Nalaine Morin

Like lots of curious kids, Nalaine grew up asking a lot of questions.

"When I was young, I found that I was always asking myself why," she recalls.  As a kid, she was also fascinated by how things worked, especially the machines at the sawmill where her dad worked.

Nalaine always knew that she would study engineering after high school. “It just seemed like a normal path for me and I wanted to go back and work for my people,” she says.  The hard part was trying to figure out which field of engineering she would study.  She wanted to go into Environmental Engineering, but at the time, not many universities offered that course of study.

Nalaine graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering. She feels that even though university was difficult at times and the course load was heavy, it was an excellent learning experience.  She says it is important to manage your time, do a lot of reading on your own, and to make the connection between science, math and everyday life.

Nalaine began her career in mining, but she has since moved on to work for her First Nation and others. She is a technical advisor to First Nations in their effort to protect traditional ways when they help develop their lands.

Nalaine’s goal is to always protect our Mother Earth.  She would like to encourage young native students to go to university and pursue a degree in engineering or the sciences so that they can help protect our environment and work to create self-sufficient communities.