Our Team
Our team has an established track record of managing complex research projects and delivering results on budget and on time. Our goal is to provide the highest quality research and insight to clients so they may find strategic solutions to their complex problems.
Peter Fortna
Peter Fortna is a Principal at WSSS. He has helped a number of Indigenous organizations develop direction in the fields of homelessness, historical research, strategic planning, regulatory engagement, communications, and heritage resource management. Through working with a diverse range of clients in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories, Peter has had the opportunity to develop and refine a broad range of skills coordinating, managing, and evaluating community-based history and research projects. Peter holds a BA in History with a minor in Museum and Heritage Studies from the University of Calgary, an MA in History from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and has completed the coursework towards a Ph.D. in History from the University of Alberta.
Timothy David Clark
Dr. Timothy David Clark is a Principal at WSSS, where he supervises and carries out cumulative socioeconomic and cultural impact assessments, traditional knowledge and use studies, community histories and genealogical reports, third-party technical reviews/gaps analyses, and disaster impact assessment and management. Timothy has carried out numerous international research and fieldwork projects related to the regulation of extractive industries and community conflict, sustainable rural development and Indigenous communities, Latin American political economy, food security and sovereignty, and international migration. He has published his research in academic, governmental, non-governmental venues and has presented his findings at numerous scholarly and professional conferences. Prior to joining WSSS, Timothy was an Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Global Studies at Trent University and served as Director of a Tier II Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) project to support sustainable and intercultural development initiatives in Southern Chile. Timothy holds a PhD and an MA in Political Science from York University.
Ariane Wilson
Ariane Wilson is a researcher at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions. She has previously worked in the non-profit sector with the Canadian Women's Foundation and Native Women's Association of Canada. Through the lens of Indigenous custom adoption, her MA research examined the impacts of Indian Act governance on First Nations band membership codes and practices of determining belonging in order to explore the questions of Indigenous membership and belonging beyond colonial legislation. Ariane holds a BA in political science with a minor in Indigenous studies (2016) and an MA in political science (2022) from the University of Calgary. She is a proud member of the Heiltsuk Nation, located on the northwest coast of British Columbia.
Julia Schwindt
Julia Schwindt is a researcher at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions. She has a wide variety of cultural heritage experience in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Her past roles have included collections and curatorial management, corporate archives management, and conducting genealogical research and oral history interview transcriptions for Métis communities in Alberta. Julia’s research and interests center around making history available, accessible, and interesting to the wider public. She holds an MA in Public History from the University of Western Ontario (2018) and a BA honours in history with a minor in philosophy (2016) from Carleton University.
Felice Physioc
Dr. Felice Physioc is a researcher at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions. She completed her Ph.D. at Princeton University in 2021. Prior to her PhD work, she completed a two-year dual master’s degree in International and World History at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. Felice’s PhD dissertation explores the transformations in indigenous communities and ecologies caused by the expansion of overland transport between Lima and northern Argentina over the colonial period.
Deanna Turner
Deanna Turner is a researcher at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions. She is Ph.D. candidate at Queen’s University, and has taught several courses on Canadian and global topics. Deanna’s research interests centre upon historiography and historical theory, and she has studied the fur trade era and Cold War Canadian publishing. Deanna holds a BA in political science, a BA (honours) in history, and a MA in history from the University of Calgary.
Research & Consulting Services for Clients Engaged with the Social, Economic, and Cultural Impacts of Resource Development, Public Policy and Indigenous Rights, and Disaster Preparedness and Management
Willow Springs Strategic Solutions (WSSS) Inc. is a social science, environmental, and management consulting company with offices in Cochrane and Fort McMurray, Alberta. We specialize in community-based research, the assessment of impacts to Indigenous and other communities from industrial projects and natural disasters, and Indigenous community capacity-building and disaster preparedness and management. We have worked in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, with prospects for expansion into other Canadian and Latin American markets.
We offer a variety of research products and consulting services to clients who wish to engage with industrial project proponents and governments to defend Indigenous rights, engage in consultation and regulatory proceedings, promote local and community economic development, and support community-based disaster preparedness and management. Our clients include First Nation and Métis communities and organizations, government agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations.