Keynote Speakers
Dave Carlson
Director – IPY International Programme Office
Dave Carlson is the Director of the IPY International Programme Office – a position he has held since May 2005.
He was previously the Director of the Atmospheric Technology Division for NCAR, which provided observing tools for weather, climate and air quality research around the world, was Director of the TOGA COARE International Project Office and was Professor of Oceanography at Oregon State University.
A dynamic and engaging speaker, Dr. Carlson will open the conference with his address about IPY and the future of polar research.
For more information about Dave Carlson and the IPY International Programme Office, please visit www.ipy.org
John England
Professor and NSERC Northern Research Chair
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences - University of Alberta
John England first began Arctic research as a field assistant on eastern Baffin Island in 1965 and he has returned to the north almost every summer since to investigate “the long-term evolution of the Arctic landscape” through the history of former ice sheets, sea level change and the nature of environmental variability.
Dr. England has been an NSERC Northern Research Chair since 2002.
Key activities in this role include coordinating an Arctic field research program, training a new generation of Arctic scientists, developing partnerships with northern colleges and research institutes that engage northerners in northern research and communicating the importance of Arctic science to the public.
For more information about John England, please visit easweb.eas.ualberta.ca
Claude Labine
President, Campbell Scientific (Canada) Corporation
Claude Labine obtained his BSc (Hon) from Laurentian University and then a MSc. in Agrometeorology from the University of Guelph.
For the past thirty years, Claude has been involved with climate research in the Canadian High Arctic. Claude established Campbell Scientific Canada (CSC) in 1978. CSC is one of the main suppliers of environmental monitoring systems in Canada. CSC equipment is used throughout many agencies, organizations and universities. CSC has a long history of collaborating in various research endeavors and technology transfers.
For more information about Claude Labine and CSC, please visit www.campbellsci.ca
Murray Humphries
Assistant Professor and NSERC Northern Research Chair
Natural Resource Sciences – McGill University
Originally from Brandon, Manitoba, Murray Humphries has been a teacher and researcher in the Natural Resource Sciences department at McGill University since 2003 and an NSERC Northern Research Chair since 2006.
The majority of his lab research focuses on mammal ecology and energetics across Canada's North and on understanding the impacts of environmental change on northern wildlife. In collaboration with northern communities, he works to integrate traditional and scientific ecological knowledge to develop community-based wildlife monitoring programs that are closely connected to northern traditional food security.
For more information about Mr. Humphries, please visit:
http://nrs-staff.mcgill.ca/humphries
Helen Balanoff
Northwest Territories Literacy Council
Helen Balanoff has lived in the north for over 30 years.
As an educator, she has taught in grade schools, adult education and university and was a manager in the Department of Education. She has worked on a variety of research projects, such as the Legislative Assembly's Special Committee on Education and the Special Committee on the Review of the NWT Official Languages Act.
For more information, please visit www.nwt.literacy.ca
Emily Kudlak
Inuvialuit Cultural Resources Centre - Ulukhaktok Language Centre
A trained teacher, Emily Kudlak resolved to increase her fluency in Inuinnaqtun as an adult in order to pass on her language and culture to her children.
She has been involved in several community-based research projects, including an ethnobotany study, revisions to the Kangiryuarmiut dictionary and the development of Inuinnaqtun resources.
Cynthia Chambers
Professor of Education - University of Lethbridge
Cynthia Chambers lived and worked in the NWT for many years and is now a Professor of Education at the University of Lethbridge.
She has experience in community-based research, particularly for the purposes of curriculum that originates from the knowledge base of the community.
Dr. Chambers is currently collaborating with the Kanai on a research project on landscape literacies and the curriculum of place – a study that resonates closely with aspects of the Ulukhaktok Literacies Project.
For more information about Cynthia Chambers, please visit:
www.uleth.ca
Darius Elias
Member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly – Vuntut Gwitchin
Darius Elias has been the MLA for Vuntut Gwitchin since October 2006.
He lived the majority of his youth out on the land in northern Yukon and spent nine years as a senior park warden in the Vuntut National Park before running for public office.
Mr. Elias has been a member of the Vuntut Gwitchin Trust, the Fishing Branch local planning team, the Vuntut National Park management planning team, the North Yukon Planning Commission and the North Yukon Fish and Wildlife management team.
He also participated in educational tours throughout the US and Canada regarding the protection of the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
Mr. Elias will be part of Sunday afternoon's Northern Communities and Research panel. For more information about Darius Elias, please visit www.northyukon.ca