North of 60

Lakes, particularly those in cold regions, are increasingly vulnerable to a range of environmental pressures exacerbated by climate change. Understanding the future trajectories of these lakes is crucial for the communities that rely on them for their livelihoods. However, meaningful predictions are often constrained by limited spatial and temporal coverage of field observations, insufficient monitoring programs, and a lack of knowledge about in-lake processes and their resilience to external changes. Our research focuses on studying the physical and biogeochemical processes and dynamics of northern lakes. Our specific goals are to: (1) understand the past, present, and projected lake ice phenology and thickness; (2) investigate the relationship between ice condition variability and lake water properties; and (3) characterize and project lake ice subsurface-surface-atmosphere interaction and exchange processes in a changing climate using advanced remote sensing techniques. Ultimately, our goal is to develop transferable methods for predicting the sensitivity and vulnerability of cold-region lakes to climate change. By combining field observations, remote sensing data, and statistical and mechanistic modeling, we aim to create a framework for predictively assessing the coupled hydrodynamic and biogeochemical evolution of large lakes in cold regions worldwide.

In boreal and arctic regions, climate warming is occurring at rates that are 4x faster than the global average. This is resulting in widespread and rapid changes in our northern forests. Notably, wildfires are becoming larger, more frequent, and more severe with marked implications for the recovery of forests and the people and wildlife that rely on them. Layered on these fire related changes are changes in the pests and pathogens that can further undermine ecosystem resilience and alter forest recovery trajectories. In this lecture, I will discuss these various changes and what this means for the face of Canada’s boreal forests.

Muskoxen are the ultimate survivors, having pulled through the last ice age over 10,000 years ago when most other species didn’t, and again dodging a similar fate about 100 years ago when they were hunted almost to extinction for their hides. In fact, it has been suggested that muskoxen are one of the world’s great wildlife recovery stories.

This lecture will have 3 sections; the first part will briefly explore the historic depletion of muskoxen in northern Canada to very low numbers and their 100-year recovery. The second part will focus on the tame captive muskoxen and the work that I was engaged with for many years, to gain insight into the conservation and management of this amazing animal species. The third section of this presentation will examine some research highlights from past research, as well as the current work being done by new researchers. Dr. Nick Luymes will share about the new work being done with a muskox satellite collar data set from NWT, and what he is discovering about these amazing creatures.

The Arctic has been understood by many commentators as an “exceptional” region in international affairs due to the unique level of cooperation and collaboration among the Arctic states, Arctic Indigenous Peoples, and non-Arctic states in governing the region. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, however, has dramatically shifted the geopolitical context of the Arctic. This new context has raised questions about the future of Arctic governance and the international norms that have made the region unique. This lecture will discuss the key intergovernmental forums that have supported peaceful cooperation among the eight Arctic states in the region since the end of the Cold War, including the Arctic Council, and the emerging challenges that exist for these organizations (and for countries like Canada who contribute to them) as the world shifts into a period of great power competition.

In this presentation, Melody will share how she first got involved in research in the circumpolar northern regions of Labrador and provide a thumbnail sketch of projects she was invited back to partner on, since the first study. In response to the social determinants of health, several Indigenous health scholars proposed an Indigenous determinants of health framework that provides helpful contexts and insights into the health and wellness of northern Indigenous communities. Melody will situate her research within an Indigenous determinants of health framework (“framework”) as well as highlight how research principles, protocols, and processes are an inherent part of the framework. Melody will share stories and examples of how impacts of and outcomes from research with and for First Nations (and other Indigenous groups) is inherently linked to self-determination and sovereignty. This presentation will include interactive components where people in attendance will be invited to respond to opinion polls or questions anonymously on their smartphone.

In the Yukon Territory, mining leads the economy since the gold rush. Mining supports Canadian needs in term of critical minerals and will play a significant role in the energy transition. However, mining can damage the environment and there is a necessity to develop best environmental practices.
The Industrial Research Chair in Northern Mine Remediation partners with active mines and bring answers and scientific evidence to environmental challenges the mining industry faces.  It focuses on: (i)Water Treatment by Passive or Semi-Passive Technologies; (ii)Mine Waste Management; (iii)Mine Revegetation.
This presentation will cover the challenges the mining industry faces and the research that is needed to support the development of environmental best practices in the North.

Climate change has dramatic effects on freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic through alterations of the chemical and physical environment. However, the lack of internationally coordinated monitoring of freshwater plants and animals hinders our ability to assess changes caused by climate shifts. To address the need for such coordinated, circumpolar monitoring, the Arctic Council formed the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), which is focused around four ecosystem themes (Terrestrial, Freshwater, Coastal, Marine). The CBMP has produced important circumpolar assessments that document the current state of Arctic biodiversity. Freshwater-CBMP compiled and analyzed a vast amount of monitoring data from more than 9000 sites across the Arctic to produce the first assessment of biodiversity status and trends in these freshwaters. Diversity was lowest at high latitudes due to constraints imposed by temperature and ice regimes. In addition, the shortage of land mass connections restricts the dispersal of species. We hypothesize that the northward expansion of species ranges into southern Arctic regions may lead to large changes in the state of freshwater ecosystems and produce negative, interspecific competition effects for organisms adapted to cold environments. Ultimately, these changes to freshwater ecosystems can cause irreversible extinction of unique Arctic plants and animals. Such circumpolar assessments of Arctic freshwater biodiversity provide important baseline information, and are useful to researchers, policy makers, and Indigenous and local communities.

Historically, the creation of protected areas in Canada and around the world has been part of colonial relationships, dispossessing Indigenous Peoples of their ancestral territories. Today, Indigenous Peoples are not only in the process of reclaiming land rights within existing protected areas; they are also taking the lead in reshaping what future land protection means. Drawing on their own knowledge and practices of land and water stewardship, Indigenous nations are asserting new forms of protection that advance Indigenous territorial rights even as they promise new avenues to conserve global biodiversity. Canada’s North is rapidly emerging as a global focal point for the rise of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, with both public funding and philanthropy flowing to support these new models of protection. Despite rapid advances and promising new forms of collaboration, challenges remain. Will there be sufficient financial resources to sustain long-term environmental monitoring and management across vast areas of new protected spaces? Are Canadian governments ready to transfer wildlife management enforcement authority to Indigenous Guardians? How far will climate change undermine traditional food systems, and what will this mean for Indigenous conservation efforts across northern landscapes? These and other questions face Indigenous and non-Indigenous leadership and policy makers seeking to realize the full potential of these new models for protected areas, both as vehicles for conservation and as pathways to reconciliation.