Gita is a member of the PCAPS Steering Group, building on the experience she gained as a previous member of the Societal and Economic Research and Applications (SERA) task team of the WMO’s Polar Prediction Project (PPP), from 2015 to 2023. Gita is also a current member of the Indigenous and Local Knowledge Task Team of a joint WMO, FAO, and UNESCO initiative.

Gita is a geographer with training in the natural and social sciences, who works primarily at the intersection of cultural and environmental geography. She holds an Honours BES in Environmental Studies from York University, an MSc in Earth System Science from Queen's University, and a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Toronto (all in Canada). She was a professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) from 2008 to 2019, and since 2019 is a professor in the School of Earth, Environment and Society at McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada).

Gita's research is driven by a deep commitment to respecting and learning from Indigenous knowledge alongside science in order to address complex socio-ecological issues. She leads a diverse team of northern- and southern-based researchers working to address northern sustainability priorities, and dedicated to enhancing Indigenous self-determination in research. Gita has primarily worked with Inuit community members and organizations in Nunavut, but through collaborations she has been involved in research with Inuit, Métis, and First Nations communities across the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik (northern Québec), and Nunatsiavut (northern Labrador). Her work spans a range of topics depending on community-identified priorities. Most relevant to the PCAPS work is her leadership in an ArcticNet-funded and YOPP-endorsed project (2019 - 2023) that surveyed 360 community members in Nunavut to understand Inuit uses and needs for weather, weather, ice, and climate information and services. She also facilitated two Weather and Society workshops in 2022 focused on Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homelands in Canada), and is actively developing partnerships with academic, government, and Inuit organizations to improve weather and ice services in the Eastern Canadian Arctic.

Research interests:
Inuit knowledge | community-engaged research | knowledge mobilization for decision-making