Dr. M.A. (Peggy) Smith, RPF (Miskwaanakwadook—Red Cloud Woman) is of Cree ancestry from the James Bay Treaty #9 area. She is Professor Emerita in Lakehead University’s Faculty of Natural Resources Management. She has specialized in social justice issues in the natural resources sector, particularly the recognition and protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. She retired in 2017 from her position as Interim Vice-Provost (Aboriginal Initiatives). She continues supervising graduate students, carrying out research projects on free, prior and informed consent, and completing an online open access book on Indigenous Peoples and Natural Resources, the course she taught at Lakehead University from 2001-2016.

Peggy is active in the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-governmental organization that focuses on voluntary certification of forest companies who follow FSC standards. She is a member of the Board of the Rights and Resources Group that coordinates the Rights and Resources International Coalition whose members advocate for Indigenous land tenure rights. She is also participating in developing a national strategy for gender equity in the forest sector. She chairs the Board of the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation based in Minnesota whose mission is to foster Ober’s legacy and North Woods island home on Rainy Lake as a source of inspiration, renewal, and connection to Indigenous Peoples, kindred spirits, and the natural world.