{"id":356320,"date":"2021-10-21T23:46:26","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T20:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/using-traditional-inuit-knowledge-and-western-science-to-study-arctic-marine-life\/"},"modified":"2021-10-21T23:46:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T20:46:26","slug":"using-traditional-inuit-knowledge-and-western-science-to-study-arctic-marine-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/using-traditional-inuit-knowledge-and-western-science-to-study-arctic-marine-life\/","title":{"rendered":"#Using traditional Inuit knowledge and Western science to study Arctic marine life"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Using traditional Inuit knowledge and Western science<\/a> to study Arctic marine life<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Since leaving Nunavut to study marine biology at the University of Guelph, Ph.D. student Enooyaq Sudlovenick has sought to understand more about the life that roams below the Arctic’s ocean surface\n <\/div>\n
\n Growing up on Baffin Island, Enooyaq Sudlovenick often ventured out on the water with her parents, leaning off the side of their boat to scoop up and marvel at schools of sea angels. When ocean levels dipped, she would search shallow tidal pools for eels and northern krill. Year-round, she also participated in Inuit hunting, harvesting and fishing traditions. All of this, she says, opened her eyes to an abundant aquatic ecosystem that has sustained her community for millennia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arctic is not as barren as people think. It\u2019s rich with life,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing on the water, it feels like home. It\u2019s calm, it\u2019s peaceful and familiar. But there is still so much we still don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since leaving the North to go to university, the Nunavut-born student has sought to understand more about the life that roams below the region\u2019s ocean surface. Her post-secondary journey began in 2013 at the University of Guelph, where she earned a bachelor of science in marine and freshwater biology. She then enrolled at the University of Prince Edward Island, where she wrote her thesis on Iqaluit\u2019s ringed seals and graduated with a master\u2019s of science in veterinary medicine, pathology and microbiology.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Inside Nunavut Sivuniksavut, a unique post-secondary option for Inuit youth\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

These days, she serves as president of the ArcticNet Student Association while completing a Ph.D. at the University of Manitoba. Her research compares and assesses the health of beluga whales in western Hudson Bay and the eastern Beaufort Sea, while attempting to understand how their health can be better characterized. Her work has received national recognition; she is the 2021 recipient of the Weston Family Award in Northern Research.<\/p>\n

Sudlovenick uses both Western science and traditional Inuit knowledge in her research. Using a scientific lens, she might look at trends in bacteria, contaminants, pathogens and gene biomarkers present in parts of the whale. At the same time, she consults with local Inuit about their whale observations, such as differences in taste, physical app<\/a>earance, or changes in birth or migration rates over time. She interviews hunters, Elders and other Inuit who process the animals to hear their observations and concerns and understand how they monitor the health of regional whale populations. The participation of locals also makes field days run smoother. For example, when Sudlovenick collects samples of beluga skin, blubber, blood, muscles and organs, she does it with hunters who are skilled in harpooning whales.<\/p>\n

The Arctic region is warming, so she says it is important to monitor and gain a thorough understanding of how wildlife and nutritional Inuit staples like beluga are affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is work that hits me on a very personal level. I have a foot in both worlds, but I\u2019m eating these whales, too,\u201d she says. \u201cAccess to country food nourishes your body, your spirit, your everything. It\u2019s like soul food. It\u2019s very important for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u2018This<\/p>\n

\u2018This is work that\u00a0hits me on a very personal level,\u2019 says the Nunavut-born student (Courtesy of Enooyaq Sudlovenick)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Academics, environmentalists and Indigenous organizations are calling for more Indigenous-led research that includes traditional knowledge, not only as a step toward reconciliation but also to strengthen solutions in the face of climate change. Lisa Loseto, Sudlovenick\u2019s Ph.D. supervisor and an associate professor of environment and geography at the University of Manitoba, has seen scientific research in the Arctic slowly evolve to incorporate the expertise of Inuit populations over the past two decades, but says there is a need for more collaborative research, like Sudlovenick\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe North is the canary in the coal mine,\u201d Loseto says. \u201cThere\u2019s change being observed so fast there, and we need to listen up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loseto is certain that Sudlovenick will help advance the current trajectory in natural sciences that places value on Indigenous knowledge. \u201cI respect her for standing in the middle of complex and uncomfortable places,\u201d Loseto says. \u201cBeing the only Inuit person representing an organization of southern people doing work in her backyard, but encouraging people to be better at it and then speaking to people in her backyard to say \u2018trust us\u2019\u2014she\u2019s very brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Arctic narwhals have a new enemy: the noise of passing ships\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For decades, scientists from southern regions have flown into the North to do their work and then left, failing to consult or work with locals, or using their findings to solely benefit themselves and their institutions. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing Inuit in Canada, released its National Inuit Strategy on Research in 2018 to encourage changed approaches in the North. The plan advocates for more Inuit-led work and increased local participation in research projects. According to Natan Obed, the organization\u2019s president, a more collaborative approach will help repair relationships and influence effective policy decisions, including adaptations to climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving researchers like Enooyaq, it shows that we are capable, and that the outcomes of this will be beneficial to our communities in a way that is more nuanced than ever before,\u201d Obed says. \u201cThere are very few [researchers] who have ever been able to connect on a familial level, on a community level, and also who live and have family in communities where the research takes place. All of this matters, and it also matters from a perspective of seeing what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sudlovenick, meanwhile, says she plans to complete her Ph.D. within the next two years and hopes to move back to the North and work within her community. As she looks to wrap up her student journey, she has a message for those interested in university sciences, particularly Indigenous youth: \u201cIt looks daunting sometimes, but there\u2019s so much support, so much space and so much opportunity to do good. Just go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

This article appears in print in the 2022 University Rankings issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s magazine with the headline, \u201cHow to get close to the seals and whales.\u201d <\/em>
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