Megan Sheremata

I am a PhD Candidate in environmental science at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and am co-supervised by Dr. William Gough and Dr. Gita Ljubicic. I study Inuit knowledge of the cumulative impacts of environmental change on sea ice and salinity, and the associated effects on wildlife and Inuit land-users. My work has a strong focus on ethical principles and Inuit self-determination in research.

I was born and raised in Montréal, Québec, Canada. As a mid-career PhD student, I spent much of my career outside of the Arctic. I have worked in environmental management and applied research in developing countries, the Canadian sub-Arctic, and in inner-city communities of New York City. A common theme to this work has been to connect communities with the natural sciences and decision-makers so that community needs can be meaningfully addressed in research and policy.

One reason why I wanted to do research in the circumpolar north is because of the degree to which Indigenous communities in the Arctic are shaping how research is being conducted on their traditional lands. I believe people from across the globe can learn from the ways in which Inuit and Sámi peoples have asserted their interests and priorities in research and environmental governance. I aim to contribute to the growing body of Inuit-led research in support of the communities I collaborate with, which are at the front-lines of environmental change.

You can follow me on Twitter: @MSheremata.

Also you can read more about my research at sheremata.wordpress.com and I can be reached by email at megan.sheremata@utoronto.ca.

Some of my recent research contributions include:

Sheremata, Megan. (2018). “Listening to relational values in the era of rapid environmental change in the Inuit Nunangat.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. (35): 75-81.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2018.10.017

Sheremata, Megan, Lucassie Arragutainaq, Peter Paul Cookie, Annie Novalinga, Perty Tookalook, Aali Naluktaruk, Joel Heath, Gita Ljubicic, and William Gough. (2017). “Fifty years of change: Inuit observations of the cumulative impacts of environmental change in eastern Hudson Bay.”* Poster presented at the Arctic Change International Scientific Meeting (Arctic Net), Québec City, Québec, Dec 12–17. *Received the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami ‘Inuit Partnership of Excellence Award’ 

Sheremata, Megan, J.S. Tsuji, and W.A. Gough. (2016). “Collaborative uses of geospatial technology for climate change adaptation: lessons from experiences with Indigenous communities of the circumpolar north.” In: Imperatore, P. and Pepe, A. Eds. Geospatial Technology – Environmental and Social Applications, Rijeka: In Tech, 197-215. DOI: 10.5772/64214

My research was also featured in an article that appeared in Canadian Geographic in 2018.

Bennett, John. (2018). “How Changing Sea Ice is also Changing Lives in the North.” Canadian Geographic, 17 January 2018. https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/how-changing-sea-ice-also-changing-lives-north.