Burnett's research interests can broadly be defined as: Indigenous history, race and colonization, settler studies, women and gender history, the social history of health and medicine, and western Canadian history. She has published articles on Indigenous women’s healing practices, focusing specifically on childbirth and birth control; the genesis of colonial health care regimes in Treaty 7 communities; and representations of Native Americans in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight. Her current research projects investigate the relationship between health, race, and settlement in western Canada and food sovereignty and colonialism in northern First Nations communities.
