Education:

MSc. Geography, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge AB

BSc. Geography with a concentration in Geographic information Systems (GIS), University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge AB

Research Statement:

As a Research Coordinator with the Aurora Research Institute I am involved with a variety of projects within the disciplines of hydrology, biogeochemistry and limnology that assess the influence of terrestrial and aquatic processes on the recovery of lakes impacted by mining pollution and changing permafrost regimes.

Born and raised in Yellowknife NT, I have an interest in local contamination caused by mining activity. I also have a background in researching permafrost and permafrost environments, specifically with regard to permafrost distribution, effect of climate change on permafrost and the strain changing permafrost can put on human-environment interactions. I approach my research subjects from a spatial/mapping perspective and believe the growing field of GIS and Geomatics can be used to help gain a deeper understanding of the complex systems we encounter in environmental sciences.

I have 5 years of experience conducting northern based research. Research conducted over this time period has involved collaborations across local communities, government agencies and academia.

Current Projects:

Subarctic Lakes in a changing climate (SLACC)

Nature and Climate Sensitivity of Thermokarst Lakes, Northwest Territories.

Northwest Territories Thermokarst Mapping Collective

Data Mining: Effect of Peak Mining Activity on Lakes Near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Significant Contributions:

Kokelj, S.V., Gingras-Hill, T., Daly, S.V., Morse, M., Wolfe, S., Rudy, A.C., van der Sluijs, J., Weiss, N., O’Neill, B., Baltzer, J., Lantz, T.C., Gibson, C., Cazon, D., Fraser, R.H., Froese, D.G., Giff, G., Klengenberg, C., Lamoureux, S.F., Quinton, W., … Young, J. (2023). The Northwest Territories Thermokarst Mapping Collective: a northern-driven mapping collaborative toward understanding the effects of permafrost thaw. Arctic Science.

Daly, S. V., Bonnaventure, P. P., & Kochtitzky, W. (2022). Influence of ecosystem and disturbance on near‐surface permafrost distribution, Whatì, Northwest Territories, Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 33(4), 339-352.

Palmer, M. J., Chételat, J., Jamieson, H. E., McClelland, C., & Daly, S. V. (2025). Archived government correspondence reveals extreme arsenic pollution of local waterbodies from gold mining at Yellowknife, NT prior to environmental regulation. FACETS, 10, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2024-0349

Vegter, S., Bonnaventure, P. P., Daly, S. V., & Kochtitzky, W. (2024). Modelling permafrost distribution using the temperature at top of permafrost model in the boreal forest environment of Whatì, NT. Arctic Science, 10(3), 455–475. https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0010

I have lived in the North for over ten years, first in Inuvik and now in Yellowknife. With experience ranging from territorial government, Indigenous government, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, my experience is wide and has always been grounded in community development. My passion includes working with and for Indigenous people and organizations. I am humbled to be a guest on the traditional territories of many First Nations, Métis, and Inuvialuit, whose knowledge and histories never fail to amaze.

My responsibilities here at ARI will include managing the Makerspace Ecosystem and helping to get at least 11 NWT communities engaged by the end of the three year project. It’s particularly exciting when initiatives like these happen in smaller communities. Increasing access to digital and computer literacy development in an approachable and culturally appropriate way is essential to expanding capacity.

I have a bachelor’s degree in Aboriginal Studies from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in Adult Education with an emphasis on Indigenous Learning also from UofT. I enjoy volunteering with the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association; traveling to as many countries as possible (46 and counting); going for walks with my pup Rosalie; and anything that involves beadwork.

Education

BSc. Ecological Restoration, Dip. Integrated Environmental Planning

Responsibilities

Leading the the expansion of the ARI science outreach in the North Slave. Working with educators and STEM professionals to coordinate community events, public research presentations, and provides hands-on activities to local youth to promote science and research taking place in the north.

Skills and expertise: Environmental planning and monitoring, hydrology, ecology, biology, botany, project management, ecological restoration, STEM education, public outreach, geographic information systems, professional tinkerer.

Current Projects: ARI STEM Outreach Program – I work with educators and STEM professionals to provide hands-on activities to local youth, and coordinate community events and public research presentations to promote science and research taking place in the north.

