Canada’s Changing Arctic:
Walking on Thin Ice
**REGISTRATION IS CLOSED**
Both events are open to the public, faculty and students
The Arctic is one of Canada’s iconic landscapes and has served as the backdrop for key events that have shaped Canada’s history, including the search for the fabled Northwest Passage and the ill-fated Franklin expedition, even lending one of its place names to Canada’s original megacorporation, The Hudson Bay’s Company. Crucially for Canadians today, the Arctic is once again at the center of many issues that will shape the future of our nation, including climate change, sovereignty and natural resource exploitation, among others. Therefore, the time is right to have a dialogue over these issues, particularly as the expertise required to address current Arctic issues spans a wide range of academic disciplines that traditionally may not work together or even exchange ideas.
A multidisciplinary group of departments at the University of Toronto Mississauga, led by the Department of Geography, are hosting this event aimed at exploring many of the pressing issues relating to Canada’s Arctic as part of UTM’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. The event will begin with an evening public lecture (Sept. 21) on the discovery of the lost Franklin Expedition shipwrecks, followed by a one-day symposium featuring presentations by leading experts on a variety of issues affecting Canada’s Arctic, including polar bear conservation, Arctic sovereignty, and climate change impacts on Arctic ecosystems and people. The organizers hope to promote this event to faculty, staff, students and alumni at UTM, other branches of U of T and community members in Mississauga and the GTHA are invited to participate and attend this event marking UTM’s 50th anniversary.
Featured speakers

Prof. John England
University of Alberta
Talk Title: Investigating Arctic environmental change: the journey from understanding to action in all that we do – the I , the You & the We
John England is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta. His scientific contributions result from 50 years of fieldwork across Canada's Arctic Archipelago documenting the nature of environmental change spanning Ice Age to present.<read more...>

Shylah Elliott
Health Policy Analyst, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
Talk Title: Collaborating to Improve Food Security in Nunavut
Shylah Elliott has been working in social and Indigenous advocacy for the majority of her professional career. For the past 5 years, she has been employed as a Health Policy Analyst with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), which holds the responsibility of ensuring the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is implemented fully by all levels of Government and that all parties fulfill their obligations. <read more...>

Prof. Robert Park
Professor of Anthropology and
Associate Dean of Arts
University of Waterloo
Talk Title: Explorers on Ice: The Last Mysteries of Sir John Franklin’s Third Arctic Expedition
Prof. Robert Park is an archeological anthropologist specializing in Arctic cultures; he played a crucial role in the recent discovery in the Northwest Passage of the shipwrecks from the lost Franklin Expedition.<read more...>

Dr. Ian Stirling
Canadian Wildlife Service and University of Alberta
Talk Title: The Natural History of Polar Bears and the Threat of Climate Warming
Dr. Ian Stirling is one of the world’s leading experts on polar bear ecology; for his tremendous contributions to Arctic research he has been awarded the Weston Lifetime Achievement Award in Northern Research as well as being named an Officer of the Order of Canada.<read more...>

Prof. Shelagh Grant
Trent University
Talk Title: Arctic Sovereignty and the Relevance of History
Prof. Shelagh Grant is the author of two award winning books: Arctic Justice: On Trial for Murder, Pond Inlet – 1923 and more recently, Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America. Now retired after 19 years teaching part time at Trent University, she still gives guest lectures and assists graduate students in their research. <read more...>