Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova

Dacotah-Victoria is a water researcher, a story-teller, a surfer, and photographer. A second year PhD student in the Resources Management and Environment and Sustainability programme, she is supervised by Dr. Leila Harris. Dacotah-Victoria’s research and communications work covers how humans relate and interact with their natural and social built environments, and within this for Dacotah-Victoria, there is an inescapable emphasis on the culture and values we hold and on all streams that are water related.

Prior to joining the EDGES research group at UBC, Dacotah completed a year-long sabbatical working in Dublin as the Communication Officer for SWAN (Sustainable Water Network), the only water-focused organisation in Ireland.

Dacotah-Victoria received her Master of Science in Water Resources, Policy and Management from Oregon State University working under the supervision of Dr. Aaron T. Wolf. Implementing the methodological approaches and research tools of community participatory action research, videography and storytelling, her MSc research examined water cooperation and water security across the Sixaola River Basin, an international transboundary river basin shared between Costa Rica, Panama and the indigenous communities of the Bríbrí, Naso, Cabecar, Brunca and Ngöbe residing there.
 
Dacotah-Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University majoring in Philosophy, Writing, with concentrations on environmental philosophy, the philosophy of science and human rights. During her BSc studies, she conducted her own research at The California Institute of Technology and at The Joan. B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice housed at the University of San Diego.

In addition to her academics and writing, Dacotah-Victoria is also a trained facilitator and mediator, and is bilingual in Spanish and English.

Dacotah-Victoria is dedicated surfer and enjoys volunteering, teaching “Free Surf Lessons on Saturdays,” at her local beaches. She was recently awarded the UBC Public Scholar’s Initiative Award for her work engaging in knowledge co-creation and creative arts-based approaches of storytelling, theatre and film. This partner-led research in Canada and New Zealand explores the social dimensions of water beyond measurements of quality and quantity – culture, values, identity… and their inclusion to mobilize and encourage varied conversations and responses to water (in)security. Read more here.

Research interests:
Water security, Water cooperation, Water Management, Transboundary Water Governance Community Participatory Action Research, Collaborative research, Photovoice, Photography, Videography, Other Knowledge(s), Human Geography, Environmental Geography, Hydrodiplomacy
 
Personal Website: www.WaterPax.org
 
Publications:
Splichalova, D. (2017, July 17). Navigating Cultural Currents: The Sixaola River Basin Story. Published by The Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database
 
Contact: waterpaxx [at] gmail [dot] com

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