2009 - mun.ca · PDF fileWhile the project inventory lists our activities under these ......
Transcript of 2009 - mun.ca · PDF fileWhile the project inventory lists our activities under these ......
Labrador Institute Annual Report
2009
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Table of Contents
MESSAGE FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR 3
GUIDING OUR ACTIONS 4
RVIEW OVE 4
MISSION AND MANDATE 5
ACCOMPLISHING OUR MISSION 6
BOR TION COLLA A 6
OUTREACH 8
The Arts 8
Business and the Econom y 8
ESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS R 9
EDUCATION 10
STAFFING 11
EIT CHAUL K H K 12
N SPARKESRO 12
ARTHA M CDONALD M A 13
EATRICE ICKER B D S 13
NNIFE BUTL JE R ER 14
OTTL ‐FEWEKAREN P E R 14
ARK DA TURNER M VID 15
WOLFJOHANNA 15
DEREK WILTON 16
LABRADOR INSTITUTE ADVISORY BOARD 16
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Message from the Associate Director Greetings to all the friends and associates of the Labrador Institute. I was asked by the Institute ‘s Director, Dr. Keith Chaulk, to take the lead in writing this year’s report, including the introductory statement. We are pleased to present our report for 2009, another active and productive year here in Labrador. When describing the Labrador Institute we are all driven to comparisons to try to explain how we serve Labrador’s need for a university that reflects and serves this region. I think of the Labrador Institute as a microcosm of Memorial. We carry out many of the main functions of the university, including research, education, community service, registration and academic advising, as well as finding housing and daycare and even dogsitters for researchers. We entertain visiting scholars, arrange lectures, assist in student recruitment and alumni events, order books, draw up budgets, run archives, edit books, and respond to requests that range from “How can I become a social worker without leaving home?” to “What did people use before they could get yeast?” Over the past year our staffing has increased, our projects have become more numerous and our record of research funding generated reflects our growing capacity and our level of innovation. One of the strengths in this small division of the university is in the partnerships we have developed with other sections of the university, such as the Department of Geography, the Faculty of Arts, the School of Social Work, the School of Music, Social/Cultural Studies and many more. Anyone who wants to do research or programming in Labrador is welcome to contact us‐we are waiting to hear from you!
All the best, Martha MacDonald Associate Director, Education
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Guiding Our Actions
Overview
The Labrador Institute was established by Memorial University to stimulate, coordinate, and support major University projects and programs designed to promote the well‐being of the people of Labrador and to expand the Labrador knowledge base. Labrador West Campus
Memorial University has had a formal presence in Labrador since the 1970s, when field workers carried out extension services in Cartwright and Nain. In the late 1970s, the University established the Labrador Institute of Northern Studies to promote community development, extension services and socio‐economic research, and to provide a link with the campus in St. John's.
There are currently two offices of the Labrador Institute, one located in Happy Valley‐Goose Bay and the other in Labrador City. Both offices are co‐located with the College of the North Atlantic. This co‐location is unique, these two campuses being the only such co‐location of College and University in the province.
In 1997, the university changed the focus of the Institute's activities and renamed it the Labrador Institute of Memorial University. As of today, the Institute has a permanent staff of six people, as well as a number of associated researchers and two post‐doctoral fellows.
Happy Valley‐Goose Bay Campus
The planning and initiatives of the Labrador Institute over the past year have once again been guided by the LI mission and mandate, the Labrador Post Secondary Needs Assessment, and in particular Goal 15 (Education and Research opportunities in Labrador) of Memorial’s 2007 Strategic Plan, with Goals 14 (Foster Regional and Rural Development) and 16 (Partnership with Aboriginal Peoples) also being addressed in our actions. Other important reference points include: (a) the Provincial Northern Strategic Plan, (b) the White Paper on Postsecondary Education, and (c) Memorial’s Aboriginal Initiatives Task Force. The task force was guided by Dr. Evan Simpson, who met with many groups and individuals interested in increasing opportunities for Aboriginal people in the province. Labrador Institute representatives participated in all of these meetings and provided our cumulative knowledge regarding the state of education in Labrador, this input ultimately helped shape many of the final recommendations in the task force report. The document has now been released and we have expectations that response to it will mean improved service for the large Aboriginal population in Labrador.
