NCP Funded Projects (2018-2019)

There are around 60 projects funded under the Northern Contaminants Program for the 2018-2019 year, with allocated funding support of roughly $4.1 million. These projects were subject to a comprehensive technical, peer, and northern social/cultural review process. This process ensures that each project supports the priorities and objectives of the Northern Contaminants Program, as outlined in the NCP blueprints and annual call for proposals. Consultation with northern community authorities and/or Indigenous organizations is required for all projects involving field work in the North and/or analyses of samples.

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Human Health
Project Title Project leader(s) Funding Awarded

Yukon Contaminant Biomonitoring: Old Crow

Brian Laird (University of Waterloo)

$181,016

Exposure to Food Chain Contaminants in Nunavik: Biomonitoring in Adult and Youth Cohorts of the Qanuilirpitaa Survey (Year 2)

Pierre Ayotte (Université Laval) and Mélanie Lemire (Université Laval)

$454,308

Exposure to Food Chain Contaminants in Nunavik: Evaluating Spatial and Time Trends among Pregnant Women & Implementing Effective Health Communication for Healthy Pregnancies and Children (Year 3 of 4)

Chris Furgal (Trent University) and Mélanie Lemire and Pierre Ayotte (Université Laval), and Catherine Pirkle (University of Hawai’i at Manoa)

$74,750

Contaminant Biomonitoring in the Northwest Territories Mackenzie Valley: Investigating the Links Between Contaminant Exposure, Nutritional Status, and Country Food Use (Year 4)

Brian Laird (University of Waterloo)

$194,258

Total Funding Awarded to Human Health projects: $904,332

 

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Community-Based Monitoring and Research
Project Title Project leader(s) Funding Awarded

Understanding Fish Mercury Concentrations in Dehcho Lakes

George Low (Dehcho First Nations) and Heidi Swanson (University of Waterloo)

$33,600

Community-Based Monitoring of Arctic Char in Nunatsiavut: Increasing Capacity, Building Knowledge

Rodd Laing (Nunatsiavut Government), Derek Muir and Jane Kirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$6,140

Contaminants in Traditional Foods of the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation

Dawna Hope (First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun)

$29,946

Tłı̨chǫ Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring Program (TAEMP)

Jody Pellissey (Wek’èezhìi Renewable Resources Board)

$22,370*

Expanding Community-Based Monitoring of Contaminants Concentrations in Marine Country Food Used by Mittimatalingmiut: Science and Local Knowledge Assessing the Risks to Human Health in Pond Inlet

James Simonee (community-based researcher in Pond Inlet)

$67,833*

Mobilizing Inuit Knowledge and Land Use Observations to Assess Ecosystem Trends and Processes Affecting Contaminants

Joel Heath and Lucassie Arragutianaq (The Arctic Eider Society)

$15,640

Contaminants in Traditional Food in the White River First Nation Territory

Ray Sabo (White River First Nation)

$33,516

Traditional Foods Contaminant Monitoring Program

Anna Schmidt (Taku River Tlingit First Nation)

$29,562*

Community Monitoring of Plastic Pollution in Wild Food and Environments in Nunatsiavut

Max Liboiron (Memorial University of Newfoundland) and Liz Pijogge (Nunatsiavut Government)

$32,607*

Contaminant Monitoring and Community Interests in the Lower Northwest Passage

James Qitsualik (Gjoa Haven Hunters and Trappers Association) and Virginia K. Walker (Queen’s University)

$13,985

Sources of Methylmercury, Perfluoroalkyl Substances, and Polychlorinated Biphenyls to Ringed Seal Food Webs of Lake Melville, Northern Labrador

Jane Kirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada) and Liz Pijogge (Nunatsiavut Government)

$37,315

Mercury in Yukon Fish

Heidi Swanson (University of Waterloo) and Mary Gamberg (Gamberg Consulting)

$21,413

Total Funding Awarded to Community-Based Monitoring and Research Projects: $343,927

 

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Environmental Monitoring and Research
Project Title Project leader(s) Funding Awarded

