Follow the IHACC team's activities at the ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting 2015, December 7th to 11th in Vancouver

Follow the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change project team's activities at ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting 2015 here!

  IHACC project team members at ASM2015

Dr. James Ford
IHACC project Primary Investigator

Climate Change Adaptation Research Group
Department of Geography, McGill University

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Dr. Sherilee Harper
IHACC project Co-Investigator

EcoHealth Research with Indigenous Communities
Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph

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Anna Bunce
IHACC project Masters Student

Supervisor: Dr. James Ford
Department of Geography, McGill University

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Kaitlyn Finner
IHACC project Masters Student

Supervisor: Dr. James Ford
Department of Geography, McGill University

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Knut Tjensvoll Kitching
IHACC project Masters Student

Supervisor: Dr. James Ford
Department of Geography, McGill University

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Carlee Wright
IHACC project Masters Student

Supervisor: Dr. Sherliee Harper
Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph

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Manpreet Saini
IHACC project Masters Student

Supervisor: Dr. Sherliee Harper
Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph

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IHACC project presentations at ASM2105

Wednesday December 9th 2015   Arctic Wildlife 1 Chair: Dominique Berteaux Room: Oak 10:45 Knut Tjensvoll Kitching Tuktu and Climate Change: Inuit Hunting on Southern Baffin Island     Thursday December 10th 2015   Northern Food Security 1 Chair: Sara Statham Room: Marine 11:00 Kaitlyn Finner Food From Here There, From Us and Them; Characterizing the Food System of Rigolet, Nunatsiavut   Community Health and Well Being 2 Chair: Mylène Riva Room: Mackenzie 14:30 Manpreet Saini Participatory Methods in Rigolet: Evaluation of Inuit Health Programs and Collaborative Development of a Whiteboard Video for Health Promotion   Community Health and Well Being 3 Chair: Shelley Tulloch Room: Mackenzie 15:45 Carlee Wright Drinking Water Consumption Patterns and Changes Over Time in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut     Friday December 11th 2015   The Scoop on Northern Poop Chairs: Sherilee Harper, David Goldfarb & Cédric Yansouni Room: Mackenzie 09:30 Sherilee Harper Foodborne, Waterborne, and Zoonotic Enteric Disease: EcoHealth Surveillance for Environmental Health   Click here to access the full ArcticNet ASM2015 conference schedule  

IHACC project posters at ASM2105

Kaitlin Patterson wins prize for PhD presentation at OVC Graduate Student Research Conference

Kate Patterson won 2nd prize for best PhD oral presentation on November 18th at the Ontario Veterinary College Graduate Student Research Conference. Kate's presentation examined the seasonal variation of food security among the Batwa of Kanungu.

Rebecca Wolff wins poster prize at the 22nd Canadian Conference on Global Health

Congratulations to Rebecca Wolff for winning the overall prize and poster competition for the “most innovative research” at the 22nd Canadian Conference on Global Health. The conference took place in Montreal, from November 5th to 7th.

Poster Citation: Wolff, R., Harper, S.L., et al. “Its spirit is strong: Shawi healers, spirits and diarrhea in the Amazon” Canadian Conference of Global Health, Montreal. 5-6 November 2015.

Abstract

Waterborne illness remains a public health challenge faced by many Indigenous communities. The Shawi, a dominant Indigenous group in the Peruvian Amazon, have retained the majority of their cultural practices and belief systems. Indigenous illness perceptions may not always reflect known biomedical causes of disease, making some health interventions ineffective. The goal of this research was to explore how Shawi perceptions on the causes of diarrhea, as a symptom of waterborne illness, related to Shawi beliefs and cosmology about water. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in two Shawi communities in August 2014 to document beliefs regarding water spirits and the role of traditional healers in causing diarrhea. Results of this study showed Shawi perceptions on the causes of diarrhea were predominately based in beliefs around water spirits and the ability of traditional healers to cause diarrhea, as opposed to a belief in diarrhea caused by biomedical risk factors for waterborne illness, such as the consumption of contaminated water. This research highlights how understanding Indigenous perceptions of illness is essential to informing the design of more effective health interventions to reduce waterborne illness in Amazonian Indigenous Communities.

IHACC project and Michelle Maillet featured in SciDevNet article on Indigenous voices at global climate change negotiations

Last September, in the wake of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit and the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris, Michelle Maillet was interviewed in the context of her Master's research and her role as project manager of the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change project for a news piece examining current engagement with Indigenous voices at the international level.

To read the piece, please click on the link provided below.

Spotlight: Joint Action on Climate Change, Getting local voices to global talks on climate change, SciDevNet, October 14th 2015.

The article can also be found on the UNPO and AllAfrica websites.

Dr. James Ford and Mya Sherman featured in the Peruvian news papers La Republica and Correo

Last October, Dr. James Ford and project lead Mya Serman were interviewed while in Lima for meetings and workshops related to the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change project by local news papers La Republica and Correo. To read the articles (published in Spanish), please follow the links provided below.

James Ford: “Los humanos somos más adaptables de lo que creemos”, La Republica, October 22nd 2015 edition.

Mya Sherman: “Producimos información no solo para los libros”, Correo, October 21st 2015 edition.