My name is Katie Doke Sawatzky. I am journalist and editor originating from and living in Regina, Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory and the homeland of the Métis. For my graduate research, (Master of Journalism, University of Regina), I investigated the state of native prairie in Saskatchewan, culminating in the multimedia website, The Prairie Commons Project.

I am currently a project editor for Canadian Mennonite University Press and a freelance writer and editor.  I have written for local publications, including Eagle Feather News, J-Source, Geez magazine, Degrees magazine and Briarpatch magazine. I am interesteda in ecological preservation, Indigenous-settler relations and the quirks of my hometown.

Feel free to contact me at katiesawatzky@gmail.com.

The Prairie Commons Project

The multimedia website The Prairie Commons Project, is my graduate research project on the state of native prairie grassland in Saskatchewan. I take an in-depth look at governmental decisions and policies that threaten this landscape and grassroots individuals and communities organizing to protect it.

Sharing treaty land

Cover story for Briarpatch magazine’s July 2021 issue on the Treaty Land Sharing Network. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Zink.)

 

 

Re:wild

I write blog posts for Re:wild (formerly Global Conservation Fund)

The skinny on the search for the Fat Catfish

A team in Colombia is preparing to search Lake Tota and surrounding waterways for the fish, which has been lost to science for 66 years

We don’t need to fear a fungi-fuelled apocalypse

Fungi are a critical part of the wild and we need them more than we should fear them.

 

Degrees magazine

Unversity of Regina

The growing legacy of the U of R Herbarium

Former biology professor George Ledingham spent a lifetime collecting plant samples housed in the on-campus herbarium that now bears his name. The herbarium is getting a new lease of life thanks to a multi-disciplined effort that has rocketed the facility into the digital age.

 

Home, family and war

Two U of R students share the effects of war in their home countries on their lives and how a new fundraising priority, Project Resilience, will make a difference to students from lands of strife.

Doing her own thing

Profile of Eman Bare for University of Regina Degrees magazine

 

Planet 9

In Discourse Spring/Summer 2020 (University of Regina)

The possibility of a Planet 9 existing in the outer reaches of our solar system has been making headlines ever since a paper theorizing this was published in 2016 by Caltech researchers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin.

With all the hype, Samantha Lawler, an astronomy assistant professor at the University of Regina, felt compelled to test the Planet 9 theory.

Production and consumption: the elephant in the room

In Discourse Spring/Summer 2020 (University of Regina)

The University of Regina and Luther College have been chosen by the International Association of Universities (IAU) to lead one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 12 years.

Natural mood boost in just five minutes

In Discourse Spring/Summer 2019 (University of Regina)

According to this study, it only takes five minutes of sitting in nature (no exercise needed) to feel psychologically better.”

Controversial CRTC decision raises questions about space on airwaves for Indigenous broadcasters

In J-Source

Wawatay Native Communication Society says it was denied the Toronto and Ottawa licenses because of its government funding.

Book Review of Poor Housing: A Silent Crisis

In Briarpatch magazine

But the book’s approach becomes clear in the end: Winnipeg’s social housing is not just indicative of what is wrong with housing across Canada, but also a model for what is going right. There is outstanding housing advocacy work going on at the community level, and goodwill and investment on the part of the provincial government.

Parents rise up

In Geez magazine

While I identify with Hedges’s point that parents are limited by their caregiving, the statement that I can’t “easily rise up” like child-free folks downplays the significance of parenting and its contributions to nonviolent activism.

Resisting the pursuit of more

for Canadian Mennonite, Feb. 13, 2013

An aspiring cyclist

for Canadian Mennonite, April 10, 2013

A call for support as I parent

for Canadian Mennonite, August 14, 2013

I felt the Spirit under an umbrella

for Canadian Mennonite, Oct. 9, 2013

Hope for a doubting disciple

for Canadian Mennonite, December 11, 2013

An ode to this printed page

for Canadian Mennonite, Jan. 14, 2014

Celebrating Eastertide

for Canadian Mennonite, May 7, 2014

Local worship

for Canadian Mennonite, Nov. 15, 2014

A different kind of disaster

for Canadian Mennonite, May 6, 2015

Winds of change

for Canadian Mennonite, June 30, 2015

A just-oriented church community

for Canadian Mennonite, May 4, 2016

Agonizing over the 'best' community

for Canadian Mennonite, June 28, 2016