Maggie Chu, BA International Studies; BA Political Science; minor, Asian Language and Culture ‘14
The Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS), University of Calgary
Calgary, Canada
Maggie Chu was a research intern for Dr. Rob Huebert, Associate Director of CMSS at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Huebert assigned an independent research topic to Maggie based on her expertise and interests. Her area of study/interest is on Asia, Chinese politics and international relations, so Dr. Huebert asked her to research China’s Arctic policy and economic interests in the Arctic region. Because of her Chinese linguistic skills, Dr. Huebert requested a closer look at Chinese news sources and government publications. In addition to her research, Maggie had the chance to experience the culture of Calgary. Maggie says, “Some notable things about Calgary—it is very diverse, and festivals are pretty common. During my stay, I got to experience the annual Calgary Stampede (due to a large cowboy culture), Latin Festival, Chinese Festival, and various other events.”
Maggie Grundler, BS Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; minor, Oceanography; minor, French ‘15
Labrador Institute
Labrador, Canada
Maggie Grundler worked on many diverse projects during her internship with the Labrador Institute. She wrote a literature review for the Torngat Secretariat which is the implementation agent for the Torngat Joint Fisheries Board and the Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board, two Institutions of Public Government functioning in conservation, created from the 2005 Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement. The focus of her report was the identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas within the Nunatsiavut Land Claim, an area of Labrador that the Secretariat is looking to protect where needed.
Maggie also participated in a night of field work for a study investigating native bat populations. Spreading across the earth is a disease fatal to bats known as White Nose Syndrome, and a researcher at the Department of Environment and Conservation is monitoring populations in Labrador for signs of sickness. Additionally, Maggie assisted workers from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and long-time Rigolet residents for a week of fish tagging, deploying and checking gill nets in search of Atlantic salmon. The project aimed to provide information regarding the routes of these species, in hopes of establishing a counting fence as a means of monitoring salmon stocks
Maggie says, “Thanks to the many opportunities provided to me through the Labrador Institute, my internship spent in Labrador has been an incredible opportunity. I have come to know both the environment and the culture in this land with a profound appreciation, though I feel I have barely scratched the surface of such a unique and brilliant place. Multiple field excursions, in addition to weekends and evenings spent exploring on my own, have introduced me not only to the wild and soaring landscape of the province, but also to the many different communities residing within it.”
Armani Hawes, BA Public Policy ‘15
Labrador Institute
Labrador, Canada
Armani Hawes worked with the Mokami Status of Women Council on an assessment of needs and service gaps for women in the region.
This women’s center is an equality seeking feminist organization that links women by sharing ideas, resources, skills, experience and knowledge. They operate several projects including drop-in services and planned programming, a thrift shop, and a new supportive housing project. She worked on developing briefs detailing the services in Canada for women and aboriginal populations. The bulk of her work involved researching current programs and what the area was lacking. She put together briefs of programs for women categorized by region, services, programs, and populations. She also developed a list of potential partners with which the organization can collaborate. Additionally, she researched grants and other fundraising opportunities for the women’s center. Armani organized these into a document with websites, contact information, deadlines, and grant requirements. Finally, she developed a volunteer package for the center to attract community helpers.
Armani says, “Overall, I had an excellent experience in Goose Bay. I was lucky enough to travel around the town and see plenty of wildlife. It is a beautiful area and the people are some of the nicest I’ve met. Thank you very much for this amazing opportunity.”
Brittany Jones, BA Public Policy ‘14
The Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS), University of Calgary
Calgary, Canada
Brittany Jones interned for Dr. Rob Huebert, Associate Director of CMSS at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. She was responsible for creating an index of documents collected by Dr. Huebert, for transcribing the index into a bibliography for the Arctic Institute, and for researching the activity of Russian submarines post World War II.
Brittany says, “PICS, thank you for the opportunity to research arctic security at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. I truly appreciate each experience I had and each person I was able to meet. Without PICS advertising this opportunity and financial support it would not have been possible for me to have spent my summer abroad.”
Salima Sewani, BS Neuroscience; minor, Community Action and Social Change ‘14
Inuit Circumpolar Council
Anchorage, Alaska
Salima Sewani had the opportunity to intern for the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Anchorage. She worked with the Traditional Knowledge/Science Advisor, assisting on a research project surrounding Inuit food security. This project aimed to build a framework to assess food security from an Inuit perspective. Food security definitions and assessment mechanisms do not match the Inuit population’s connection with the animals in the environment. As many changes are taking place within the Arctic, such as climate change and industrialization, food insecurity is becoming a major problem.
Within this project, she worked on finding a correlation between regulations on subsistence hunting and fishing and mental health issues. This topic was of particular interest due to the high suicide rates and prevalence of alcohol abuse among 15-24 year olds. Traditionally, the youth makes the transition to adulthood after getting a regular catch or cooking and preparing the catch. However, due to the lack of accessibility resulting from increased regulations and modernization, this traditional transition has fundamentally changed. A different transition period has been created by wage-labor that presents specific problems. The youth cannot identify with the traditional lifestyle, leading to feelings of alienation and lack of belonging. Salima developed this correlation by reading interviews conducted with elders of different Inuit communities and researching similar projects in various Native groups. This experience was extremely valuable to Salima because it allowed her to learn about the challenges the Inuit face in maintaining their traditional lifestyle.
Salima says, “Overall, this was an incredible opportunity that not only taught me about the struggles of a different group of people and challenged me to look at food and health from a different perspective, but also provided me with a unique intercultural experience. I was eager to start work every day because of the immense amount of thought-provoking information I constantly learned. Everything I have learned through this internship has empowered me to pursue policy and advocacy work.”
Salima Sewani’s research was recognized in the Spring 2014 LSA Alumni Magazine: “Off the Grid”.
