Darcy McNicholl | Community-based Coastal Research in the Canadian Arctic

Dec 4, 2020  13:00 - 13:45

(GMT -5:00) Eastern Time

Event URL:  https://www.exploringbytheseat.com/lesson/darcy-mcnicholl-community-based-coastal-research-canadian-arctic/
Hosted by: Exploring By The Seat of Your Pants

Darcy McNicholl is an aquatic science biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, MB. Her research is focused on monitoring a changing coastal ecosystem by working closely with Indigenous peoples in the Canadian Arctic. Partnering with local fishers, who live a traditional lifestyle on the land, allows researchers like Darcy to observe how things are changing and what that means for northern people through a relationship called community-based monitoring. Darcy’s role is to work with northern communities to find out what questions they have, design a study, and find answers related to the fish they catch and the coastal environment. These questions include: Why are salmon coming into the Arctic? Do they eat the same food as native species? What species of fish are found close to shore and what is their habitat? Is that the same in summer and winter and how will changing temperature affect them? The information collected by northern communities and analyzed by researchers allows decisions to be made by Indigenous leaders and management in order protect biological and culturally significant parts of the Canadian Arctic.