Michelle Cyca

Michelle Cyca is a journalist from Vancouver, and a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6. She joined The Narwhal in 2023 as the editor of Indigenous-led conservation, and is now the bureau chief of conservation and fellowships. In addition to assigning stories, Michelle covers the intersections of Indigenous Rights, Canadian politics and economic development. She also loves stories about under-appreciated animals in Canada, such as bats and eels.

Her writing at The Narwhal has been a finalist for the Jack Webster Awards and Digital Publishing Awards, and stories she has edited have been finalists and winners at the Indigenous Media Awards, Canadian Association of Journalists Awards, Jack Webster Awards and Digital Publishing Awards.

Michelle is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Indigenous Journalists Association, and a board member of tâpwêwin media, an Indigenous-led media non-profit.

Beyond her work at The Narwhal, she is an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Journalism, Writing and Media. Her reporting and essays can also be found in The Globe and Mail, Maclean's, The Walrus, Chatelaine, IndigiNews and other publications. From 2013 to 2018, she was the co-publisher of SAD Mag, a biannual print publication focused on art, design and storytelling from Vancouver.

She has two children and spends most of her free time reading weird fiction, running in the forest and rollerskating.