About me
Enjoying the fall colours - one of the many gifts of plants :)
Hello! My name is Krystal and I was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon and have Swiss, German and French heritage. After high school, I studied natural resource management and explored several different environment-related jobs. It took me almost 10 years to realize I love plants! I’m not sure why it took so long, both sides of my family were farmers for many generations.
I decided to pursue a career dedicated to plants and completed an MSc in Plant Science in 2016. After I graduated, I established FloraTek Consulting, and worked for industrial, First Nation and other government clients, providing technical and training services in applied plant ecology.
I was very lucky to work on some awesome projects including developing a community-based revegetation program. As I worked on revegetation projects, it struck me how diverse the visions of reclamation success were both within the team and within the nearby communities. How can we do good work if we don’t have a shared vision of what we’re trying to achieve?
It turns out plants, people and places are closely connected. To better understand these relationships, I’m working on a PhD in Land Reclamation
My research investigates what mine reclamation success means to Yukoners and how these expectations can be better incorporated into reclamation planning and practice.
When not nerding out on plants, l enjoy hiking, canoeing, cross-country skiing and knitting the occasional sweater.