Honours Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies/Geography • University of Ottawa
Bio
Dana Jordan graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies (Minor in Geography) from the University of Ottawa in 2026. During her undergraduate years, she was involved on the Executive Council of the Geography Environmental and Geomatics Student Association (known as “GAIA”), and in community service learning placements including with the Alliance of Canadian Land Trusts, OC Transpo and sustainability planning for the City of Ottawa. Dana is most proud of her leadership on the EcoYouth Council, an environmental non-profit group by Ecology Ottawa.
In both her academic and extracurricular activities, Dana is focused on aligning the values of building sustainable futures and environmental stewardship.
Most recently, Dana worked as a Policy Analyst at Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada (ISED) within the Corporate Governance Division. In this role, she coordinated policy-based assessments on enterprise-wide operations such as departmental program management and investment planning. Her experience at ISED has enabled her to develop skills in strategic planning, performance evaluation and engaging a broad range of stakeholders ranging from departmental governance committees to external agencies to senior management.
As a Program Officer on the Indigenous Engagement Team at Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN), Dana delivered the Canada Greener Homes Program to Indigenous partners across Canada and led information sessions to stakeholders on program requirements. Her work experience at NRCAN gave her valuable experience learning about Indigenous priorities, successfully supporting engagement strategies and adapting to changing conditions in supporting teams across the division.
Through co-op and course-related placements, Dana has gained experience researching topics in environmental law (i.e., microplastics), food security, fund development, and stakeholder engagement. Dana has also shared her passion for the environment through her volunteer work outside of academic placements, including co-chairing the Climate Action Team as part of the Indigenous Leadership Action Teams (ILAT) in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough. ILAT made recommendations for advancing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, for goal 13 - Climate Action.
In addition, Dana has been an active member of Ecology Ottawa’s EcoYouth Council and is currently in the Women’s Biodiveristy Caucus which focuses on gender equity issues under the Convention for Biological Diversity. Dana is very interested in how legal and policy frameworks can be leveraged to generate action on sustainability goals at local and global levels. In the MScSM program, she looks forward to learning about the role of innovation in sustainability management, and hopes to grow her network for future cross-sector collaborations and knowledge sharing.
Outside of her professional interests, Dana enjoys hiking, rock climbing, travelling, dancing and gardening.