Jo Fitzgibbons carries community knowledge into Vancouver planning

Jo Fitzgibbons (MES ’19) calls herself a former “bog child,” happiest catching frogs in wetlands. A walk through a Toronto ravine during a hard season reminded her what nature had always given her, and it shaped a career built on community-engaged research.

She interned with the City of Toronto, competed internationally for Waterloo and researched equity in resilience planning, testing her ideas in practice. Associate Professor Carrie Mitchell taught her to work as a situated researcher, and the Governor General’s Gold Medal went to her master’s research. Her doctoral work at the University of British Columbia asked whose knowledge counts in environmental decisions, and some chapters appear as a toolkit and a zine.

She became a Registered Professional Planner and finished her PhD while working in local government. At the City of Vancouver she works with engineers, planners, finance and social policy staff to embed ecology in land-use planning, development and public infrastructure, and she values small, careful changes that build up over time.

Fitzgibbons is a 2026 Recent Alumni Inspiration Award recipient from the Faculty of Environment.