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Mission and Mandate
In July 2008, Memorial’s Board of Regents approved a revised mission and mandate for the Labrador Institute. It is the mission of the Labrador Institute to bring the needs and interests of Labradorians to the university, and to facilitate actions that will bring the capacities of the university to bear on these needs and interests. This mission will be accomplished through the following CORE strategies:
The Polar Bear in the Rock
Collaboration: The Labrador Institute will work in collaboration with the College of the North Atlantic in the fulfillment of all elements of this mandate and as further agreed upon in the co‐location agreement. Outreach: The Labrador Institute will be involved in initiatives that: (a) preserve and promote Labrador history, culture, and languages, (b) advance lifelong learning for Labradorians, and (c) further the economic and social development of the region. Research: The Institute will: (a) serve as the initial point of contact for all research conducted by Memorial faculty in Labrador, (b) identify opportunities for research, including those proposed by the Labrador community, (c) assist researchers in engaging Labradorians in the planning and implementation of research, (d) carry out research projects in accordance with the expertise of LI staff, (e) co‐ordinate and facilitate the process of communicating research results to the community, and (f) establish a repository of Labrador research data and outputs. Education: The Institute will: (a) help create and manage the delivery of programs appropriate to the needs and interests of Labradorians, (b) assist Labradorians in gaining access to existing programs in the university, and (c) actively recruit students and provide appropriate advisory services for Labradorians interested in attending university.
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Accomplishing Our Mission
Our mission is achieved through the strategies of Collaboration, Outreach, Research and Education (CORE). While the project inventory lists our activities under these categories, many of the projects have aspects of more than one of the strategies.
Collaboration
In 1998, the LI and the Happy Valley‐Goose Bay campus of CNA entered into discussions aimed at a formal co‐location arrangement. In February 2003, the Presidents of Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at advancing the presence of, and accessibility to, the institutions in Labrador. Government’s 2005 White Paper on Postsecondary Education noted the need for increased collaboration between Memorial and the College across the province. The Paper cited the progress being made by the Labrador Institute and the College campuses in Labrador where efforts had led to the 2003 MOU and the development of specific program agreements. This collaboration was recognized when government funded a new wing at the Happy Valley–Goose Bay campus of the College, and in September 2008 the Labrador Institute completed its physical move to new and shared facilities. The physical co‐location was formalized by the signing of a co‐location document in June 2008. A draft agreement for co‐location in Labrador West is in preparation under the leadership of Dr. Ron Sparkes and Karen Pottle‐Fewer, in consultation with Dr. Keith Chaulk and Dr. Richard Sawyer.
