Inspired Research.
Real Impact.
Real Impact.
Message from Laurier President and Vice-Chancellor on wildfires in the Northwest Territories
Northern Canada is one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth. Climate change is affecting northern ecosystems at an accelerated pace, from more intense wildfires to declining water quality, thawing ice and changes to wildlife habitats. These changes have immense impacts on all people in the North, especially Indigenous communities whose traditional ways of living are being threatened.
Researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University embrace complex challenges. Together with northern governments, Indigenous knowledge-holders and international academic networks, Laurier researchers are connecting western science with land-based practices to solve urgent problems and enhance well-being in the North. Current research priorities include:
Informed by the concerns of residents, researchers are addressing ice road safety, water security, forest fires, northern wildlife biology and carbon storage.
Laurier researchers are co-creating best practices for environmental and data management that affirm the role of Indigenous peoples as stewards of their ancestral territories.
In association with the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies at Laurier, faculty and students are working with communities to build sustainable local food systems.
Confronting Climate Change in Canada's North
In this Inspiring Conversation, held on Nov. 30, 2022, three of Laurier’s leading researchers shared their work in the Northwest Territories. Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, discussed how intensifying wildfires are impacting forest ecosystems. Homa Kheyrollah Pour, the Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Environmental Change, shared how she’s using satellite observations and smart ground-based monitoring techniques to study the response of northern lakes to the changing climate. Finally, Associate Professor Miguel Sioui explained how he is bridging Indigenous and Western knowledge to advance Indigenous environmental stewardship.
Season 1, episode 3: Assistant Professor Andrew Spring speaks to Chief Lloyd Chicot and Melaine Simba of the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation about food security in northern Indigenous communities.
Season 2, episode 10: Laurier PhD students Gifty Attiah and Caitlyn Lyons chat about their field research in the NWT.
Season 1, episode 6: Associate Professor Miguel Sioui discusses his climate change adaptation research and how he collaborates with Indigenous communities.
