In the North, community engagement is essential and invaluable to conducting impactful research. Yet, the way we go about engaging with communities can differ depending on the community itself, project goals and across research disciplines. In this webinar, various speakers will share their practices of effective community engagement across the fields of: environmental science, natural science, anthropology, and tourism.
Speakers
Ole Martin Sandberg, expert, Icelandic Museum of Natural History;
Ole Martin Sandberg is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Iceland where he teaches environmental ethics. He also works at the Icelandic Museum of Natural History where he is on the executive committee of the Icelandic collaboration platform for biodiversity, BIODICE, which is hosted at the museum. His work focuses on the interconnected issues of climate change, biodiversity loss and social justice.
Mary Gamberg, biologist, Arctic Research Consortium of the United States;
Mary Gamberg is a research scientist with the Whitehorse-based consulting firm, Gamberg Consulting, specializing in contaminant research in Arctic ecosystems. Since 1991 she has worked as an environmental consultant in the Yukon working with NGOs, Yukon First Nations and federal and territorial governments. Much of Mary’s work has been under the Northern Contaminants Program where she is responsible for the core programs Contaminants in Arctic Caribou and Temporal Trends of Contaminants in Yukon Lake Trout. She has also conducted projects studying contaminants in moose, muskoxen, bison, wolves, mink, fish, plants and other traditional/country foods across the Canadian Arctic and has assisted in projects monitoring contaminants in people in the north. Mary is involved in various outreach initiatives, including teaching a contaminant module at Arctic College in Iqaluit, and is current leading a project gathering contaminant knowledge from the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut to assess the state of knowledge and develop a strategic plan for contaminant research in that region. The success of all these programs is a result of the relationships built with communities across the Canadian North that foster a positive collaboration of research and sharing of information and expertise.
Gillian Edmunds, Arctic Eider Society.
Gillian Edmunds is a member of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, and has Inuit and Settler Ancestry. Her home community is Postville (KipukKak), Nunatsiavut. Her pride in her Inuit culture has driven her interest of Indigenous Knowledge representation in Western Science and passion for participating in meaningful engagement in research with Indigenous communities. She is a recent graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland (and Labrador), with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography. Throughout her studies she has had a dream to work alongside her self-determining government, and as the Nunatsiavut SIKU Outreach Coordinator with the Arctic Eider Society, she provides SIKU training to harvesters in all five Inuit communities in the region: Nain (Nunainguk), Hopedale (Apvitok), Postville (KipukKak), Makkovik (MaKovik), and Rigolet (kikiak). In this role, she also supports the Nunatsiavut Imappivut Marine Plan project on SIKU. In addition to working with Labrador Inuit, she also works with the Innu Nation’s Guardians in the communities of Natuashish and Sheshatshiu Labrador.
Moderator:
Julia MacPherson, Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator, ArcticNet.
Julia Macpherson is ArcticNet’s Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator. Julia (she/her) holds a BSc in marine and freshwater biology from the University of Guelph and an MSc in biological sciences from the University of New Brunswick (Saint John) where she studied the effects of winter cold on copper toxicity to freshwater fish. She has developed a passion for science communication throughout her studies, and in her spare time she enjoys yoga, camping and nature photography.