Throughout this report, there are many specific references to collaboration and partnering in the CORE areas of outreach, research and education. Collaboration within Memorial is particularly important to the achievement of the LI mission. Other Canadian universities are engaged with Labrador organizations in research and the delivery of educational programs, and the Labrador Institute provides support within its means to these external partners, most specifically with those working with the Government of Nunatsiavut, the Innu Nation and the Labrador Metis Nation, and often highly specific needs that are best served through collaboration with several postsecondary service institutions. Examples of collaboration within the university include the long‐term and extensive relationship LI has with the Harris Centre, participating this year in the Memorial Presents in Nain. Dr. Ron Sparkes serves on the Harris Centre Applied Research Fund and Nominations/Awards Committee. His expertise is also welcome on MUN’s Northern Scientific Training Program Committee. LI members make contributions to the larger university in a number of ways, from participation in Deans and Directors meetings (Dr. Keith Chaulk) to representation on the boards of journals (Dr. Ron Sparkes and Martha MacDonald) and as chair of a CURA project (Jennifer Butler). We enjoy a productive relationship with many researchers and represent the Labrador perspective whenever requested to do so. A new partnership this year is with the School of Social Work. It has long been the aim of the Nunatsiavut Government to recruit and train social workers from within their membership, and Memorial’s School of Social Work was able to respond to this request, offering a two semester pre‐social work program on site in Goose Bay. The participants are all Nunatsiavut beneficiaries and will undergo
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the selection process for the School of Social Work at the end of August 2010, after which the Bachelor of Social Work program will be offered in its entirety here in Goose Bay. The Labrador Institute has participated to a high degree in this program. Martha MacDonald serves on the steering committee and was responsible for the recruitment of non‐social work instructors, who have been identified locally. Two of these instructors are LI staff members: Mark Turner and Jennifer Butler have taught respectively English 1080 and Sociology 1000. This partnership is one which will lead to the training of over 20 social workers through the use of return of service contracts. Many of these will be employed in communities throughout central and northern Labrador. We are proud to be part of this program and hope that it will serve as a model for future collaborations. Collaboration with other universities, researchers and agencies is also a necessary part of our work because of the need to have Labrador represented and considered, whatever the project may be. A few examples will illustrate our actions in this type of collaboration: Mark Tuner has contributed greatly to the expansion of film study in Labrador through his own work at our archives and through projects with other groups. He has worked with Dr. Michael Jong of Labrador Grenfell Health to preserve the memories and knowledge of Inuit elder Mary Adams, has trained people in Smart Labrador on film production, and has an upcoming film project with Parks Canada in Red Bay. Jennifer Butler is working with Dr. Suzanne Mills of MacMaster University and her graduate students on a labour relations research project, and Dr. Ron Sparkes continues his work with the Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada Steering Committee. We also have representation on input on the local economic development board, and work with government departments on Labrador issues when requested. Dr. Keith Chaulk’s work on the Lower Churchill Environmental Assessment panel was intensive and required a great deal of time, but allowed the viewpoint of a Labrador resident as well as a respected scientist to shape the deliberations of this panel. The Lower Churchill project is a huge multi‐year mega project estimated in the billions of dollars, with a large‐scale environmental and socioeconomic footprint. Institute staff members also serve on the Northern Scientific Review Program (NSTP) Review Committee, the Steering Committee for the Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada, the Harris Centre Applied Research Fund Review Committee, and the Labrador Advisory Committee to the Atlantic Aboriginal Health Research Program. LI, along with the Office of the Vice‐President (Academic), represent Memorial at the University of the Arctic which has research initiatives throughout the circumpolar world, as well as at the Canadian Polar Commission. LI also represents Memorial at the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies which has a comprehensive network related to northern research. Other partnerships are with the journal Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, the Newfoundland Quarterly, and the provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage committee.
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Outreach
Outreach activities are most often achieved in concert with LI’s partners, consistent with the broad mandate of identifying regional needs and bringing the capacities of the University to bear on meeting needs and interests.
In addition, staff members participate not only in the general outreach activities of the Institute but in community projects which are seen to be of value to groups who would not normally have access to the kind of expertise we can occasionally supply. We see the role of the university as one which advances the aims of the community, and we feel a special obligation to support initiatives within our capacity.
The Arts
Labrador is alive with varied interests in the arts and the Labrador Institute has long contributed to arts initiatives in Labrador communities. The Labrador West Music Festival is an interest of both our previous staff member in Labrador West and our current program coordinator, Karen Pottle‐Fewer. The arts in Upper Lake Melville have found a new home in the Lawrence O’Brien Arts Centre, a world‐class theatre opened in Goose Bay in September 2009. The establishment and governance of this space continue to be of interest to Associate Director Martha MacDonald, as is the annual Labrador Creative Arts Festival, which brings in students from Communities from Nain to Mary’s Harbour in order to present student‐written plays and to learn from visiting artists. Martha writes the grant proposals to secure funding for the festival as part of LI outreach; funding has been secured for several years from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the International Grenfell Association, and a number of private foundations and government departments. Mark Turner, one of our new staff members, brings his expertise in theatre and its technical requirements to the arts community as well.
