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Sahtú Research and Projects

  • glacier
  • group in front of helicopter
Sahtú Research and Projects

Our Land is Changing: Climate Change, Food Security and Health in Délı̨nę

Assessing vulnerability of community members to climate change impacts with a focus on harvesting practices, adaptation strategies; creating a community plan for climate change adaptation and country food security.

  • Research location: Délı̨nę
  • Contact: Andrew Spring

Climate Warming Impacts on Runoff Generation Processes

Studying how climate warming and direct human disturbance affects stream flows from high altitude basins.

Projects

Water Knowledge Camps

On-the-land camps to support sharing of traditional and western scientific knowledge about environmental change and development of monitoring tools for the Sahtú Guardians program.

  • Research location: Délı̨nę, Fort Good Hope, Tulita
  • Contact: Jennifer Baltzer and Andrew Spring

Projects

Aquatic Habitat Inventory

Examining the diversity of zooplankton and benthic invertebrates in a region primed for future natural resource extraction.

  • Research location: Mackenzie River western bank across from Norman Wells
  • Contact: Derek Gray

Sahtú Benígǫdi: Traditional Knowledge of Great Bear Lake and Its Watershed

Cataloguing and collection of Traditional Knowledge regarding environmental and cultural aspects of the lake and its watershed, including knowledge related to fish, water, wildlife, and landscape change.

  • Research location: Délı̨nę
  • Contact: Gina Bayha (Tsá Tué Biosphere Reserve) (Laurier contact: Andrew Spring)
helicopter at dock

Collaborating with Youth on the Land Camps

The Laurier partnership with Dehcho First Nations’ Youth Ecology Camp helps engage youth in science and cultural traditions Laurier researchers are growing indigenous youth connections to science and the land through a partnership with Dehcho First Nations to participate in the Regional Dehcho Youth Ecology Camp in 2018, which takes youth on the land to connect with Indigenous elders, traditional knowledge holders, scientists and each other.

Twelve youth aged 11 to 16 from across the communities of Dehcho First Nations attended the camp at Willow Lake. While at the camp, Laurier researchers taught youth attendees about scientific techniques to measure changes in water quality, permafrost conditions and ecological function. The youth also learned from traditional knowledge holders, who provided Indigenous perspectives on the land and water. Campers also learned about language from a language facilitator, about fish and aquatic sciences from Dehcho AAROM staff and about the Dehcho Land Use Plan from Dehcho land use planning staff and traditional knowledge holders.

Other partners in the Dehcho Youth Ecology Camp include Northwest Territories Municipal and Community Affairs, the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee, Dehcho AAROM, Dehcho First Nations and the Deh Gáh Got’îê Dene Band, whose land the camp was held on. Partial funding for this program was received from NESRC Promoscience program.

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.


wlu.ca/northern-research
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