Today is the first anniversary of downing of #PS752 and the deaths of 176 people, including my dear PhD student and friend Ghanimat Azhdari. One only dreams of having a student as clever and passionate and inspirational as Ghanimat. I have written a few reflections about her 1/

Ghanimat was an Indigenous person who was born into the nomadic Qashqai tribe in Iran. Like Indigenous Peoples across the planet, Ghanimat had a very strong personal relationship to her ancestral territories in Iran, consisting of vast arid grasslands, rangelands and deserts. 2/

Scientists believe that over 80 % of biodiversity is found in Indigenous and tribal lands, such the great forests in the Amazon and the Boreal, as well arid regions such as Ghanimat’s home territory in southwestern Iran. She had dedicated her life to protecting these places.3/

In our lab meetings, Ghanimat would describe Indigenous lands & waters as "territories of life", as they are not just the habitat of endangered plants and animals, but are also the ancient landscapes that have sustained Indigenous Peoples, like her own community, for millenia 4/

Ghanimat’s PhD thesis was on the biocultural richness of Indigenous lands, such as sacred mountains & rivers, berry picking areas, and places where medicinal plants are harvested. Ghanimat was an expert in mapping these critical areas of both ecological & cultural significance 5/

Ghanimat was particularly well suited for this type of research as she could easily slip between two worlds: the Indigenous world in which ecological knowledge about plants & animals is captured in songs, language, culture and the western science world of data and statistics 6/

For her PhD dissertation, Ghanimat had partnered with First Nations in Canada to begin mapping the biocultural richness of the boreal forest, using participatory mapping methods as well as remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis. 7/

Ghanimat was scheduled to meet w Miawpukek First Nation when #PS752 tragedy happened. In an email she sent to me from Iran a few days before her flight, she described her excitement, but worry that her boots might not be warm enough for notoriously biting Newfoundland winter. 8/

The loss of Ghanimat Azhdari, as well as so many other similarly talented individuals in #PS752 was devastating – particularly for university communities across Canada where many of the victims were studying or working as researchers and scientists. The loss has been catastrophic

This poem has brought me great comfort with the grief of losing my dear student Ghanimat and deep sadness for the other precious lives taken on #PS752. They remain with us in our memories, but also in their beautiful legacy and their impact to make the earth a better place.

Thank you for taking a little time to read about Ghanimat. Similar reflections and personal stories are being shared by the families of the victims of #PS752 as part of a virtual memorial hosted by @ps752justice. You can watch as we mark this tragic day: