Research with Arctic Inuit Communities

This book shares graduate student experiences, lessons, and life learnings from research with Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. The results of graduate student research are often disseminated in a thesis or dissertation, but their personal experiences building relationships with Inuit, working together to design and conduct research, and how this shaped their research approach and outcomes, are rarely captured. As such, there are limited resources available to new researchers that share information about the practical aspects of community-based research in the Arctic. The book is intended to provide a glimpse into what it is like to do research together with Inuit, and in doing so, contribute to the development of more productive and equitable relationships between Inuit and researchers. The chapters are written as structured narratives in the first-person and include reflections, and lessons learned.

Dr. Tristan Pearce is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in the cumulative impacts of environmental change at the University of Northern British Columbia. His research takes place at the interface between science and policy, and focuses on understanding what makes communities vulnerable or resilient to environmental changes, using this understanding to identify and evaluate pathways for adaptation. He leads a diversity of initiatives in this area, and has long-standing relationships with communities in the Canadian Arctic, Australia, and Pacific Islands Region.