has demanded more focus than I can give it outside the academy.

Dr. Brian Thom has agreed to supervise my MA which will take a deep dive into the Tŝilhqot’in cultural landscape to ask whether or not the the adoption of indigenous toponymies by settler governments is a fundamental step towards tangible peace and reconciliation, and why.