The importance of Indigenous Knowledge for understanding and tracking ecological processes is increasingly recognized in the field of wildlife health and surveillance. Collaborative research with Indigenous communities has the advantage of engaging local rights-holders and end-users throughout the research process as well as benefiting from a deep, contextual perspective spanning several years or even generations.

Our work in the Inuit community of Ulukhaktok aims at formally mobilizing and integrating Indigenous Knowledge in a wildlife health monitoring program to better understand the decline of the local muskox population. This “two-eyed seeing” approach has allowed the identification of several health concerns for both muskoxen and the Inuit harvesters relying on them for subsistence. It has also bolstered local interest in the monitoring process and empowered the community to take a more pro-active role in leading research efforts to improve wildlife co-management. 

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Zoom Webinar. Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.