For this episode, I was incredibly lucky to speak with two experts working on youth experiences with country food in the ISR: Maria Ramirez Prieto and Kanelsa Noksana. Maria is a Colombian Canadian PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. She brings the background in nutrition and nutraceutical sciences and international development with a Bachelor of Arts and Science from the University of Guelph. Relationality and collaboration are at the core of Maria's research as she works alongside Inuvialuit co-researchers and community members in the ISR. Kanelsa is an Inuvialuit from Tuktoyaktuk Northwest Territories. She's a community research lead in Tuktoyaktuk, and has worked on several research projects, including the one we're exploring today. Kanelsa is currently in her final year for her Bachelor of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta. 

These two guests are not only incredibly knowledgeable about food and health, but in this episode, they also give us a masterclass on what meaningful and inclusive community-based research can look like. And they also offer some creative ideas for knowledge exchange. If you stick around until the very end, they also share their favourite stories from fieldwork—one of them involving a very big fish. So, grab your favourite snack and enjoy this food for thought. 

Interdisciplinary research, have you heard of it? On this episode of Arctic Minded, Julia talks about navigating interdisciplinary research with Dr. Jean Holloway. Plus, they discuss her experience in the fields of geology, geography, ecology and more as well as her current research in Arctic shipping, the realities of dealing with mental health issues in academia and doing research that targets policy makers.  

Dr. Jean Holloway is a Research Associate at the University of Ottawa in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Geomatics. Her research interests are focused, broadly, around determining how climate change is impacting various elements of the cryosphere in the Canadian Arctic and subarctic. After receiving degrees in Environmental Science (B.Sc.) and Geography (M.Sc.) at Queen’s University, Dr. Holloway completed a Ph.D. in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa, focused on determining the impacts of forest fires on permafrost in the boreal forest of Canada. Following her Ph.D., she joined the Environment, Society, and Policy Group (ESPG) at the University of Ottawa where she studies changes in Arctic shipping activity and the subsequent human and environmental impacts, with the goal of producing research that is useable by policy makers. Dr. Holloway currently sits on the Board of Directors of ArcticNet and is the former Chair of the Canadian National Committee of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS Canada). 

On this episode of Arctic Minded, Julia talks with Dustin Patar, an Iqaluit based journalist about the parallels between science and journalism, his journey to becoming a northern based journalist and the importance of sharing stories from the Arctic.  

On this episode of Arctic Minded, Julia talks with Dr. Srijak Bhatnagar about small, often overlooked, key organisms in the environment: microbes. These “unsung heroes” play many roles in ecosystem services, yet we have only started the scratch the surface in learning all these organisms have to offer. Historically, microbes have received negative attention for their part in disease and illness, however from producing oxygen to their ability to degrade oil, they play an essential role in sustaining our environment. Listen to learn more about these invisible organisms and what they are capable of.  

Srijak is an Assistant Professor of Microbial Ecology and Computational Biology at Athabasca University. His expertise in interpreting DNA sequencing data allows him to study microbes in various environments, including the Arctic Ocean. His research program focuses on studying ecosystems from a microbial perspective and leveraging microbes for a sustainable environment, with an emphasis on monitoring and remediation. He has been working on generating microbial baseline data to map the microbial biogeography of Canada’s Arctic Ocean and the microbial response to Arctic Oil Spills. Since his first introduction to microbes during high school in India, he has found his passion in studying these “invisible” unsung heroes and becoming a microbe superfan. Aside from research,  he is also a passionate science communicator and works with the Arctic Institute of North America to increase the awareness and uptake of DNA-based knowledge in Arctic policy and decision-making. 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to scuba dive in the Arctic? On this episode of Arctic Minded, Julia and Dr. Amanda Savoie discuss scientific diving in the Arctic, along with its demands, thrills and challenges, and Amanda’s role as a phycologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

In this episode we celebrate 20 years of Arctic research on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, the famous icebreaker featured on our Canadian 50 dollar polymer banknotes. In part 2 of this episode and with our guest, Dr. Maxime Geoffroy, we discover what it’s like to ride a 6000-ton ship through the ice of the Arctic Ocean, the daily life as well as the social and the scientific activities onboard the vessel.

In this episode we celebrate 20 years of Arctic research on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, the famous icebreaker featured on our Canadian 50 dollar polymer banknotes. In part 1 of this episode and with our guest, Dr. Alexandre Forest, we learn about the ship’s surprising story and discover how this floating University at sea has shaped and impacted the scientific world.

On this episode of Arctic Minded, Julia speaks with PhD student Danielle Nowosad about her journey from undergraduate student to PhD candidate researching freshwater invertebrates in the Arctic. Dani’s unique story involves finding new research interests, confronting feelings of uncertainty and challenging herself to ensure she is making a positive impact.

This episode will discuss Indigenous Youth living in the Arctic and their role in addressing issues, challenges and opportunities related to Climate and socio-economic change. We will be talking about the importance of respecting and integrating other ways of knowing when conducting research to find solutions and broaden the basis of evidence on which decision-makers and policymakers can rely upon to effect change that is fair to all. This episode features guests Justin Milton and Michael Milton from Ikaarvik.