Kristine Kowalchuk is a published author, instructor of critical thinking and ethics at NAIT, and an adjunct professor with the Faculty of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Her research and writing primarily focus on the many intersections of food and ecology, from an ecofeminist and anticolonial perspective.

She is the founder and chair of the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition (ERVCC), a member of the Alberta Environmental Network consisting of a group of environmentally-minded organizations and individuals advocating for the protection of the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Kristine is also the board chair of Food for Thought, the not-for-profit school food program her family created in 2002. This program feeds approximately 550 students every day, and also advocates for school kitchens and gardens to improve food literacy and increase long-term food security.

As Environment Critic, Kristine is committed to focusing on root causes and systems solutions. She is looking forward to helping to set out a plan for Alberta’s shift toward a diverse economy based on land stewardship, and for a cultural shift away from extractivism toward, as Leanne Simpson says, deep reciprocity, respect, relationship, and responsibility.