Dr. Ellen Field Awarded Tenure

Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Field — champion of climate change education — on being awarded tenure! 

Ellen is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University (Orillia campus) and a leading advocate for climate change education in Canada. Her research focuses on policies and practices in the K-12 education system, emphasizing the need to integrate climate literacy into schools and formal learning contexts. Committed to preparing young people for the socio-ecological challenges they face, she fosters collaborations across organizations and generations to build hopeful futures. Her work centers on connected learning — an approach that equips students with the skills needed for a rapidly changing world while addressing environmental and social justice issues.

Ellen joined Lakehead’s Faculty of Education in 2017. She earned a PhD in Education from James Cook University in Australia, where her dissertation, Constellations of Environmentalism: An Exploration of Learning and Activism Within Youth-Created Social Media Interest Groups, examined how young people worldwide use social media for environmental learning and activism.

“I was drawn to the field of climate change education because while doing PhD research in 2013, I discovered that teenagers around the world were using social media for environmental conversations and learning as well as for organizing community actions to address local climate issues,” she says. “They were taking matters into their own hands because they weren’t getting enough climate information in their classrooms.”

Since then, Ellen has made significant contributions to climate change education. Her research portfolio includes a SSHRC-funded national review of climate change education curricula. She has led extensive surveys with Canadian teachers, students, parents, and the public to assess perspectives on climate change education. Supporting teachers in integrating climate education into their classrooms is a priority of her work, and she has engaged hundreds of teachers in professional development workshops while collaborating closely with ministries, school boards, and community organizations to strengthen climate education nationwide.

At Lakehead, she teaches Environmental Education (BEd) and Climate Change Education (MEd), among other courses. She also serves as Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, Co-Chair of the Canada Regional Hub for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Education (MECCE) Project, and Community Advisor for Climate Education Reform British Columbia.

Ellen’s advocacy extends beyond academia. Selected by UNESCO as one of six global scholars to develop a climate change education curriculum framework, she co-leads the Accelerating Climate Change Education in Teacher Education (ACCE-TE) Project, which provides a national course, webinars, and collaborative tools to enhance climate education for teachers.

Beyond her professional work, Dr. Field is a mom and outdoor enthusiast. Through her research, teaching, and advocacy, she remains dedicated to empowering educators and young people to take meaningful action in addressing climate change and building more just and stabilized futures.