Brenda Guernsey is an applied anthropologist who lives and works in northwest British Columbia. After obtaining her MA in Anthropology from the University of Northern BC in 2010, Brenda started a heritage consulting business, Cedarwood Heritage Consulting based in Terrace, BC. Firmly grounded in community based research methods, Brenda employed her anthropological training to work with various communities and community organizations on projects with a culture and heritage aspect. These projects have been diverse, including researching and producing a brochure for tourism, working with local museums to create signage and assist with collections management, working with the Regional District and the City of Terrace to obtain official provincial heritage status for various cultural sites and heritage structures in the region, coordinating projects for local non-profit agencies, one of which included working with the Gila Kyew Nluulk Headstart and Daycare, and Success by Six Northwest to edit and produce seven children’s books based on the heritage of the Kitsumkalum people, with each story adapted from primary archival sources.  These and many other projects over the years demonstrate the wide applicability of anthropological research methods and core concepts.

More recently, Brenda’s applied work has been primarily focussed on heritage research with Kitsumkalum First Nation, a Tsimshian community that she has worked with in a variety of research capacities since 2002. This work has involved overseeing the social history research for the community – research projects that are guided by the community hereditary and Band leadership.  These projects are both grounded in the ethnographic record and in contemporary concerns and community needs.

Brenda is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology through the University of Alberta. Building on her MA research which focussed on exploring multiple perceptions of the wilderness landscapes of northern British Columbia through ethnographic research with Kitsumkalum community members, she is researching the societal impacts that result from threats to the security of land and ocean foods that are essential components to the diets and economies of Indigenous people. 

Brenda’s research interests include:  the maintenance of societal structures in times of environmental stress; ‘on the ground’ impacts of institutional policies that alter access to land and ocean foods; changing economic landscapes; disruptions resulting from the industrialization of the land and resources; and contemporary ethnographies and complexities of community based research in a digital world.   Her research has been supported through various grants including a SSHRC grant. Brenda has a number of publications including a chapter in an edited volume and is a co-author on a recent paper published in American Anthropologist.