Leandrea is a member of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. She engages in cultural activities, such as gathering, handling, and fishing, which depend upon a healthy ecosystem free from climate change impacts. 

Extreme weather events, such as prolonged drought and unusual precipitation, have disrupted her ability to practice and teach cultural-land based learning, which is important for her professional and cultural wellbeing. The wildfires that have raged through the Yukon in recent years have exposed her to dangerous air pollution, making her feel sick with throat and chest pains, and have cut her off from accessing her home and other communities around the Yukon when she travels to for work. 

The 2025/2026 winter in Yukon reached record-breaking cold snap temperatures. The community experienced dangerous roads, soaring electricity bills, and a maxed-out grid, making the community vulnerable to power outages and officials warning residents to be prepared. 

Growing up, Leandrea loved visiting her grandmother in Atlin. Now, as an adult, she is involved in the community, learning how to be more of an advocate. Atlin has experienced significant flooding in 2021 and 2022, and wildfires in recent years, with wildfire smoke carrying through neighboring provinces. 

Helping to protect and prepare local communities for natural disasters is important to Leandrea. She has placed sand bags to help protect the Marsh Lake community, particularly elders, many of which were forced to evacuate their homes during flooding. She fears for the state of the world as the destruction she has experienced continues to worsen.

Leandrea loves her community in Yukon, and has received so much guidance and opportunities from those she is connected with in her journey to become an educator. She is especially appreciative to her former employer, Yukon First Nation Education Directorate (YFNED), for getting her out on the land to harvest, learn, and build. She loves to travel to Atlin, seeing wildlife on the drive and admiring how things seem to calm down and slow there. Despite her fear of heights, she recently started rock climbing. She enjoys the beautiful views of Whitehorse and the feeling like she’s on top of the world.