IHACC end of project knowledge sharing workshop in Iqaluit, Nunavut on April 25th

Team members from the IHACC project Arctic team were in Iqaluit on Monday April 25th to host a workshop with participating community members and partners at the Nunavut Research Institute to share knowledge and insights gained throughout the 5 years of the project. Team members present included Dr. James Ford, Dr. Victoria Edge, Dr. Sherilee Harper, Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo Willox, Ms. Anna Bunce, Ms. Mya Sherman and Ms. Jolène Labbé. Workshop participants were given a wealth of materials produced from the project, including copies of scientific papers, reports, results booklets, posters, and presentations. We look forward to future collaborations in the community as IHACC moves to an end, and follow-up projects begin to take shape!

IHACC Iqaluit end of project meeting banner

IHACC team in Montreal March 8-9 to develop IHACC2 project proposal

Team gathers for a discussion on IHACC2

Members of the IHACC team were in Montreal last week to work on developing a project proposal for phase two of the IHACC project, planning for another five years of work as phase one comes to an end this year. Team members from Canada, Uganda and South Africa were at the table at the McGill Faculty Club in this first meeting of the proposal development stage, including Dr. James Ford and Dr. Lea Berrang-Ford, Dr. Sherilee Harper, Dr. Shuaib Lwasa, Dr. Mark New, Mr. Didacus Namanya, and Ms. Michelle Maillet. Canadian team members will soon head to Peru to meet with the team there and work on finalizing the proposal later this spring. Keep an eye out for more news on plans for phase two of the project as the team continues to build the proposal.

Kaitlyn Finner trip to Rigolet

Kaitlyn Finner spent the past week in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut sharing the findings of her Masters research with residents of the Labrador community.

From May 2013 to May 2014, community members participated in photo card interviews and four sets of food inventories to assist the research team in characterizing Rigolet’s food system.

Pamphlets describing the project and its findings were shared with all households in the community and an open house was held on February 25th. Despite stormy weather over 50 residents stopped by for a bowl of soup, and to hear more and discuss the project!

The project in numbers: 16 Weeks of food inventories 27 Households 48 Participants 72 Photo cards 1,051 Wild food entries 14,969 Store food items

Ashlee Cunsolo Willox and Anna Bruce featured in Adjacent Government

Featured on Adjacent Government, Ashlee Cunsolo Willox and Anna Bruce present a new piece on gendered dimensions of climate change and mental health. To read the piece, entitled The gender dimensions of climate change and mental health, click here for the pdf or here to go to the website.

New piece on gendered dimensions of #climatechange & #mentalhealth in @Adjacent_Gov with @AnnaBunce: https://t.co/U13Fc1PlVG

— Ashlee CunsoloWillox (@CunsoloWillox) February 9, 2016

Notes from the field: Carol Zavaleta's work with the Shawi Amazon Indigenous Peoples

Carol is excited to share her field report about her two trips to Peru where she worked with the Shawi Amazon Indigenous People. The two trips completed the necessary fieldwork required for Carol's PhD thesis. For those of you unfamiliar with Carol's work, her thesis investigates the current vulnerability of Shawi Amazon Indigenous people to food insecurity in order to identify potential adaption interventions that might mitigate risks to climate change. Carol's field report touches on a variety of pertinent discussions surrounding the appropriate conducting of fieldwork, including connecting with communities, creating meaningful relationships with guides, and incorporating members of the indigenous community into the research process.

Carol's field report also offers personal insights. As a Peruvian Medical Doctor, she could not close her eyes "to the reality of indigenous health systems" and feels that the field work was essential in evolving her "perspectives about individual and collective Indigenous well-being."

You can read the full field report here: Carol's Field Report.