Business and the Economy
Outreach to support and develop business capacity and economic development is an
expectation government has of its university, and the Labrador Institute works with several university and external partners to achieve this aim. The annual Expo Labrador event is supported by the Institute through an LI/ Memorial booth at the Expo trade show; concomitantly, LI staff contribute to and participate in the Expo conference event. The Office of the President, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and the Marine Institute have been regular and active participants at Expo Labrador events. Dr. Ron Sparkes has been a driving force behind Expo since its inception, and has moderated sessions every year. This year we will welcome participants from the Gardiner Centre and Lifelong Learning to the events. Our program coordinator, Mark Turner, is using his film expertise and vast knowledge of the LI film archive to prepare a special historical/cultural visual piece to exhibit at Expo. Dr. Sparkes and Dr. Chaulk have been engaged in dialogue with ACOA regarding funding to engage the capacity of Memorial’s Business and School as well as the Gardiner Centre and SIFE to support business development needs in Labrador.
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Research and Publications
The Labrador Institute is frequently the initial point of contact for many researchers interested in working in Labrador. These consultations provide LI the opportunity to identify research opportunities proposed by the Labrador community as well as to assist researchers in engaging Labradorians in the planning and implementation of research. Dr. Keith Chaulk continues his biological research on birds, mammals, and the ecology and environment of Northern Labrador. Two manuscripts have been accepted in peer reviewed publications (one journal and one edited book). Dr. Chaulk continues to work on several other collaborative papers in the areas of natural resource management, science policy and ecology. The Labrador Institute continues to support the work of the Labrador Highlands Research Group, providing community liaison and office space. Our new post‐doctoral fellow, Dr. Johanna Wolf, is researching climate change and mitigation in Labrador communities on the north and south coasts. This year much of our research effort has been focussed on writing proposals for project funding, and this has been very successful in terms of money secured. These include four successful proposals for which Dr. Keith Chaulk was the lead: International Polar Year awarded funding of $58,000 for facilities expansion at our Goose Bay campus; ARIF‐RENOS awarded $1.9 million for adaptation of a building in North West River to become a research centre; $39,000 from SSHRC to present community workshops on research, and $128,000 for research on climate change from Sivunivut. (Jennifer Butler was a major contributor to the development of this proposal.) Other staff members contributed to these applications, as well, demonstrating that our diversity of expertise is a valued asset in serving the varied needs of this large region. Martha MacDonald, Associate Director for Education, was the lead on securing International Polar Year funding for a children’s book entitled “The Polar Bear in the Rock: Two Windows on the World.” The book, published in 2010 and launched in March 2010 in four communities, explains the legend of the polar bear in the rock on Mount Sophie in Nain. Dr. Derek Wilton of the Earth Sciences Department at Memorial wrote the geological explanation for the presence of the bear rock formation, and the book has been distributed to grade 4 students all over Labrador. Book launches took place in Nain, Hopedale, Goose Bay and St. John’s, where Martha and Derek presented the two types of knowledge demonstrated in the book, assisted by Sarah Townley, one of the book’s translators.
Martha MacDonald and Sarah Townley reading The Polar Bear in the Rock at the Nain book launch
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Another publication is soon to make its appearance after several years of preparation. Very Rough Country: Proceedings of the Labrador Explorations Symposium is a collection of the papers presented at a SSHRC‐funded conference held during the Mina Hubbard celebrations of 2005. These papers have been edited by Martha MacDonald with valued assistance from Jennifer Butler, and the book will appear in fall 2010. Research and publication will be greatly aided in future though the work of two of our program coordinators, Mark Turner and Karen Pottle‐Fewer. Karen’s previous experience in libraries has been of great assistance in the reorganization of our collections, housed within the library of the College of the North Atlantic in Goose Bay. Her current projects include cataloguing books, as well as working on our collection of photographs. This involves scanning, saving and briefly describing the photographs to eventually make them widely available for researchers. Mark continues to work at transferring our large film collection from older formats to DVD, and providing the metadata essential to future researchers. He has arranged agreements with other archives and has acquired and processed film materials on Labrador from the National Film Board and the OKalaKatiget Society. Mark’s research work includes the preparation of a theatre script written in Nunatsiavut in the 1970s. This past year LI continued to host Anthropology PhD candidates Damien Castro and Carolina Tytelman, who are working with the Innu of Labrador. In conjunction with the Faculty of Medicine, LI will host a permanent tenure track position of Assistant Professor of Community Health expected to start sometime in the fall of 2010. This position will be focused on health‐related research.
