Burke, Dr. Susan
PhD, Health Sciences, MSW (UNBC), BA (TWU), RSW
Biography
Susan was born and raised in Prince George. She was a front-line child welfare social worker in northern B.C. from 1994 to 2014, working in Prince George as well as rural and remote communities in north and northwest B.C. In 2015, she joined UNBC as a faculty member. She has served in the roles of MSW Coordinator, Research Ethics Board member, and A/Vice-Chair of the Research Ethics Board.
Research and expertise
Susan's research is focused on Indigenous kinship care, Indigenous child welfare, and Indigenous social work practice and education. She also holds a particular interest in research with, by, and for Indigenous peoples and wrote her dissertation using an Indigenous research methodology.
- Education
- First Nations
- Health and Well-being
- Social Work
- English
Selected publications
Labron, M., & Burke, S. (2025). ‘Walking the talk’: Putting environmental social work theory
into practice. International Journal of Social Welfare. DOI:10.1111/ijsw.70009
Burke, S., Kyle, L., Pierce, J., & Anatole, R. (2024). Field placements during a global pandemic
Lessons learned from positive experiences. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education / Revue Internationale Du E-Learning et La Formation À Distance, 39(1). https://doi.org/10.55667/10.55667/ijede.2024.v39.i1.1312
Burke, S. (2023). Wisdom from the Elders: Kinship care that honours traditional Indigenous
ways. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. DOI:
10.1177/11771801231189842
Burke, S., Bouey, J., Madsen, C., Costello, L., & Schmidt, G. (2023) Supporting Indigenous
kinship caregivers. Practice: Social Work in Action.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09503153.2023.2208782
Burke, S., Bouey, J., Madsen, C., Costello, L., Schmidt, G., Barkaskas, P., White, N., Alder, C. (2022). Kinship care: Evaluating policy and practice. Journal of Public Child Welfare. DOI: 10.1080/15548732.2022.2091721
Buchner, K., Pearson, T., Burke, S. (2022). Indigenous women’s experiences with child protection at their child’s birth. Practice. DOI: 10.1080/09503153.2022.2054973
Burke, S., MacDonald, N. (2020). Indigenous post-secondary mentorship: Our journey. Social Work & Policy Studies: Social Justice, Practice and Theory, 3(2). Retrieved March 10, 2022 from https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/SWPS/article/view/14447/13164
Burke, S. (2019). Teaching the history of colonization in the post-secondary classroom. Journal of Social Work Education. DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2019.1611510
Burke, S., Robinson, R. (2019). Reflections on Métissage as an Indigenous research praxis. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1177180119837755.
Burke, S. (2018). Supporting Indigenous social workers in front line practice. Canadian Social Work Review, 35(1), 5 – 25.