Janet was born and raised in southern Ontario, but soon discovered the joy of northern Canada through canoe camps, books, music, and the poems of Robert Service. So of course, when she began her career, she headed north of 60, conducting geological mapping expeditions to the Coppermine River and Lac de Gras areas of the Northwest Territories with the Geological Survey of Canada, during which she and her teams documented parts of the early history of the Earth including the discovery of the oldest rocks in the world.
Following a series of leadership responsibilities in the Government of Canada’s Health, Industry, and Economic Development departments, Janet returned to her first love, Canada’s north, heading the Northern Affairs Organization of CIRNA (Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada), where she provided leadership in the devolution of federal powers to the Northwest Territories territorial government and Indigenous organizations, natural resource management, and northern science–including the design and building of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cambridge Bay. She continued to support and advocate for the north through leadership at CanNor, Canada’s northern economic development agency for Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
After retiring from the federal public service in 2020, Janet took on the Chair of PermafrostNet, a research network that unites academic, government industry, and Indigenous communities to boost Canada’s ability to monitor, predict, and adapt to permafrost thaw and its consequences. She is also Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Light Source (a national facility, based in Saskatoon, that uses light to explore the microscopic nature of matter) and works with the Canadian Science Policy Centre (a hub for Canada’s science policy community). In February 2023, Janet was appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors for Polar Knowledge Canada, the organization that advances Canada’s knowledge of the Arctic and operates CHARS.
Janet graduated in 1985 from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario with a PhD in Earth Sciences. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her geologist husband, Dr. Marc St-Onge.