Monday, April 29, 2013

Fourteen-year-old Myles Rumley-Nukon will join this summer’s 2013 Students on Ice Arctic expedition thanks to a scholarship funded by the Government of Yukon and Yukon College. Rumley-Nukon is a Vuntut Gwitchin student currently in Grade 8 at Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse.

The $10,000 scholarship is provided by the Northern Climate ExChange at Yukon College, the Government of Yukon’s Climate Change Secretariat, Yukon Education and Environment Yukon. Students aged 14-18 were invited to apply earlier this year through their schools.

Myles Rumley-Nukon is a Vuntut Gwitchin student who is interested in helping his community fight to protect the Porcupine caribou herd. References accompanying his scholarship application speak highly of him being "a role model for all young First Nation males."

“I am really grateful to Students on Ice for this opportunity. I am excited to travel with students from around the world and learn more about other regions in the Arctic,” said Rumley-Nukon.

The July 14-28 Students on Ice expedition will include 70 international high school students and a team of 35 world-renowned scientists, educators, Aboriginal Elders, historians, artists, writers, innovators, leaders and polar experts, as well as 30 public and private sector leaders.

Students on this summer's educational adventure will develop the knowledge, skills, perspectives and practices that will help them to be Arctic ambassadors and environmentally responsible citizens. The team will depart on July 14 from Ottawa and return on July 28 after exploring Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and, in Nunavut, Iqaluit and Resolute Bay.

Funding support for the scholarship from the Department of Education is through its First Nations Programs and Partnerships initiative.

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Contact:

Michael Vernon
Communications Coordinator
College Relations
Yukon College
867.668.8786
867.332.4722
mvernon@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Thursday, April 25, 2013

DAWSON CITY – Percy Henry, a former Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Chief and respected elder, will receive an honorary diploma from Yukon College this evening.

The diploma will be presented at the end of year graduating ceremony for students in the Foundation Year program at the School of Visual Arts (SOVA) in Dawson City.

Eighty-five-year-old Henry is currently a Language Master for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Heritage Department working to preserve the Hän language and history. While Chief of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in from 1968 to 1974 Henry was instrumental in initiating the land claims process and was one of the Yukon Chiefs who traveled to Ottawa in 1973 to present Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow.

The honorary diploma in Northern Studies is being awarded to Henry in recognition for his positive impact on his community and his significant contribution to northern studies through his commitment to sharing his knowledge of his people, culture and language.

“Percy Henry has inspired, mentored and taught many people throughout Yukon,” said Dr. Deb Bartlette, dean of Applied Arts and interim associate vice president Academic at Yukon College.

“Yukon College is pleased to acknowledge Percy Henry’s lifelong work in keeping alive his First Nations’ traditions, language and culture, as these are a vital part of education in Yukon.”

15 SOVA students will also cross the stage this evening. Five graduates will be continuing their 2nd year studies at NSCAD University in Halifax, Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, and OCAD University in Toronto.

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation is a founding partner of SOVA along with the Dawson City Arts Society and Yukon College. The three partners will be renewing their partnership agreement at the ceremony tonight.

The ceremony takes place at 8:00 p.m. this evening at the KIAC Ballroom, which is upstairs at the Odd Fellows Hall, Second Avenue in Dawson City, Yukon.

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For more information, contact:

Michael Vernon
Communications Coordinator
College Relations
Yukon College
867.668.8786
867.332.4722
mvernon@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Jacqueline Bedard
Director
College Relations
Yukon College
867.456.8619
jbedard@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

WHITEHORSE – Starting next month, visitors to MacBride Museum will be able to enjoy an enhanced museum experience using mobile tablet computers. Mid Arctic Technology Services has created an interactive museum tour product that will provide new information and new context in up to 48 languages.

This is just one of seven innovative ideas that have received support towards commercialization from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) and Government of Yukon through Cold Climate and Technology Innovation at the Yukon Research Centre (YRC).

CanNor is providing $165,658 towards the projects. Funding for the projects also comes from Yukon Economic Development. Cold Climate and Technology Innovation support and in-kind contributions from developers bring the development budget to $446,750.