Northern Contaminants Air Monitoring: Organic Pollutant Measurements

Hayley Hung (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$199,511

Air Measurements of Mercury at Alert, Nunavut and Little Fox Lake, Yukon

Alexandra Steffen (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$113,200

Passive Air Sampling Network for Organic Pollutants and Mercury

Hayley Hung and Alexandra Steffen (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$42,877

Temporal Trends of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Metals in Ringed Seals from the Canadian Arctic

Magali Houde and Derek Muir (Environment and Climate Change Canada), and Steve Ferguson (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

$77,430

Temporal and Spatial Trends of Legacy and Emerging Organic and Metal/Element Contaminants in Canadian Polar Bears

Robert Letcher (Environment and Climate Change Canada and Carleton University) and Markus Dyck (Government of Nunavut)

$33,225

Temporal Trends of Mercury and Halogenated Organic Compounds (Legacy and Emerging) in Three Beluga Populations Landed at Hendrickson Island NT, Sanikiluaq NU and Pangnirtung NU.

Lisa Loseto, Steve Ferguson, and Courtney Watt (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

$66,115

Temporal Trends of Contaminants in Arctic Seabird Eggs

Birgit Braune (Environment and Climate Change Canada, Carleton University) and Phil Thomas (Environment and Climate Change Canada, Carleton University)

$74,430

Temporal Trends and Spatial Variations in Mercury in Sea-Run Arctic Char from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Marlene Evans and Derek Muir (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$13,600

Temporal Trends of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Mercury in Landlocked Char in the High Arctic

Derek Muir and Jane Kirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada), and Günter Köck (Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies)

$35,700

Spatial and Long-Term Trends in Persistent Organic Contaminants and Metals in Lake Trout and Burbot from the Northwest Territories

Marlene Evans and Derek Muir (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$29,450

Temporal Trend Studies of Trace Metals and Halogenated Organic Contaminants (Hocs), Including New and Emerging Persistent Compounds, in Mackenzie River Burbot, Fort Good Hope, NWT

Gary Stern (University of Manitoba)

$20,171

Long Term Trends of Halogenated Organic Contaminants and Metals in Lake Trout from Two Yukon Lakes: Kusawa and Laberge

Mary Gamberg (Gamberg Consulting)

$45,386

Arctic Caribou Contaminant Monitoring Program

Mary Gamberg (Gamberg Consulting)

$85,827

Community Based Seawater Monitoring for Organic Contaminants and Mercury in the Canadian Arctic

Derek Muir, Amila DeSilva, and Jane Kirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada), and Rainer Lohmann (University Rhode Island)

$39,710

Assessing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Canadian Arctic Air and Water as an Entry Point into the Arctic Food Chain

Liisa Jantunen (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$33,575

Climate Change, Contaminants, Ecotoxicology: Interactions in Arctic Seabirds at their Southern Range Limits

Kyle Elliott (McGill University) and Kim Fernie (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$34,025

Plastics as a Vector of Contaminants to Arctic Seabird Tissues and Eggs

Mark Mallory and Jennifer Provencher (Acadia University) and Amila De Silva (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

$4,600

A Comparative Assessment of Relationships Between Priority Contaminants and Metabolomic Profiles in Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) and Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida) Prey from Canadian High Arctic and Hudson Bay Locations

Adam Morris and Robert Letcher (Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Carleton University)

$37,260

Seabirds as a Vector and Concentrators of Microplastics in Arctic Ecosystems

Mark Mallory and Jennifer Provencher (Acadia University)

$20,901

Wastewater as a Point-Source of Priority Contaminants in the Arctic: A Case Study in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Charles S. Wong (University of Winnipeg)

$32,114

Snowpack Mercury Mass Balance over the Spring Melt Period, Iqaluit, NU

Murray Richardson (Carleton University)

$45,943

Temporal Trends of Emerging Pollutant and Mercury Deposition through Ice and Sediment Core Sampling

Cora Young (York University), Alison Criscitiello (University of Alberta), Amila De Silva and Jane Kirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada), and Igor Lehnherr (University of Toronto-Mississauga

