The Mobilize Program provides flexible, targeted funding to build the college’s applied research capacity. The overall goal of the program is to leverage the expansion of applied research activities during Aurora College’s polytechnic transformation, to meet the needs of the institution, its partners, and a changing Northwest Territories (NWT). Mobilize Program opportunities include:
- The Student Training Fund provides applied research training and mentorship opportunities for Aurora College students under the supervision of a college staff member.
- The Technician Fund provides funding to hire technicians to support research projects being led by college staff.
- The Instructor Release Fund supports applied research at the college by releasing instructors from their normal teaching and administrative duties to pursue new research projects or to expand their research on existing projects.
- The Partnership Development Fund (PDF) supports Aurora College researchers’ partnership developments with NWT communities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and other NWT partners.
- The Knowledge Mobilization Fund (KMF) supports plain language knowledge sharing with NWT communities to increase the usefulness of research results and to develop more equitable, inclusive, and impactful research outcomes.
The Mobilize Program supports northern collaborators, for example, through participation in PDF and/or KMF projects, and provides honouraria to NWT community members’ participating in the programs.
As of July 2025, these are the Mobilize Program awardees at Aurora College:
Technician Fund
Andreanne Robitaille, Manager / Instructor for Health Research Programs at the North Slave Research Centre (NSRC), for the project Spark Inspiration: Policy Strategy for Retention and Support of Indigenous and Northern Youths' Pursuit of Healthcare Careers in the Northwest Territories
Erika Hille, Director of the Western Arctic Research Centre (WARC), for logistical services and environmental monitoring projects in the Beaufort Delta Region
Mike Palmer, Manager of the NSRC, for environmental investigations including legacy mining landscape contaminants and the effects of climate change on northern lakes
Student Training Fund
Linh Nguyen, Instructor in the Environment and Natural Resources Training Program (ENRTP), Thebacha Campus, for environmental investigations and a focus project to assess uranium contamination along the Northern Transportation Route
Instructor Release Fund
Bryan Olson, Instructor in the ENRTP, Thebacha Campus, to assess past partnerships, projects, and data collected at Tsu Lake, identify partner and community needs, and establish a collaborative environmental research and monitoring program on natural resource projects to address the needs of local communities and partners
Knowledge Mobilization Fund
Erika Hille, Director of WARC, for a WARC open house and engagement activities with community organizations, community members, and youth across the Beaufort Delta Region to share information about WARC’s projects, processes, and research results
Mike Palmer, Manager of the NSRC, for sharing the results of a research project that investigated mining-associated metals in garden soils and vegetables in the Yellowknife area, through a community results-sharing event and through illustrated and plain language brochure mail-outs to all Yellowknife households
Partnership Development Fund
Linh Nguyen, Instructor in the ENRTP, Thebacha Campus, to initiate a collaborative partnership between AC and Tthebatthı Dënésułıné Nation (TDN) to co-design and pilot a sustainable, community-led Indigenous Guardian Training Program so that TDN Guardians can effectively manage and protect their traditional territories