Andrea M. Vásquez Fernández



Project

ADDRESSING CONFLICTS THROUGH UNDERSTANDINGS OF ‘RESPECT’: A collaborative research with the Asheninka and Yine Peoples from the Peruvian Amazon

Themes

  • Intercultural Respect (IR)
  • Interculturally Respectful Methodologies (IRM)
  • Indigenous methodologies
  • Collaborative methodologies
  • Political ontologies
  • Decolonial approaches
  • Indigenous self-determination
  • Indigenous sustainabilities
  • Indigenous approaches to ‘conservation’ and ‘development’

Interests

My research interests include making visible marginalized paradigms (ontologies, epistemologies, axiologies, and methodologies) and promoting spaces for self-represented peoples’ voices to influence public policies so they are more contextualized to diverse realities. More specifically I work collaboratively with Indigenous and Local Peoples co-designing, co-conducting, co-analyzing, and co-mobilizing results of projects that reflect peoples’ visions for their desired futures—in plural and instead of conventional and foreign approaches of “development”. I work with pluricultural research teams using methodologies based on Intercultural Respect and Indigenous approaches.

Since 2012 I’ve been working with Asheninka and Yine Amazonian Indigenous community members in coordination with their organizations and following their own ethical protocols. In our current project conducted in the framework of a PhD program at the University of British Columbia, we are investigating on what are the Asheninka and Yine ways of thinking, feeling, imagining, and practicing ‘respect,’ a term that is common to use worldwide, but that differs so much depending on who defines it.

Our work has contributed to the “intercultural respect” toward the Asheninka People. In 2019, after a collective effort, the Asheninka alphabet was formally recognized by the Peruvian government (read more Minedu reconoce alfabeto de lengua amazónica asheninka – Gobierno del Perú (www.gob.pe)). Important achievement so the communal Intercultural Bilingual Asheninka schools can receive also educational material in the Asheninka language instead of other (non-spoken) languages.

Academic and Professional Experience

Academic Qualifications
  • 2022 – PhD Candidate, Addressing conflicts through understandings of ‘respect’: A collaborative research with two Indigenous Peoples in the Peruvian Amazon, The University of British Columbia.
  • 2015 – [defended with honours] M.Sc., Indigenous Federations in the Peruvian Amazon: Perspectives from Ashéninka and Yine-Yami Peoples, The University of British Columbia.
  • 2010 – Thesis for Professional Title, Characterization and Classification of ‘Tornillo’ (Cedrelinga cateniformis Ducke) and ‘Cedro’ (Cedrela odorata L.) Wood Waste Obtained from the Production of School Furniture, defended at The National Agrarian University of La Molina, Lima, Peru.
  •  2009 – Specialization in Environmental Management, Quality, and Auditing, National Agrarian University of La Molina, Lima, Peru.
  • 2009 – Urban Research and Planning Institute (IPPUC), Curitiba, Brazil.
  • 2007 – B.Sc. in Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forest Science, National Agrarian University of La Molina, Lima, Peru.
 Research Experience
  • October 2021–Present, Graduate Research Assistant. Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia. Vancouver, Canada
  • October 2018–August 2021, Research Assistant. Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Vancouver, Canada
  • August 2017– February 2019, Consultant, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia
  • January 2015–Present, Lead researcher in the community-based project RESPECT-AMAZON, Ucayali, Peru
  • September 2012–2015, Lead researcher in the community-based project Federaciones Indígenas: Perspectivas desde sus bases, Ucayali, Peru
  • March 2007–February 2008, Teaching assistant at UNALM, Lima, Peru
  • August 2006, Research Assistant, Cordillera Azul National Park- CIMA, Tarapoto, Peru
Professional Experience
  • October 2021–Present, Graduate Research Assistant. Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia. Vancouver, Canada
  • September 2014–March 2016, Graduate Academic Assistant for NVivo support. Walter C. Koerner Library, University of British Columbia. Vancouver, Canada
  • June 2009–May 2010, Forestry Advisor, Foro Ciudades Para la Vida, Lima, Peru
  • December 2008–March 2009, Forestry Inspector, Ecomundo Group International, Chachapoyas, Peru
  • August–December 2008, Naturalista, Projecto Educação Ao Ar Livre, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Teaching Experience
  • 2008 – Natural Sciences Instructor. Association for Environmental Defence and Education Developing (ADEA). Project ‘Educação Ao Ar Livre’, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Awards, Grants and Scholarships

