Nunavut PhD student picks up national research award
University of Manitoba doctoral student Enooyaq Sudlovenick studies the health of beluga whales across the Canadian Arctic
A Nunavut PhD student has received a national award for her research into the health of marine wildlife in the Canadian Arctic.
University of Manitoba doctoral student Enooyaq Sudlovenick is among the 2021 recipients of the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research.
Sudlovenick, 29, was born in Iqaluit. She completed a master’s of science in veterinary medicine at the University of Prince Edward Island, where she studied the health of Arctic char and ringed seals.
Now Sudlovenick’s research looks at beluga populations in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories using both Inuit traditional knowledge and western science.
Sudlovenick is one of 10 doctoral students to be named to the award this year, which includes a cash prize and support towards her research, funded by the Weston Family Foundation.
Her research involves sampling marine wildlife harvested across the North to identify bacteria present in the animals. Sudlovenick interviews hunters, elders and Inuit who process the harvested animals as part of her work.
In a 2019 interview with Nunatsiaq News, Sudlovenick talked about how important Inuit traditional knowledge is to her research.
“I really wanted to listen to locals to find out what their thoughts on this research were, and what research they wanted to see,” Sudlovenick said.
You can see the full list of 2021 Weston awards winners here.
This is awesome!! Congrats to Enooyaq
Way. To. Go…co grats. The. Oceans. Are. In peril. Whales. Are so. Important. .. G luck in. Your lifes. Work. Susan.
It would be valuable to the public to see a more informative conversation opened on what is really meant by science and what is really meant by traditional knowledge as they are used in public discourse.
For example, Nunatsiaq stories that involve traditional knowledge and science often seem to present both in dichotomous terms (as fundamentally different ways of gathering knowledge) with tremendous emphasis placed on the value of TK in the service of science.
I suspect most readers have some basic, yet likely vague and incomplete, notions of what these terms represent, or have a better understanding of one than of the other, myself included.
Would love to see a balanced, sense making approach to these distinctions that avoids the pitfalls of tribalism and ethnocentrism as it might appear in either camp.
If you want to see this happen you may have to make it happen yourself.
CONGRATULATIONS! a great role model for everyone in the Territory.
Awesome, way to go Enooyak!