The Weston Family Awards in Northern Research

University of Alberta

McKenzie Kuhn is a doctoral student at the University of Alberta studying the rate of methane emissions from lakes in the Northwest Territories and northern parts of Alberta.

Her research could lead to important insights into how these natural sources of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – contribute to greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and how these emissions will change over time. The results could help government and policy makers in Canada’s North set more specific reduction targets for carbon emissions.

McGill University

Allison Patterson is a doctoral student at McGill University studying the movement patterns and behaviour of thick-billed murres, an abundant species of Arctic seabird, off the coast of Coats Island in Nunavut.

Thick-billed murres have been identified as a priority species within the Arctic. By using biologgers – a type of electronic sensor tracker that is attached to an animal and used to collect information such as location, traveling speeds, local environmental conditions, and more – Allison is able to track the movement of these birds during the winter and monitor their behaviour during the ten months of the year that they are at sea.

This work is part of an international collaboration with researchers from Denmark, France and Canada that is helping inform government ministries, such as Parks Canada, on the planning of marine-protected areas in the North.

University of Victoria

Matthew Asplin recently completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria and now works in the private sector at ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. as a scientific project manager.

During the tenure of his award, Matthew used data analysis tools commonly found in the artificial intelligence sector to analyze the meteorological drivers of storm surges in the Western Canadian Arctic, which have the potential to impact coastal Northern Indigenous communities.

By advancing this work further into the realm of artificial intelligence, Matthew’s work could help alert local Indigenous communities to risks in their area and inform future Arctic shipping and economic development activities.