“This investment in local research will create opportunities for economic diversification of the territorial economy while building its scientific and technological capacity,” said Yukon Member of Parliament Ryan Leef, on behalf of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Minister of Health and Minister for the Arctic Council. “The commercialization of these ‘made-in-Yukon’ products has incredible potential to create new business and export opportunities for innovative Yukon businesses.”

“We are pleased to support projects like this which demonstrate what is possible when innovation and commercialization are encouraged and supported,” Yukon Economic Development Minister Currie Dixon said. “Such projects represent a tremendous step forward in the development of the knowledge-based economy in Yukon, which strengthens the private sector.”

“Without this support from CanNor and Yukon government through Technology Innovation at the YRC we would not have been able to build our proof of concept, which then enabled us to attract private sector investment,” said Chris May, president of Mid Arctic Technology Services.

May will be launching his new product at the Canadian National Museum Association conference in Whitehorse May 27-June 1.

“Alongside supporting truly innovative projects being developed in Canada’s North, these seven projects are also building a wealth of expertise across a range of new technologies,“ said Stephen Mooney, director of Cold Climate and Technology Innovation at the Yukon Research Centre. “Expertise, that will have a lasting impact beyond the products and technology that are being created.”

The other six projects are:
• weather sensors at Northwestel remote sites to gather data towards the feasibility of solar/wind energy powered sites;
• enhance existing wood gasification technology to provide biomass energy in Carcross with Pacific Tlingit Energy;
• use new, locally-created technology to enhance the capacity of the Dawson City Community TV and Radio Society;
• creation of new software with the company Joint Families, to help manage communication and mitigate friction in dual custody situations involving divided families;
• phase two  in the research and development of the plastics-to-oil machine being studied at P&M Recycling;
• a final stage of development with Boreal Compost Enterprises towards the commercialization of a machine that removes plastic from compost;

Cold Climate Innovation and Technology Innovation are two of seven key programs at the Yukon Research Centre (YRC) at Yukon College. The other five are: NSERC Industrial Research Chair for College in Mining Life Cycles, Northern Climate ExChange, Biodiversity Monitoring, Science Adventures, and Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic. Core funding for the Yukon Research Centre is provided by Yukon Education and Yukon Economic Development.

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This investment is funded by CanNor’s Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED) program, which focuses on long-term economic growth, economic diversification and capacity-building in all three territories. SINED is one of several economic development programs within CanNor. CanNor is responsible for coordinating and delivering Canada’s economic development across the North, and for related policy development, research and advocacy.

For more information, contact:

Michael Vernon
Communications Coordinator
College Relations
Yukon College
867.668.8786
867.332.4722
mvernon@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Erin MacPherson
Communications
CanNor
867.667.3849
erin.macpherson@cannor.gc.ca

Matthew Grant
Cabinet Communications
867-393-6470
matthew.grant@gov.yk.ca

Samantha Paterson
Communications,
Economic Development
Government of Yukon
867.667.5387
Samantha.Paterson@gov.yk.ca

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

WHITEHORSE – Yukon College, the Justice Institute of British Columbia, and the Presidents of British Columbia Colleges (BC Colleges) representing 11 colleges in BC, announced today the formal creation of a BC Applied Research and Innovation Network (BCARIN).

BCARIN’s mandate is to connect member institutions – their students and faculty – with business and community organizations who seek to solve ‘real world’ problems which demand skill in research and innovation. 

BCARIN has launched a web site and network ‘portal’ at www.bcarin.ca and it has appointed its first executive board, co-chaired by Thor Borgford, Dean of Science & Technology at Douglas College and Margaret Heldman, Dean of Science at Langara. 

“The BCARIN initiative will grow applied research capacity within the Colleges and fellow institutions. It will produce greater direct engagement of students and faculty with their communities, and promote an extensive sharing of knowledge and resources.  Importantly, the network aims to enhance business productivity and improve the outcomes sought by community organizations,” said Borgford and Heldman.

“This new, mutually beneficial partnership will give Yukon College the ability to engage in stronger applied research networking and partnership building initiatives with BC Colleges and the Justice Institute,” said Chris Hawkins, vice-president Research at Yukon College. “It will build capacity and widen access to research funding, which expands the ability of the Yukon Research Centre to serve the needs of our business and community partners in the territory.”