  • 2020 Research to Action Grant. Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) and the UBC Knowledge Exchange Unit (Kx) with support from the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre, and the UBC Public Scholars Initiative (PSI)
  • 2017 and 2019 Partnership Recognition Fund. University of British Columbia
  • 2019 International Development Research Centre (IDRC) ‘John G. Bene Research Fellowship’ (Trees and People: Resilience in a changing climate)
  • 2019 IUFRO Student Award for Excellence in Forest Science
  • 2018 Aileen D. Ross Fellowship
  • 2018 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship
  • 2018 Global Challenges Research Fund Networking Grant – UK (co-applicant)
  • 2017 Li Tze Fong Memorial Fellowship
  • 2016 and 2017 Donald S McPhee Fellowship
  • 2015 and 2016 Public Scholar Initiative, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies UBC
  • 2012 and 2016 TerreWEB (Terrestrial Research on Ecosystem & World-wide Education and Broadcast) Fellowship
  • 2014-2019 Four-Year Fellowship, University of British Columbia
  • 2014 Peter N. Affleck Memorial Graduate Scholarship in Forest Policy
  • 2013 VanDusen Graduate Fellowship
  • 2012-2015 and 2018 Mary and David Macaree Fellowship
  • 2011 International Student Energy Summit (ISES), Scholarship
  • 2011-2013 Faculty of Forestry Graduate Award, University of British Columbia
  • 2009 International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), Scholarship

Professional Affiliations

2016– 2020. Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
2017– present. Affiliated researcher to the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru (PUCP)
2017– present. Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America (SALSA)
2015– present. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA)
2015– International Political Science Association (IPSA)
2012– present. International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA)

Publications

Peer-reviewed

Meza Guzmán, E. D., Delgado, P., D., Shuñaqui Sangama, M. I., Vásquez-Fernández, A., & Reserva Comunal ECA Amarakaeri. (2021). Guía de investigación decolonial: Trabajando con Pueblos Indígenas u Originarios en territorios ancestrales. Retrieved from https://www.tribama.org/enseñanza [In press].

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., Shuñaqui Sangama, M. I., Ahenakew, C., Perez Pinedo, M., Sebatián Lizardo, R., Canayo Otto, J., & Kozak, R. A. (2021). From “mutual respect” to “intercultural respect”: collaborating with Asheninka and Yine Peoples in the Peruvian Amazon. Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 53(1), 127–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2021.1889791

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., & Ahenakew, C. (2020). Resurgence of relationality: reflections on decolonizing and indigenizing “sustainable development.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 43, 65–70. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2020.03.005

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., Hajjar, R., Shuñaqui Sangama, M. I., Sebastián Lizardo, R., Pérez Pinedo, M., Innes, J. L., & Kozak, R. A. (2018). Co-creating and decolonizing a methodology using indigenist approaches: Alliance with the Asheninka and Yine-Yami Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 17(3), 720–779. https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1420

Tomaselli, M. F., Hajjar, R., Ramon Hidalgo, A. E., & Vasquez Fernandez, A. M. (2017). The problematic old roots of the new green economy narrative : How far can it take us in re-imagining sustainability in forestry? International Forestry Review, 19(S1), 1–13.

Non-peer reviewed

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., & Ruiz Zevallos, J. (Eds.). (2019). Reporte del II encuentro internacional de investigación colaborativa intercultural. Retrieved from http://share-amazonica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Reporte-SHARE-2018-small.pdf

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., & Level Solis-Camara, N. (Eds.). (2018). Reporte del encuentro internacional de investigación colaborativa intercultural Atalaya – Perú. Retrieved from http://share-amazonica.org/

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., & Way, J. (2016). It’s about more than climate: UBC-IFSA at COP21. Branchlines, 27(1), 6. Retrieved from https://issuu.com/ubcforestry/docs/bl_72.1

Vasquez Fernandez, A. M. (2015). Indigenous federations in the Peruvian Amazon: Perspectives from the Ashéninka and Yine-Yami peoples (The University of British Columbia; Vol. 1). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M., Carr, H., & Ramon Hidalgo, A. E. (2014). Imbalances of power: Reflecting on our relationship with forests. Branchlines, 25(2), 7. Retrieved from https://issuu.com/ubcforestry/docs/bl_25.2

Vásquez Fernández, A. M., Shuñaqui Sangama, M. I., Sebatián Lizardo, R., & Pérez Pinedo, M. (2013). Organizaciones indígenas: Perspectivas desde sus bases (C. Gamboa, I. Olivera, J. Martínez, & I. Gonzales, Eds.). Lima, Peru: DAR. Retrived from http://issuu.com/darperu/docs/revista_ooii

Vasquez-Fernandez, A. M. (2013). Proposed guidelines for participatory methods: An experience with Ashéninka and ethnicities Yine-Yami. Lima, Peru: DAR.

Presentations

Public presentations in Spanish

Vasquez, Andrea M. ‘Contamination and Sport,’ as part of a project of national and regional forums on environmental themes, organized by the International Olympic Committee, which seeks to raise awareness and help understand the relationship between the environment and sports. Tacna, Peru. 2009.

Public presentations in Portuguese

Vasquez, A. M.  ‘Peru: Ancestral Culture’ given at Univille University, Sao Bento do Sul, Brazil. 2008

Vasquez, A. M. ‘Peru: News in South America’ given at Univille University, Joinville, Brazil. 2008

Vasquez, A. M.  ‘Peru and the Spanish Language’ given in the Montero Lobato School, Itapoá, Brazil. 2008

Vasquez, A. M. ‘Peru and the Spanish Language’ given in the Ayrton Senna School, Itapoá, Brazil. 2008

Vasquez, A. M. ‘Peru and the Spanish Language’ and I taught Spanish lessons, in the YesBras Faculty, Itapoá, Brazil. 2008