Dr. Ashli Akins is a cultural ecologist, social entrepreneur, educator and storyteller. She is passionate about cultural revitalization and sustainable development.
Ashli is a National Geographic Explorer who is honoured to split her time between the Andean mountains of Peru and the Pacific Northwest of Canada — the traditional territories of the Quechua, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations.
Ashli’s doctoral dissertation (which is now being adapted into many outputs, including a creative non-fiction book) focused on safeguarding cultural heritage in an era of rapid economic change, with particular attention to the Quechua textile tradition.
Experience
Ashli is both a scholar and a practitioner, having worked with rural communities around the world for nearly two decades on issues of cultural rights, community resilience and sustainable development.
In 2006, Ashli founded Mosqoy, a charitable organization that works to mitigate adverse effects of unsustainable tourism and development in the region (www.mosqoy.org). She has since worked and lived for many years in the Andean mountains of Peru, in collaboration with Quechua communities, and especially with artisans and small-scale producers.
Ashli is now the director of the Indigenous Homelands Initiative at Ecotrust Canada, and is also working with National Geographic, both as a National Geographic Expert on their Expedition team and on a long-term research and storytelling project through their Impact Story Labs. She has experience working both at the grassroots level (with small NGOs) and policy level (with UNESCO), to catalyze change and promote human rights.
She is also a writer and photographer, and uses these art forms to educate about human rights and environmental injustices.
Education
2022
PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Anthropology, Environmental Studies)
University of British Columbia
2014
MSt in International Human Rights Law
University of Oxford
2009
BA in Environmental Studies; Latin American Studies; Professional Writing: Journalism & Publishing
University of Victoria
Awards
2023
Impact Story Labs Fellowship
National Geographic Society
2019
Early Careers Grant
National Geographic Society
2019
A Vibert Douglas Fellowship
Canadian Federation of University Women
2019
Emerging Humanist of the Year
Humanitas Award
2016
Public Scholars Award
University of British Columbia
2015
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council
2014
Walking the Talk Alumni Award
University of Victoria
2013
Top 50 Alumni in History who have Made a Difference
University of Victoria
2011
Las Casas Human Rights Scholarship
University of Oxford
Publications
Akins, A. (2022). Pampa and Pallay : the paradox of culture and economy in the Andean mountains (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0420753
Ashli Akins, Phil O’B. Lyver, Hugo F. Alrøe, and Henrik Moller (2019). The Universal Precautionary Principle: New pillars and pathways for environmental, sociocultural, and economic resilience. Sustainability. 11, 2357. DOI: 10.3390/su11082357 [Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2071- 1050/11/8/2357/pdf]
Ashli Akins et al. (2021). Constructive Visions: Chapter 1 – The Future of Nature. Constructive Visions Collective. Hard copy and e-book. [Online at: https://www.constructivevisions.org/book/1]
Katja Schweikert, Alaric McCarthy, Ashli Akins, Nigel Scott, Henrik Moller, Chris Hepburn, Fransisca Landesberger (2012). A Marine Cultural Health Index for sustainable management of mahinga kai in Aotearoa - New Zealand. He Kohinga Rangahau No. 15. 88 pp. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. (Commissioned Report for External Body.)