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Jessica Penney

Jessica Penney

Assistant Professor
EducationMA (University of Glasgow, Sociology & Public Policy), MSc (University of Glasgow, Global Health), PhD (University of Glasgow, Sociology)
OfficeJOR-306
Phone416-979-5000 x552604

Dr. Jessica Penney is Nunatsiavut Inuk from Rigolet, Labrador.

Dr. Penney is on leave from July 2025-December 2026.

Areas of Expertise

Inuit health; Inuit food sovereignty; Inuit research ethics; environmental issues

Research

Dr. Penney’s research supports Inuit food sovereignty, focusing on the intersection of Inuit health and environmental issues, including environmental contaminants and climate change. She is passionate about collaborative Inuit research methodologies and ethics, and capacity building in Indigenous research. Her PhD research at the University of Glasgow focused on the lived experience of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador, and she later held a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. From 2022-2025 she was a Co-Investigator on the CINUK-funded Inuksiutit: Inuit Food Sovereignty in Nunavut project.

Courses

  • SOC 427:  Indigenous Perspectives on Canada
  • CFNY 403: Food Security Concepts and Principles
  • PPA 704: Current Issues in Indigenous GovernanceComparative Indigenous Politics

Community & Professional Service

Recent Publications

Penney, J. and E. Allen. Forthcoming. Witnessing Ecological Change Through Photography in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut. In Artistic Witness and Response to Environmental Change in the Arctic, edited by A. Sohns. Routledge. 

Sinha, V., D. Wheatley, J. Penney and N. Li. 2025. Inuit children in Nunavut face a preventable food security crisis. (external link, opens in new window)  The Conversation [online].  

Sallafie, M., J. Penney, M. Cherba, G. Healey Akearok and J-L. Ratel. 2022. Key Informants Perspectives on Education Success, Supports, and Barriers in Nunavut Education. (external link, opens in new window)  Canadian Journal of Education 45(1): 53-79. 

Sallafie, M., M. Cherba, G. Healey Akearok and J. Penney. 2021. Survey of Nunavut Post-Secondary Students: Determinants of school completion, post-secondary education, and education success. (external link, opens in new window)  Canadian Journal of Education 44(3): 764-787. 

Johnson-Castle, P. and J. Penney. 2021. Not So Grand Plans: The Continued Erasure Of Indigenous Rights In Newfoundland And Labrador’s Hydroelectric ‘Development’. (external link, opens in new window)  Toronto: Yellowhead Institute. 

Penney, J. 2021. "Exploring the Health and Well-Being Concerns of Labrador Land Protectors." In Muskrat Falls: How a Mega-Dam Became a Predatory Formation (external link, opens in new window)  (pp. 61-71), edited by S. Crocker and L. Moore. Memorial University Press: St. John’s.

Penney, J. and P. Johnson-Castle. 2020. COVID-19 and Inuit Nunangat: Research, Responsibility & Infrastructure Inequality. (external link, opens in new window)  Toronto: Yellowhead Institute.