The Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) in partnership with Breakthrough T1D have awarded a $125,000 grant to co-leads Dr. Liris Smith, Assistant Professor and Health Research Chair at Yukon University (YukonU), and Dr. Marney Paradis, Chair of the Yukon Type 1 Diabetes Support Network.

The knowledge mobilization grant will provide the research team the opportunity to examine how Yukoners manage Type 1 diabetes from patient and provider perspectives. The goal is to describe the experiences of primary care providers and to improve overall care for Yukoners living with T1D, understanding that the needs of the community are unique with limited access to care especially in rural communities.

Students graduating with a diploma from Yukon University's Earth Sciences program can now easily complete their Bachelor of Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Thanks to a new articulation agreement between the two universities, YukonU Earth Sciences students can transfer all courses in a standard course progression to Acadia and apply to enter directly into third year of either Geology or Environmental Geoscience.

YukonU’s Earth Sciences program uses Yukon’s dynamic environment as a laboratory to deliver the first two years of a B.Sc. geoscience degree. Instruction draws heavily upon the diverse geologic landscapes at the university’s doorstep, and partnerships with industry provide meaningful experiential learning opportunities. Graduates are positioned to play critical roles, from stewarding groundwater resources to meeting mineral and energy resource needs within the context of a rapidly changing environment.

Brad Beaumont spent 12 years in Watson Lake teaching computer classes part-time at Yukon University (then Yukon College) before transferring to Faro in 2002. He hadn’t really thought about living in the small Yukon community, but after spending nearly 22 years in Faro, he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. “I'm so glad I came to Faro,” he says. “I’m a part of this community, and people don't care what you know until they know that you care.”

When reflecting on his experience, Beaumont is proud of the mark he’s left on the community campus, which includes setting up a country kitchen where people can have coffee and visit. It’s how he builds relationships with the community – by visiting and talking – and based on these personal interactions, Beaumont finds out what people are interested in.

Physical activity impacts overall health and wellbeing, and when it comes to Indigenous health, not much is known about older Métis adults and their experience with physical activity and healthy aging.

Assistant Professor and Health Research Chair at Yukon University, Dr. Liris Smith, completed her PhD work, which considered the experiences of Indigenous populations and physical activity to understand gaps and support overall population health. Her study was co-created with 12 Métis adults in Sakitawak (Île-à-la-Crosse) Saskatchewan using a participatory action approach.

The University of the Arctic’s (UArctic) north2north mobility program offers students, faculty and staff exchange opportunities with participating institutions across the north.

Yukon University (YukonU) is a member of the program and welcomed two students for the fall 2024 semester – Juuso Korhonen, Energy Engineering at Savonia University of Applied Sciences, and Amandus Gustafsson, Masters of Swedish and General Literature, Stockholm University.

Though they come from different countries, the pair have become fast friends in the four months since arriving in the Yukon. They explored the land by long distance trail running and spent a good chunk of their time outdoors. “I really enjoy the nature here,” says Korhonen. “We’ve been running so much – like pretty much every trail around the university.”