Megan Sheremata

PhD Student
Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences
University of Toronto at Scarborough
Toronto, Ontario
Email: megan.sheremata@utoronto.ca
Facebook: Megan Sheremata
Twitter: @MSheremata
Website: sheremata.com

Research

Thesis topic: Inuit knowledge of the cumulative impacts of environmental change in eastern Hudson Bay

Megan’s research contributes to:

• Environmental Change in Eastern Hudson Bay

Background

I am from Montreal, QC, and now live in Toronto with my partner, Tim, and our young son. I’m a mid-career Environmental Science PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Climate Lab.

My research involves a partnership between Dr. Ljubicic’s SUN Team, the Climate Lab, and the Arctic Eider Society to understand the cumulative impacts of environmental change in eastern Hudson Bay. Working closely with municipalities and wildlife organizations in the villages Kujjuakaarpik, Umiujaq, and Inukjuak in Nunavik (northern Quebec) and in the hamlet of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, I collaborate with elders and younger hunters to learn from and document Inuit knowledge of the cumulative impacts of environmental change since the 1970s.

Before starting my PhD, I contributed to numerous community-led environmental planning initiatives, beginning when I was an undergraduate student in Lakehead University’s Faculty of Natural Resources Management in the 1990s. I have worked with women’s groups in West Africa, remote communities in Nishnawbe Aske territory (northern Ontario), community-based programs in New York City, and with international climate services programs in developing regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A common theme to this work has been to support meaningful connections between communities, scientists, and decision-makers through applied research.

I was eager to do graduate work in partnership with the SUN Team because of Dr. Ljubicic’s emphasis on the ethical dimensions of community-based science and Indigenous self-determination in research. Through our collaborations in eastern Hudson Bay, my research highlights Inuit knowledge of environmental change, local and regional priorities for decision-making, and critical aspects of collaborative methodologies in studies of environmental change in Inuit Nunangat.