$49,200

Total Funding Awarded to Environmental Monitoring and Research Projects: $1,134,250

 

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Communications, Capacity and Outreach
Project Title Project leader(s) Funding Awarded

Yukon Contaminants Committee (YCC)

Ellen Sedlack (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) and James MacDonald (Council of Yukon First Nations)

$23,050

NWT Regional Contaminants Committee (NWTRCC)

Emma Pike (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada-- NWT), Tim Heron (NWT Metis Nation), Shannon O'Hara (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)

$151,050

Nunavut Environmental Contaminants Committee (NECC)

Jean Allen (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada), Andrew Dunford (Nunavut Tungavik Inc.)

$70,825*

Nunavik Nutrition and Health Committee (NNHC): Coordinating and Learning from Contaminants Research in Nunavik

Kitty Gordon (Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services)

$116,725

Northern Contaminants Researcher (NCR)

Liz Pijogge (Nunatsiavut Government)

$46,004

Coordination, Participation and Communication: Evolving Inuit Research Advisor Responsibilities in Nunatsiavut for the Benefit of Inuit and their Communities

Carla Pamak (Nunatsiavut Government)

$33,750*

Inuit Research Advisor for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Shannon O'Hara (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)

$61,963*

Nunavik Inuit Research Advisor: Environmental, Health and Climate Change Research in Nunavik

Markusi Qisiiq and Michael Barrett (Kativik Regional Government)

$60,375*

Wildlife Contaminants Workshop – Building Contaminants Research Capacity in Nunavut

James Shirley (Nunavut Research Institute), Jason Carpenter (Nunavut Arctic College), Mary Gamberg (Gamberg Consulting) and Jennifer Provencher (Acadia University)

$56,912

Learning about Ringed Seal Health from Contaminants Science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: An Educational Workshop in Arviat, Nunavut

Dominique Henri and Magali Houde (Environment and Climate Change Canada), and Jennifer Provencher (Acadia University)

$28,600*

 

Regional NCP Workshop in Arviat

Amie Black(Environment and Climate Change Canada) and Jennifer Provencher (Acadia University)

$28,265*

Total Funding Awarded to Communications, Capacity and Outreach Projects: $705,784

 

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Program Coordination and Indigenous Partnerships
Project Title Project leader(s) Funding Awarded

Coordination and Administration of the Northern Contaminants Program, 2018-2019

Sarah Kalhok (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada)

$542,795

  • Polar Data Catalogue ($86,825)

Ellsworth LeDrew (University of Waterloo)

  • NCP Publications Database ($37,835)

Shannon Christoffersen (Arctic Institute of North America)

  • NCP and AMAP Interlaboratory Study ($90,500)

Harold Malle (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

  • Modelling the effects of climate change on the temporal trends of contaminants ($26,250)

Robert Letcher and Adam Morris (Environment and Climate Change Canada and Carleton University)

International Action to Reduce the Long-range Transport of Contaminants to the Arctic

Sarah Kalhok (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada)

$200,000

  • Canada’s support to the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme ($180,000)

Rolf Rødven and Simon Wilson (AMAP Secretariat)

  • Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling Network in support of Global Monitoring Plan (Effectiveness Evaluation) of the Stockholm Convention on POPs ($10,000)

Tom Harner (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Council of Yukon First Nations Participation in the Northern Contaminants Program

James MacDonald (Council of Yukon First Nations)

$37,375

Dene Nation Participation in the Northern Contaminants Program

Trevor Teed (Dene Nation)

$51,227

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami National Coordination

Eric Loring (Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami)

$182,114

Inuit Circumpolar Council – Canada: Activities in Support of Circumpolar and Global Contaminant Instruments and Activities

Eva Kruemmel (Inuit Circumpolar Council-Canada)

$178,538

Total Funding Awarded to Program Coordination and Indigenous Partnerships Projects: $1,192,049

 

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* This project is funded jointly through the Northern Contaminants Program and the Indigenous Community-Based Climate Monitoring Program.