Personal information

Raised in rural Alberta, I spent much of my childhood exploring the creeks and forests around me. Looking for wilder adventures, I moved to southeastern BC where I pursued snowboarding as a full-time passion. Summers were spent working on farms in exchange for winters full of snow. With a growing knowledge and passion for the natural world, I then pursued a Diploma in Integrated Environmental Planning from Selkirk College in Castlegar BC. This incredible program provided experience with botany, hydrology, geology, GIS, environmental chemistry, and sustainability (to name a few). Many of my interests were still focused around water, and I had the pleasure of serving as a Director for Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society while also piloting a regional water conservation initiative for local governments. I then headed to the coast and gained a Bachelor of Science in Ecological Restoration from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. I gained experience working on real-world restoration projects with stakeholders, the public, and administrators. With a strong interest in moving to the North, I gained employment with Parks Canada at Nááts’įhch’oh National Park Reserve in the Mackenzie Mountains. Based out of Tulita, I supported research efforts in the Sahtu Region. Some of my project contributions included establishing snow monitoring plots, coordinating water quality sampling, and processing remote camera images and scat samples for woodland caribou studies.

Now residing in Yellowknife, you can find me on the trails or the water when I am not working on STEM outreach projects. I’m thrilled to be part of the research community at ARI and even more thrilled to be sharing exciting initiatives with youth, families, and educators of the region.

Personal Information

I’m a fourth year nursing student at Aurora College. I’ve grown up in Yellowknife with a passion for health, nursing, sustainability and climate change. In my third year of nursing education, I began working as a Research Assistant for Pertice Moffit to transcribe and enter data during the NWT Breast Feeding Study. This experience gave me the opportunity to see the process of conducting research in the North. I am excited to have another chance to be involved with research and expand my knowledge in the field. I plan to work in the North, with a goal towards sustainability and healthy communities.

Skills and Expertise 

• Communication
• Multi-tasking
• Organization
• Nursing and northern healthcare
• Climate Change
• Art (drawing and painting)

Current Projects

Emergency Protective Order Study- Research Assistant: Transcribing interviews of RCMP, staff and applications involved in the process of applying for an Emergency Protection order in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Organized audio recording and completed transcripts.

Publications and Presentations

1. Wendehorst, D. (2018). How will health in the north be changed by climate change? Poster presentation at Aurora College Research Day, Yellowknife, NT.

2.  Wendehorst, D. (2018) Climate change and leadership in nursing. Oral presentation to fourth year nursing students at Aurora College, NT.

3. Brazeau A, Evalik, J, Ittuk N, , Komangapik J, Kortierk J, Kusugak, N, & Wendehorst D. 2018) Panel on personal experiences with climate change in the North and Arctic. Oral presentation to Student on Ice participants during 2018 Student on Ice Arctic Expedition  in Greenland.

4. Wendehorst D. (2018) Climate Change: It’s Time to Change. Paper for Global Heath Course at Aurora College, Yellowknife, NT.

5. Ayoubi, H & Wendehorst, D. (2018) Globalization and the profession of nursing. Oral presentation to third year nursing students at Aurora College, Yellowk

Education:

PhD (Physical Geography), Carleton University

MSc (Physical Geography), Carleton University

BSc (Earth Sciences/Spanish), Dalhousie University

Research Statement

My research is focused on terrestrial and aquatic processes that influence the recovery of subarctic lakes impacted by mining pollution. We use a variety of techniques across the disciplines of hydrology, biogeochemistry and limnology to measure fluxes of contaminants (mostly arsenic and antimony) within subarctic watersheds. These types of information are useful so that we can better predict the long-term fate of contaminants in northern environments.  I have 15 years of experience as a northern-based scientist and much of this work has been in collaboration with local communities, government agencies, and universities.  

Click here for my Google Scholar Profile

Current projects

• Yellowknife Garden Metals Study
• The biological and chemical recovery of Yellowknife area lakes from 60 years of arsenic pollution
• Regional soil geochemistry in the Yellowknife area
• Legacy arsenic pollution in Yellowknife Bay sediments: An assessment of its long-term fate under a changing climate
• Collaborator with the Water and Ice Research Laboratory (WIRL) at Carleton
• Collaborator with the Remote Sensing of Environmental Change laboratory at Wilfrid Laurier University
• Collaborator with the Facility for Biogeochemical Research on Environmental Change and the Cryosphere (FaBRECC) at Queen’s University
   

Data

• Lake surface temperature and bathymetry in subarctic shield lakes (https://reseclabmap.ca/)
   

Media

Lakes near Yellowknife contaminated with arsenic, mercury years after mine closing – Globe and Mail

Yellowknife garden produce safe to eat, contains more nutrients, say researchers – CBC News

Research shows humans, not geology, source of high arsenic levels in Yellowknife – CBC

Study unearths new assessment of arsenic in Yellowknife soil – CABIN RADIO

Significant Contributions

• Palmer, M.J., Richardson, M., Chételat, J., Spence, C., Connon, R., Jamieson, H.E. 2024. Watershed hydrology mediates the recovery of an arsenic impacted subarctic landscape. Environmental Pollution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124480

• Chételat, J., Palmer, M.J., Paudyn, K., Jamieson, H.E., Amyot, M., Harris, R., Hesslein, R., Pelletier, N., Peraza, I. 2023. Remobilization of legacy arsenic from sediment in a large subarctic waterbody impacted by gold mining.  Journal of Hazardous Materials. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131230.

• Rafat, A., Kheyrollah Pour, H., Spence, C., Palmer, M.J., Maclean, A. 2023. An analysis of real-time ice growth and temperature dynamics in two Canadian subarctic lakes. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 210. doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2023.103808

• Paudyn, K.A., Jamieson, H.E., Chetelat, J., Schuh, C.E., Palmer, M.J., McHale, S. 2023. Geogenic, anthropogenic, and authigenic minerals hosting arsenic and antimony in Yellowknife Bay sediments.  The Canadian Mineralogist, 61.

• Astles, B.C., Chételat, J., Palmer, M.J., Vermaire, J.C. 2022.  Short-term warming had little effect on arsenic flux from contaminated sediments of two well-oxygenated subarctic lakes.  PLOS ONE, 17(12).  doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279412.

• Amyot, M., Bélanger, D., Simon, D., Chételat, J., Palmer, M.J., Parisa, A.  2021.  Photooxidation of arsenic in pristine and mine-impacted Canadian subarctic freshwater systems. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances.

• Sivarajah, B., Simmatis, B., Favot, E.J., Palmer, M.J., Smol, J.P. 2021. Eutrophication and climate warming lead to unprecedented cyanobacterial blooms in a Canadian subarctic lake.  Harmful Algae. 

• Palmer, M.J., Radkovà, A, Jamieson, H.E., Maitland, K., Oliver, J., Falck, H., and Richardson, M.  2021. Mineralogical, geospatial, and statistical methods combined to estimate geochemical background of arsenic in soils for an area impacted by legacy mining pollution. Science of the Total Environment. In Press.
• Pelletier, N., Chételat, J., Palmer, M.J., Vermaire, J.C. 2021. Bog and lake sediment archives reveal a lagged response of subarctic lakes to diminishing atmospheric Hg and Pb deposition. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145521

• Palmer, M.J., Chételat, J., Jamieson, H.E., Richardson, M., Amyot, M. Hydrologic control on winter dissolved oxygen mediates arsenic cycling in a small subarctic lake.

  Limnology and Oceanography, 2020

• Palmer, M.J., Chételat, J., Richardson, M., Jamieson, H.E., Galloway, J.  2019.  Seasonal variation of arsenic and antimony in surface waters of small subarctic lakes impacted by legacy mining pollution near Yellowknife, NT, Canada.  Science of the Total Environment, 684: 326-339.
• Schuh, C.E., Jamieson, H.E., Palmer, M.J., Martin, A.J., and Blais.  2019.  Controls governing the spatial distribution of arsenic concentrations and solid-phase speciation in a lake impacted by legacy mining pollution.  Science of the Total Environment, 654: 563-575. 
• Jamieson, H.E., Maitland, K., Oliver, J., Palmer, M.J. 2017.  Regional distribution of arsenic in near-surface soils in the Yellowknife area.  NWT Geological Survey Open File 2017-03. 37p.
• Kokelj, S.V., Palmer, M.J., Lantz, T.C., Burn, C.R. 2017.  Ground temperatures and permafrost warming from forest to tundra, Tuktoyaktuk coastlands and Anderson Plain, NWT, Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes.
• Korosi, J.B., Eickmeyer, D.C., Thienpont, J.R., Palmer, M.J., Kimpe, L., Blais, J.M. 2016.  Assessing the contribution of combustion-derived contaminants to a remote subarctic environment from traffic on the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road (Northwest Territories, Canada), Science of the Total Environment, 553:96-106.
• Palmer, M.J., Galloway, J.E., Jamieson, H.E., Patterson, R.T., Falck, H., Kokelj, S.V. 2015.  The concentration of arsenic in Yellowknife area lakes.  NWT Geological Survey Open File 2015-06. 25 p.

Personal information

Hi there, my name is Hosai Ayoubi, and I am completing my fourth year in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, at Aurora College, Yellowknife. I have grown up in the North all my life, and I am interested to see how the findings of research can be applied to the North. My journey as a Nursing student has led to my interest and passion for research; I appreciate how dynamic research can be as it is an evolving body of knowledge, that shares new insight, perspective, and ideas for improving practices.

Skills and expertise

I am confident in my research skills regarding transcription, literature and policy searches, data extraction, data analysis, and interviews. Some of my other strengths include time management, organization, interpersonal skills, and motivation.

List of current projects

I have had the opportunity to work as a research assistant for the following projects: Breastfeeding in the NWT, Emergency Protective Orders, and Family Violence. All of which have been managed by the Aurora Research Institute and lead by Dr. Pertice Moffitt.