Arctic College students and researchers work together to study Climate Change and traditional skills with Eider ducks!
Written by Michelle McEwan
The Environmental Technology Program once again partnered with Researchers to learn about how Climate Change is affecting bird species in Nunavut.
Michelle McEwan
The Environmental Technology Program once again partnered with Researchers to learn about how Climate Change is affecting bird species in Nunavut. New this year was a partnership with two other college programs; so that every bird could be used to its fullest potential. Up to 50 students benefited from this project, whether it was by learning how to prepare an eider skin, learning to dissect an eider, or by receiving shared meat.
Jennifer Provencher, who used to study with Mark Mallory (Environment Canada), has been doing research on seabirds in Nunavut for more than 4 years. For three years, Jennifer and her research partners have taught ETP students how to take biological samples from akpaiit (murres). Now, Jennifer is studying mittik (Eider Ducks) for her PhD at the University of Victoria; she was back in Iqaluit last week with veterinary researcher Jane Harms, and Environment Canada Specimen Bank specialist Guy Savard. Not only did Jennifer, Guy, and Jane train 28 ETP students on how to sample mittik tissues, they also learned a few things themselves.
This year, for the first time, the Environmental Technology Program and Fur Production and Design programs worked together to collaborate on the Eider Duck Project. In the past, the akpaiit carcasses would go to a local HTO so that the meat could be distributed to community members. This time, because ETP students and researchers would be dissecting mittik instead of akpa, there would be useful feathers that were not needed for the research. Over two months, ETP Instructor Michelle McEwan and FP&D Senior Instructor Diane Giroux, planned a program with Jennifer and her colleagues, so that the feathers, skins, and feet could be used in the FP&D Program.
On Thursday November 3, and Friday November 4, the scientists gave a presentation about their research on murres and eiders. All ETP and FP&D students – about 40 students in all – watched the presentation and asked questions. Afterwards, students met in the lab for two demonstrations. Mona Netser, a FP&D student, demonstrated a “traditional cut” – this was how her grandmother taught her to cut and skin an eider. Mona showed her classmates, ETP students, and the researchers how to create a basket or a slipper from the eider skin. In the second demo, ETP and FP&D students learned how to dissect an eider for research purposes.
ETP students appreciated learning both science techniques and traditional skills. Some of them combined the two new sets of skills when it was their turn to take samples for the project, by first skinning the eider in the traditional way, then taking the tissue samples for research afterward.
The FP&D students were given eider carcasses after the dissections. As a fundraiser, they are creating eider baskets and baskets from goose and eider feet. Diane and her students hope that this fundraiser will help get them to the Inuit Studies Conference next year at the International Fur Trade Show in Montreal, NAFFEM 2012.
After being used by both Environmental Technology Program and Fur Production and Design students, the remains of the eiders were given to Susan Enuaraq (Arctic College’s Inuit Studies Program) to distribute the meat to community members. This project was a “win-win-win-win”, all around!
The ETP staff would like to thank Jennifer Provencher, her supervisors, and colleagues, for their efforts in reaching out to our community. We would also like to thank Diane Giroux for her collaboration and creativity on this project. Finally, I would like to thank Mona Netser for sharing her skills and knowledge with her fellow students, ETP students, and researchers alike. Our students have not only learned a new scientific skill, they have also learned a new cultural skill. It has been a memorable project for all involved, and we look forward to the opportunity to do it again next year!
