We use cookies on this site to enhance your experience.
By selecting “Accept” and continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies.
Search for academic programs, residence, tours and events and more.
Finding new applications for modelling individual and population parameters from boreal caribou collaring data for conservation and planning needs.
Establishing adaptation plan to ensure community food security and to build resilience through collaborative work.
Community-based mapping and monitoring project enabling community members record impacts of environmental change and developments on the land.
Surveying general health and mercury levels in fish in response to community questions regarding fish population status and variable mercury levels in regional lakes.
Supporting communities to conduct strategic planning for Dehcho K’éhodi land and water stewardship, including Indigenous Guardians.
Conducting climate change planning, share knowledge, and determine research and monitoring needs to enhance community adaptation.
Addressing barriers that may limit the ability of communities to take advantage of potential agriculture opportunities now, and into the future.
Neomi Jayaratne, Laurier master's student in environmental studies created a video about her research on food security in the Northwest Territories, winning her third place in a Polar Knowledge Canada contest.
Contact Us:
Laurier Yellowknife Research Office
E: YKOffice@wlu.ca
T: 867.688.2605
Office Location:
5007 – 50th Avenue, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2P8
For more information, or to participate in our projects, visit our Yellowknife offices and speak with our researchers.
The Ka'a'gee Tu Atlas, a project funded by the Government of the Northwest Territories’ Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (CIMP), emerged in response to the experiences of community members wanting to map and monitor changes to their lands due to the impacts of development and climate change.
In 2016/17, Masters of Science student Kaitlin Kok worked alongside Elders and knowledge holders to address these concerns by creating a series of maps with the community. Using photos of the past, voice recordings to tell stories, and mapping technology, Kok has been documenting the climatic changes to the land, based on the stories from Elders and traditional knowledge, and its impact on traditional food and community health.
The community has been adding to maps of trails and safe places by documenting potential hazards on the landscape to help them adapt to variable and unsafe conditions that are becoming more frequent with the impacts of climate change.
During her work with the community Kok engaged youth in several on-the- land experiences and taught students how to use mapping technology to document important locations, and record observations of plants, animals and culturally significant areas along their route.
The Kakisa Waste Management Initiative evolved out of Laurier’s work to create a Climate Change Adaption and Food Security Plan for the community.
In 2014/15, geography and environmental studies doctoral student Andrew Spring interviewed community members about changes they have witnessed to the land, how they were impacting community health and well-being, and what steps the community wanted to take to address these issues. Taking care of the land was a theme that emerged out of this work, and waste management and composting were identified as high priority issues.
In 2015, a grant was obtained through GNWT in partnership with Ecology North and the Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation to start community consultation on how to design the program.
In 2017, Master’s student Michelle Malandra, alongside members of the community, worked to finalize the community plan and put it into action. She ordered infrastructure for the project and worked to engage and educate the youth. She went door-to-door in the community with a translator to speak with Elders and knowledge holders to ensure all members of the community were aware of the program.
In 2018, the community built five waste sorting stations and installed a composter at the school. The program in Kakisa has resulted in approximately a 50% reduction in waste going to the dump.