2023 was a huge year for the ECRG! Read below to see what some of us got up to this year...
MNRES student Halena Scanlon completed her data collection in Ulukhaktok this summer. She lived in the community for six weeks and engaged Inuit Knowledge Holders through interviews to better understand Arctic char in a changing marine environment. She plans to defend her thesis in 2024!
MA NRES student Yanik Rozon completed 6 weeks of research in Fiji this summer, where she did fieldwork for her project on the cumulative impacts of climate change and human activities on coral reef ecosystems through a case study of a community-based marine protected area. She plans to defend her thesis in 2024!
MSc NRES student Steph Chan had an eventful and productive year. Stephanie’s research entails linking Inuit and scientific knowledge to better understand the impacts of climate change on coastal marine ecosystems in the western Canadian Arctic. She is focusing her work on the movement and feeding ecology of a Greenland cod. She had the opportunity to attend ArcticNet this year in Iqaluit, Nunavut, where she won the Marine Science Poster contest!
MA NRES student Mackenzie Ostberg joined the ECRG and has begun work on a project identifying how communities in the Robson Valley are exposed and sensitive to climate-related mountain hazards and communities' capacity to adapt. She completed her first semester of classes and has written the first two chapters of her thesis. In the new year, she will begin work on her research proposal and plan fieldwork.
BSc Forest Ecology and Management student Julie Forrest studied at Ájtte, a Sámi museum and cultural center, in Northern Sweden. She worked on a project that addresses Indigenous rights, land use planning, and justice, through a study of the northward expansion of ‘green energy’ on Sámi lands. She also assisted the research unit at Ájtte in their search for collaborative planning tools for land use conflicts between Sámi reindeer herders and mining activity in the region.
BSc Psychology and Human Geography student Madeleine Fisher worked with the Western Norway Research Institute in Sogndal to support research and compare the challenges Norway and Canada are facing regarding plastic pollution mitigation in their respective fisheries and aquaculture systems. During this time, she presented at a Shift-Plastics workshop in Oslo. She finished her time in Norway cleaning up plastic pollution on the islands surrounding Florø.
MA NRES Annie King successfully defended her thesis in June and has continued her research as a Northern Studies UNBC Research Associate in partnership with the Sahtu Land and Water Board. She spent a month in the Sahtu region, working to return the results of her thesis and receive feedback from research participants. She has published a plain-language summary of her results and will continue the research into the new year.
MA NRES James Whitehead successfully defended his thesis in August and was invited to share his results and expertise by CBC and CTV News, and was published in the Toronto Star! He has been hired by SFU's Centre for Dialogue - Mitigating Wildfire to support and build collaboration to address the challenge of catastrophic wildfire in BC.
Another very exciting year for the ECRG. Stay tuned to see what we get up to in 2024!