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Nat Knowles

Wilderness Conservationist

WILD: Welcome
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Fueled by a love of the outdoors
to help solve environment & climate challenges
by connecting people to nature
through adventure and exploration.

WILD: Quote
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Current Projects

WILD: Projects

The Kayapo Project

Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainable Tourism

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Protect Our Winters Canada

Climate Science Alliance & Hot Planet Cool Athletes Program

Kayapo Defenders of the Amazon: 
The Next Generation

Conservation Technologies & Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Explore
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Sport Canada

Winter Sports & Climate Change

Please feel free to get in touch to learn more about existing or past projects, for research support or consultation, or to collaborate on an upcoming project together.

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Sir David Attenborough

"No one will protect what they don't care about and no one will care about what they have never experienced"

WILD: Quote
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ABOUT

Natalie is a Canadian conservationist and explorer focused on social, economic and environmental sustainability in adventure travel and outdoor recreation. She was named a 2020 UN Young Champions of the Earth regional finalist and awarded the 2020 Adventure Travel Conservation Fund Grant for her work with the Kayapo developing conservation-based and indigenous-led adventure tourism in Brazil's Xingu River basin. Natalie also holds The Explorer's Club 2020 Rolex Grant for exploratory and participatory research integrating traditional knowledge and conservation technology with the Kayapo Xingu communities in Brazil.


She is concurrently a PhD researcher at the University of Waterloo's Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change investigating climate change impacts, adaptations and sustainability transitions in ski tourism and winter sports. This work is supported by a SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship, Sport Canada's Sport Participation Research Initiative. Natalie is also the Research Coordinator for Protect Our Winters Canada.

Natalie holds a Master of Science in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford, where she graduated with distinctions and earned a Blue Varsity Award for skiing. Previously she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Geography at the University of Denver, while a member of Denver's NCAA Div 1 National Champion Ski Team. Natalie also competed on Canada's Alpine Ski Team at the World Junior Championships and World University Games.

WILD: About
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RESEARCH

WILD: Features
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Climate Change and the Future of the Olympic Winter Games

Current Issues in Tourism

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Research Agenda: Diverse & Just Futures for Life on Earth

Conservation Biology

Future Climate Change Risk in the US Midwestern Ski Industry

Tourism Management Perspectives

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Nature & Economy

Biodiversity Revisited

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Winter Sports & Climate Change

Sport and Environmental Sustainability

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Large Intact Forests & Inclusive Conservation

Journal of Political Ecology

Media Representations of Climate Change Risk

Current Issues in Tourism

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When is Growth Good Enough?

Seeds of Change

Misty Woodland
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Regional Ski Tourism Risk to Climate Change

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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Targeting Sustainable Outcomes with Adventure Tourism

Annals of Tourism Research

Can the North American Ski Industry Attain Climate Resilience?

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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Economic Impact & Sustainability Next Practices

HeliCat Canada Association

Snowcap Mountains

SUPPORTED By

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SSHRC: Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS & Sport Canada Research Initiative

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Adventure Travel Conservation Fund

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The Explorers Club:
Rolex Grant

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Canadian Mountain Network:
Mitacs Partnership

WILD: Products
WILD: Instagram

Contact NAT

University of Waterloo, Faculty of the Environment

1 647 333 5463

  • Instagram
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WILD: Contact
WILD: Video
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