Dean Assinewe, RPF – Sagamok Anishnawbek

Dean works with the forest and wood products industry, as well as Indigenous communities, in pursuing forest management and manufacturing opportunities. He is also a mentor with PLT Canada’s #MyGreenMentor program. FPInnovations is a private not-for-profit R&D organization. It specializes in solutions that help grow the Canadian forest sector and its affiliated industries to enhance their global competitiveness.

FPInnovations is a PLT Canada Green Jobs employer.

Dean’s story is included in A Guide to Green Jobs in Canada: Voices of Indigenous Professionals.

Download the guide

DEAN’S LOVE OF NATURE COMES FROM…

“My father was a big influence. He was a trapper in his youth. We spoke quite a bit about his experience and his spiritual relationship with the land. In our culture, we’re all connected. The animals are our relations. It’s important we have a fundamental respect for them.”

DEAN CHOSE A GREEN CAREER BECAUSE…

“Fresh out of high school, I was working in Toronto with a good job at a pharmaceutical company. But I would find myself thinking how much I wanted to go home for a vacation and be outdoors. I also thought about how I grew up and my time in Ontario’s Junior Ranger Program, a program for youth to gain experience in the natural resources sector.”

“It was a huge milestone in my life. I decided to reconnect with the natural resources sector. I first earned a Forest Technician diploma at Sault College and then an Honours Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Lakehead University. I’m also a Registered Professional Forester (RPF).”

TO DEAN, BEING INDIGENOUS IN A GREEN JOB  MEANS…

“If First Nations can help take a lead in how development happens, Canada and the rest of the world will be better for it. We have to draw careful connections between our environment, our culture and traditions, and how we develop our natural resources. On an individual basis, I can mentor youth who are trying to decide what they want to become. Growing up, we didn’t have many mentors like First Nation foresters. Today, there are more and more!”