Residents of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon are living on the frontline of climate change, witnessing dramatic landscape changes in the Arctic due to rising temperatures.

Under the leadership of Dana Tizya-Tramm, Chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government, Yukon was the first Indigenous community to draft a climate change emergency declaration, Yeendoo Diinehdoo Ji’heezrit Nits’oo Ts’o’ Nan He’aa (or After Our Time, How Will the World Be?) in 2019.

Brock University Associate Professor in Geography and Tourism Studies Kevin Turner is very familiar with the dramatic response of the landscape to climate change on the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

Researching the area of Old Crow, Yukon, for over a decade, he continues to monitor landscape changes including landslides, vegetation change, lake drainage and fire. His research integrates chemical analyses of water and sediment to evaluate impacts of changing landscape features on lakes and rivers.

Turner, who is Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Arctic Studies at the University of Washington, will be sitting down with Chief Tizya-Tramm for a “fireside chat” hosted by the World Affairs Council at a virtual public lecture Tuesday, Feb. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m.

Turner and Tizya-Tramm will discuss emerging issues and priorities identified by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in the face of global challenges.

Diverse topics will include efforts to conserve the Porcupine Caribou Herd, adjustments during a pandemic, and pathways for unifying traditional insight of changing climate and landscapes with ongoing science-based monitoring approaches.

“I’m looking forward to it, and in particular discussions of bringing together science-based research and traditional knowledge for the benefits of those most influenced by climate change,” says Turner.

For more information and to register, click here.