“Skilled and educated workers are our most critical resource and BC’s 11 public colleges are focused on ensuring our graduates have the right advanced skills and education to meet labour market demands.  This includes fostering an environment that places an emphasis on applied research and innovation as a means to improved workforce productivity, sustained business and enterprise success, and expanded community engagement,” said Angus Graeme, President of Selkirk College and Chair of BC Colleges.

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About BCARIN
Members of BCARIN belong to the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) and are accredited to administer funding from the three major Canadian federal granting agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Member institutions include; Camosun College, the College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies, Douglas College, Justice Institute of BC, Langara, North Island College, Northwest Community College, Northern Lights College, Okanagan College, Selkirk College, Vancouver Community College, and Yukon College. Members offer a broad-range of expertise and experience in research and development, and the required infrastructure to support innovation in industrial, corporate, and community contexts.

BCARIN’s website – www.bcarin.ca – was created and is maintained by students working with the Douglas College Digital Cultures Lab.

About the Yukon Research Centre
The Yukon Research Centre (YRC) at Yukon College has seven key programs: NSERC Industrial Research Chair for College in Mining Life Cycles, Northern Climate ExChange, Cold Climate Innovation, Biodiversity Monitoring, Technology Innovation, Science Adventures, and Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic. Core funding for the Yukon Research Centre is provided by Yukon Education and Yukon Economic Development.
 

For more information, contact:

Michael Vernon
Communications Coordinator
College Relations
Yukon College
867.668.8786
867.332.4722
mvernon@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Jacqueline Bedard
Director
College Relations
Yukon College
867.456.8619
jbedard@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

WHITEHORSE – Canada is known throughout the world as a leader in collaborative approaches to environmental conservation and wildlife management. The Canadian North, in particular, is recognized as a place where the federal government has worked closely with First Nations in the creation and management of protected areas. However, the story of how this situation developed is not well understood, either here or abroad.

When Brad Martin first learned the story of how a small group of Inuvialuit people with historic claims in the western Arctic wrestled concessions from the Canadian government over the creation of Ivvavik National Park in the northern Yukon, it led him north.

In a new book on the global spread of national park ideals Martin has now argued that this episode transformed how conservation was practiced in Canada.

Civilizing Nature: National Parks in Global Historical Perspective suggests that national parks have been one of the most important and successful institutions in global environmentalism. It features chapters on the creation of parks in Mexico, India Slovenia, Malaysia, Australia and Yukon, Canada.

Ivvavik National Park was created in 1984 as part of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. It protects a portion of the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd and represents the Northern Yukon and Mackenzie Delta natural regions. In recent decades, the management of the park has been closely tied to international debates over oil and gas development, aboriginal self-government, and environmental protection.

Ivvavik was the first national park in Canada created as part of a land claims agreement. The negotiated settlement gave the Inuvialuit authority over some aspects of park management and helped them protect their traditional hunting rights.

These were groundbreaking developments, given that rural residents, indigenous or not, had often simply been expelled from parks across the country in earlier times.

“We’ve become used to these ideas in 2013, but 30-40 years ago, they were uncommon,” said Martin, a PhD candidate at Northwestern University in Chicago and Chair of the School of Community Education and Development at Yukon College.

In his chapter, Martin highlights the importance of longstanding relationships between First Nations people in the Yukon and Northwest Territories and their counterparts in other parts of the circumpolar North, especially Alaska, in influencing local debates over conservation.

He states: “The Inuvialuit drew upon ideas, resources and relationships with indigenous peoples in other parts of the world to challenge Parks Canada’s thinking, and in doing so they fundamentally reshaped how conservation is practiced in this country.”

Martin’s chapter is entitled Global Values, Local Politics: Inuit Internationalism and the Establishment of Northern Yukon National Park. It is connected to a larger research project on the environmental history of northern Canada involving leading scholars from across the country, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the results of which will be published separately in 2014.

Civilizing Nature: National Parks in Global Historical Perspective is published by Berghann Books and available at www.berghahnbooks.com and www.amazon.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Michael Vernon
Communications Coordinator
College Relations
Yukon College
867.668.8786
867.332.4722
mvernon@yukoncollege.yk.ca

Jacqueline Bedard
Director
College Relations
Yukon College
867.456.8619
jbedard@yukoncollege.yk.ca