Nunavut educators receive national awards

Two Nunavut educators have received national recognition for their work in the area of science.

Rankin Inlet teacher William Belsey has won the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology and Mathematics.

And Iqaluit resident Bruce Rigby, director of the Nunavut Research Institute, has been recognized for his contribution to ecological research in Canada.

Belsey was been instrumental in bringing the global village to Rankin Inlet’s Leo Ussak Elementary School.

After taking over the school’s computer program, Belsey challenged his students to make their school the first in the region to get Internet access and to be the first school in Canada’s Arctic to have a site on the World Wide Web.

The school’s award-winning site has since received international recognition itself.

Recipients of the Prime Minister’s Award are recognized for their demonstrated success at increasing student performance and interest in science, technology and mathematics.

Environmental research

Rigby was recognized by Environment Canada for his efforts in changing the dynamics of environmental research in the NWT by building bridges between scientists and northern communities.

He is one of three recipients of this year’s Patricia Roberts Pichette Award for “those who have demonstrated enthusiastic leadership and commitment to advancing ecological monitoring and research in Canada.”

Through his work at the Institute, which is part of Nunavut Arctic College, Rigby has achieved this by promoting and developing ways in which community and educational institutions can have a greater role in local environmental monitoring programs.