Vanessa Ambtman-Smith

Research

Apprenticeship Community-Based Participatory Research Cultural Safety Gender-Diverse Healthcare Healthcare Reconciliation Indigenous Data Sovereignty Indigenous Health Indigenous Methodologies

Latest papers

You can't just bring people here and then not feed them: A case in support of Indigenous-led training environments.
Environment and planning. F, Philosophy, theory, models, methods and practice · 2023 · first author

All 1 publications

Latest funding

Sacred Stories, Sacred Selves: Adapting Two-Spirit Rites of Passage for Urban Indigenous Communities
CIHR · 2026 · Nominated PI
$688,665
Actioning Health Justice: Gathering Experiences to Enhance Indigenous Cultural Safety within a Mental Health Hospital
CIHR · 2026 · Co-investigator
$1,340,089
Planting Seeds for Urban Indigenous Food Sovereignty: Growing SOAHAC's Traditional Food Bag Program
CIHR · 2024 · Co-investigator
$1,866,600

All 3 grants and awards

1 publications.

01

You can't just bring people here and then not feed them: A case in support of Indigenous-led training environments.

Ambtman-Smith V, Wysocki K, Bomberry V, Reitmeier V, Nightingale E

Environment and planning. F, Philosophy, theory, models, methods and practice2023First author

DOI: 10.1177/26349825221133096 PMID: 41907452

Sacred Stories, Sacred Selves: Adapting Two-Spirit Rites of Passage for Urban Indigenous Communities

Nominated PICIHR2026Op Gr Adv 2S_LGBTQI+ Hea Thr Res - Hea Two-Spir, Ind, Gen. Div. F. Nat, In, Mé

Principal investigators: Ambtman-Smith, Vanessa N

Keywords: Apprenticeship; Community-Based Participatory Research; Cultural Safety; Gender-Diverse Healthcare; Healthcare Reconciliation; Indigenous Data Sovereignty; Indigenous Health; Indigenous Methodologies; Revitalizing Indigenous Health System; Two-Spirit Health

$688,665

Actioning Health Justice: Gathering Experiences to Enhance Indigenous Cultural Safety within a Mental Health Hospital

Co-investigatorCIHR2026Project Grant

Principal investigators: Wells, Samantha L; Linklater, Renee

Keywords: Care Pathways; Cultural Safety; Hospital Based Care; Indigenous Methodologies; Mental Health; Patient, Family And Staff Experiences

$1,340,089

Planting Seeds for Urban Indigenous Food Sovereignty: Growing SOAHAC's Traditional Food Bag Program

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Richmond, Chantelle A

Keywords: Community-Based Research; Creative Methods; Environmental Repossession; Food Security; Indigenous Food Sovereignty; Indigenous Geographies; Indigenous Knowledge; Land-Based Learning; Story-Telling; Traditional Foods

$1,866,600

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Mention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Apprenticeship Dear Professor Ambtman-Smith, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "You can't just bring people here and then not feed them: A case in support of Indigenous-led training environments." (2023), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Sacred Stories, Sacred Selves: Adapting Two-Spirit Rites of Passage for Urban Indigenous Communities" (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]