Education
The Labrador Institute works closely with Memorial Faculties, Schools, the College of the North Atlantic and other external partners to help create and manage the delivery of educational programs appropriate to the needs of Labradorians. In addition to providing assistance with access to existing programs at Memorial, the Labrador Institute is responding to the regional requests for the delivery of more credit courses in the region.
Intersession courses: The Labrador Institute has offered live courses in intersession since 2006. In 2009 Dr. Doug Wharram offered Introduction to Linguistics and Damien Castro offered Aboriginal Peoples of North America. In 2010 Doug Wharram offered Linguistics 2025 and 2026, Introduction to Inuttitut. Students taking intersession courses vary from transfer year students looking for extra electives to community participants wanting to learn Inuktitut to people needing language courses to finish up degrees.
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As noted above, LI is working with the School of Social Work to offer a full degree program in Goose Bay, purchased by the Nunatsiavut Government. LI instructors are involved in teaching the courses and Associate Director Martha MacDonald has had a key role in locating local instructors for courses, enabling the program to be carried out a lower cost and with greater comfort for students than by offering all distance courses or fly‐in instructors. LI partnered with the Faculty of Education to offer Education 2720: Introduction to Post ‐Secondary Instruction, taught live by Dr. Ron Sparkes. This course attracted a lively group of ten, many of them instructors in College of the North Atlantic programs. The opportunity to take this course live rather than by distance was appreciated by the students, who hope to go on to earn a certificate. Life Long Learning is a valuable ally of LI and is interested in expanding its offerings in Labrador. A Certificate in Leadership has been offered and completed by a number of students in Goose Bay looking for professional development, joined by participants who came in from the south and north coasts of Labrador. Damien Castro offered computer courses through Life Long Learning in the Innu community of Sheshatshiu.
Jennifer Butler and Martha MacDonald have begun investigation into the possibility of offering part of the Social/Cultural Studies degree at the Labrador Institute. With our staff increase and with new community members we have an expanded base of instructors upon which to draw, and early discussions show that Grenfell College is supportive of the idea of our offering at least one year of the program here, to follow upon the college’s CAS transfer program. This would allow students to complete a second year of university studies at home, and would provide opportunities for other community members to pursue university studies in anthropology and olklore.
Staffing
Staffing is now complete at the Labrador Institute, with six permanent positions filled, as well as two post‐doctoral fellows and our intersession instructor. Recent additions include Karen Pottle‐Fewer, our program coordinator at our Labrador City office, and Mark Turner, who originally came to Labrador to inspect our film collection and became fascinated with the history of film in our region. The expertise they bring has allowed us to devote a great deal of energy to our library and film collections, and to make these more usable to researchers and the general public. We are pleased to have part‐time instructors as part of our LI network as well, and look forward to continuing work with Dr. Vicki Hallett, Women’s Studies instructor in the BSW program, as well as archaeologist Scott Neilsen.
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Keith Chaulk
Keith was born and raised in North West River, Labrador and graduated from Lake Melville School in 1987. He obtained his B.Sc. from Dalhousie, M.Sc. from Acadia, and PhD from Memorial. Dr. Chaulk has worked in both the private and public sectors. Prior to joining the Labrador Institute Keith worked with Environment Canada, and prior to that with the Nunatsiavut Government. Keith enjoys the outdoors and is especially fond of music and sports.
