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Centre seeks Inuit health, environment scholars

Organization has $250,000 war chest for research grants

JANE GEORGE

Iqaluit Centre MLA Hunter Tootoo joined government workers, unionists, politicians and business owners recently in Iqaluit to plan the creation of a credit union in Nunavut. (PHOTO BY GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS)

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The Nasivvik Centre for Inuit Health and Changing Environments at Université Laval wants to hear from any Inuit who are studying, have studied, or would like to study or carry out research in health or environmental sciences.

“We’re really trying to encourage a focus on Inuit environmental health issues and a focus on research being done that is a little more progressive, not the old fly-in, fly-out type of work,” said Chris Furgal, one of the centre’s directors.

The Nasivvik Centre wants to encourage Inuit to pursue post-secondary studies and become involved in research. In the future, this could mean special Nasivvik-sponsored training programs, job opportunities and scholarships.

But first the centre wants to see who’s already out there.

“Where there are Inuit students in the North, it’s not difficult to locate them, but when they have come South, it’s difficult to find them, and if we’re trying to design training programs to provide support in the form of scholarships and to encourage students to go into the health and environment-related disciplines, we need to know where they are,” Furgal said.

The Nasivvik Centre’s mandate is to address Inuit health training and research needs in Canada. It’s one of a network of similar centres across Canada.

The centre is under the direction of an Inuit advisory board made up of representatives from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Makivik Corporation, the Labrador Inuit Association, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and the National Aboriginal Health Organization.

This summer, the centre has embarked on a country-wide search for post-secondary students, past, present and prospective.

It’s also eager to hear from workers in health or environmental professions because these people might be interested in taking courses or assisting with research in their communities.

The centre is hoping to:

• learn which high school students are interested in a science career or who are taking senior science courses;
• identify all Inuit students currently in post-secondary study, that is, at the CEGEP, college or university levels, to see what support they need and the centre can provide;
• get a better understanding of the problems students face in post-secondary studies;
• find out what’s available in the field of post-secondary health and environmental sciences;
• identify Inuit who are already working full or part time as health professionals and or in environmental professions.

Laval summer student Marco Michaud has been getting in touch with Inuit organizations for information, but now he’s also launching a public appeal in an attempt to reach others who should be included.

Michaud can be reached by e-mail or telephone at marco.d-michaud@crchul.ulaval.ca or 418-650-5115 (ext.5276). Those who respond will become part of a part of a confidential database.

Students or those interested in research or other opportunities can also have their names posted on the Nasivvik site (at www.nasivvik.ulaval.ca) and become eligible for jobs and scholarships.

At the same time, the centre is inviting any aspiring Inuit researchers to apply for research grants.

“This year we have a sizeable amount of money, just under $250,000, at in the graduate or post-graduate levels of university in environmental health. It’s the largest research project competition with a focus on Inuit environmental health issues,” Furgal said.

The centre welcomes proposals related to health and environment, on such general topics as contaminants, climate change, nutrition, water quality and mental health.

The closing date for all project submissions is Aug 15. All projects must be done in collaboration with an Inuit organization and community based research.

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