Ron Sparkes
Dr. Ron Sparkes has been involved with education and special projects in Newfoundland and Labrador for the past 40 years serving as President of the College of the North Atlantic, President of the Labrador College, and Superintendent of Education with the Labrador East Integrated School Board. He was Federal Facilitator for the establishment of an Environmental Institute to Monitor Low Level Flight Training in Labrador and Quebec, and Co‐Chaired Government’s 1999‐2000 Panel on Educational Delivery. In 2002 he completed a two‐year secondment to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as Deputy Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs and now serves as Labrador Associate with the Labrador Institute of Memorial University.
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Martha MacDonald
Martha MacDonald has lived in Labrador since 1988. She is the Associate Director (Education), she has been employed with LI since 1999, and also teaches Folklore in the college‐university transfer year at the College of the North Atlantic.
Martha studied at Mount Allison University (BA Hons.), Universite de Strasbourg and Memorial (M.A.). She volunteers in the arts community of Happy Valley‐Goose Bay and has a long‐term interest in Labrador culture and history.
Beatrice Dickers
Beatrice started working with the Labrador Institute on a four‐month contract in 1981. During the 27 years, she worked as a secretary and administrative staff specialist. Throughout her employment she met many interesting people through the Labrador Institute and the St. John’s campus. In her spare time, Beatrice is an avid photographer and has taken some of the landscape shots that appear on the Labrador Institute web site.
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Jennifer Butler
Jennifer Butler was born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and graduated from Pasadena Academy in 2001.
Jennifer is a Memorial graduate having completed her B.A. in Social/Cultural Studies at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in 2005. She received her M.A. from the University of Windsor in 2007. In January 2008, Jennifer moved to Happy Valley‐Goose Bay with her partner, Corey.
Prior to joining the LI team, Jennifer was the Research Manager with the Labrador Metis Nation. Jennifer volunteers with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and enjoys quilting, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.
Karen Pottle‐Fewer
Karen Pottle‐Fewer was born and raised in Labrador City, NL and graduated from Menihek High School. She has obtained certificates in Library Studies and Business Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration, all from Memorial University. Prior to joining the Labrador Institute team, Karen worked at College of the North Atlantic as a Library Technician and Business Development Officer. She has also been employed with the Labrador School Board and Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries. In her leisure time, Karen enjoys walking, reading and scrapbooking and has a long‐time interest in genealogy.
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Mark David Turner
Mark Turner is a PhD candidate at the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama at the University of Toronto where he is completing his dissertation on the history of film production on the island of Newfoundland. His research interests are rooted in Newfoundland and Labrador performance practices and their relationship to ethnography, politics, culture and archival practice. He received his B.A. in English from Memorial University of Newfoundland and his M.A. from the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama. Throughout the last fifteen years, Mark has been both a practitioner and educator of a variety of performance arts.
Johanna Wolf
Dr. Johanna Wolf joined the Labrador Institute in 2010 as the first postdoctoral fellow in Labrador. She is also the Senior Science Coordinator of the Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS) project at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her research examines the individual, social, cultural and institutional dimensions of responding climate change. Previously, Johanna was a Senior Research Associate at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, UK. She holds a BSc in environmental science (Royal Roads University, Canada) and an MSc and PhD in international development (University of East Anglia, UK). Johanna has worked as a consultant for the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (Canada), the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (Canada), SciDev.Net (UK), ActionAid Int’l., and the UN Climate Change Secretariat (Germany). Johanna enjoys playing various musical
instruments, cooking Thai and Indian dishes and baking sourdough bread. She can often be found at the pool swimming lanes and pedaling her bike through town.
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Derek Wilton
Professor Derek H.C. Wilton, Ph.D., P.Geo. has been a faculty member in the Department of Earth Sciences since 1983. He is a St. John’s native and received his B.Sc. from MUN, his M.Sc. from the University of British Columbia, and his Ph.D from MUN. He has been conducting research since 1984 in Labrador from Cape Chidley to southern Labrador. He has sailed the northern Labrador coast, north of Nain, five times, up to circum‐navigating Killiniq Island (once); his most recent expedition was the subject of a Nature of Things episode of the Geologic Journey series. He has been involved with research groups/companies/government surveys that have documented a wide variety of geological occurrences throughout Labrador, including geochemistry on archaeological specimens of Ramah chert. In November‐December, 2006, he spent six weeks visiting nineteen Labrador communities with high schools; he talked to the students about the geology of Labrador and careers in the mineral industry and at night held public meetings to discuss research. He received the Education
Award from the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador for outstanding contributions to Geoscience Education in 2004 and was awarded the W.H.Gross Medal by the Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Association of Canada in 1991.
Labrador Institute Advisory Board
The Labrador Institute has a volunteer advisory board, known as the Labrador Institute Advisory Board (LIAB). It is comprised of representatives from various aboriginal, community groups, and geographic zones. Currently, the board has nine members:
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Lucy Brennan was born and raised in Marystown, NL. She began working for the Labrador Inuit Association in 1986 as the Executive Director. In 1987she moved into the position of Education Administrator to take over the administration of the first directed funded program for Labrador Inuit. She currently represents the Nunatsiavut Government on a number of committees; the Staff Education Committee; the Inuit Nursing Access and Collaborative Nursing Program Advisory Committee; the Labrador Social Work Steering Committee; and the Education Degree Program Steering Committee. Her current position as Program Director with the Nunatsiavut Government has her overseeing the administration and benefits of the PostSecondary Student Support Program with approximately 200 students represented.
Darrell O’Brien was born and raised in a fishing family in L'anse au Loup. Darrell completed his secondary education at Mountain Feild Academy in Forteau. Following this he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Fishing Masters Class IV certification from the Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland. Since 1994 Darrell has been employed as a Fisheries Development Officer with the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Darrell served as the Mayor of the Town of L'anse au Loup from 1997 to 2006 and has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Labrador Institute of Memorial University since 1997.
Richard Sawyer has a BA, MA and PhD in modern English literature from the University of Toronto. He has taught in colleges and universities in Toronto, Saskatoon, China, Labrador City and Qatar. He has been with the Labrador West Campus of the College of the North Atlantic since 1990. He served with the first group of instructors sent over to the new Qatar Campus in 2002. Since 2007, he has been the administrator of the Labrador West Campus.
Jamie Snook has ten years of management experience and education in business administration, human resources, leadership, negotiation, dispute resolution and communications. He has consistently volunteered for many non‐profit organizations and at the moment that includes the Labrador Institute Advisory Board, Canadian Institute of Management, Trapline Marathon Organizing Committee and the Metis Development Corporation. Concurrent to a busy work schedule, Jamie enjoys the gym, long distance running, reading about and researching Inuit history in south and central Labrador, golf and, most of all, world travel. It is a challenge to balance work, fun and a young family with two additions, Jaiden and Jonah, who are one and three, respectively.
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Geoff Rayner‐Canham is a Professor of Chemistry at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University, Corner Brook. Among his major interests have been the public understanding of science and chemistry outreach to grade schools in remote communities. As part of this effort, he has visited the secondary schools in every community across Labrador (plus schools on the contiguous Quebec coast as far as Harrington Harbour) and, last year, to some schools in Nunavut.
Winnie Montague has been working with the College of the North Atlantic in Labrador since 1981. During this time she has been involved in instruction, program development, and other initiatives. In 1996, Winnie was appointed to Campus Administrator at the Happy Valley‐Goose Bay Campus; she still assumes this role. Winnie has worked closely throughout her career with Labrador's three Aboriginal groups ‐ the Innu, Inuit, and Metis. Winnie holds a Diploma in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Vocational Education, both from Memorial University.
Roxanne Notley is the Executive Director of the Southeastern Aurora Development Corporation. She lives in Port Hope Simpson.
Cora Edmunds is a resident of Postville and represents the north coast of Labrador on the advisory board.
Kanani Penashue is the Director of Education at the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation. She holds a Bachelor of Education from Memorial.