Lakehead Professor Hosts Prince Albert II of Monaco in Eastern Canadian Arctic
Dr. Chris Southcott, left, hosts Prince Albert of Monaco II in the Eastern Canadian Arctic.
(October 5, 2012 " Thunder Bay, ON)
Lakehead University sociology professor Dr. Chris Southcott recently hosted Prince Albert II of Monaco during the Prince's visit to the Northern communities of Iqaluit in Nunavut and Kuujjuaq in Northern Quebec as part of University of the Arctic (www.uarctic.org).
University of the Arctic is a network of universities, colleges, research institutes and other organizations located across the Circumpolar North"which Lakehead is a founding member.
"Prince Albert and his Foundation are amazing to work with," Dr. Southcott says. "They are extremely knowledgeable about what is going on in the Arctic and truly committed to sustainability in the region."
Prince Albert II has strong links to the Arctic. His namesake, Prince Albert I of Monaco, was one of the earliest scientists to study the Arctic and work on conservation in the region.
In 2006, Prince Albert II created the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to fund research on the environment and sustainability"especially in the Polar Regions. The Foundation is currently funding the north2north student exchange program at the University of the Arctic (UArctic) to allow indigenous students from different Arctic regions to share experiences on environmental change and sustainability. Lakehead University hosts the Canadian office of this program.
Dr. Southcott has been working with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation since 2009 as part of the UArctic's Knowledge and Dialogue, an initiative linking northern researchers, communities, and international funding agencies around the activities of the University of the Arctic. Southcott is the lead researcher in three major projects in the Canadian Arctic, including Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic, the largest social science research project ever undertaken in the Circumpolar North.
MORE ABOUT LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY's DR. CHRIS SOUTHCOTT
Chris Southcott is in charge of the Knowledge and Dialogue programs of the University of the Arctic and is Chair of the Research Outreach Program.
Raised in Thunder Bay, as a researcher he has been involved in community-based research in the Circumpolar North for over 26 years. During this time he has published over 100 scientific reports, books, book chapters, and articles dealing with social and economic change in Northern Canada and the rest of the circumpolar world.
Over the past 10 years he has led several major Canadian and international research initiatives dealing with social and economic development in northern regions. In 2001 and 2002 he successfully led a team of 12 international social scientists in the first attempt to produce circumpolar social science curriculum material for the University of the Arctic. In 2004 he was chosen to be the lead author for the International Conference on Arctic Research Planning's Report on Research Outreach (Science Plan 11).
In 2006 Dr. Southcott was awarded a major SSHRC grant involving 35 researchers and 20 community partners to examine ways that community-based organizations in Northern Canada could better ensure sustainable development in the region. This led to the establishment of the Social Economy Research Network for Northern Canada for which he currently serves as Chair and Research Director. Also in 2006 he was awarded a grant to lead Canadian participation in the European Science Foundation-lead Boreas project dealing with migration in the Circumpolar North.
In 2009 he was chosen by UNESCO to represent Canadian social science in their International Experts project on Sustainable Development and Climate Change in the Arctic which took place in Monaco in March, 2009. He is currently the principal investigator for an international project popularly known as the ReSDA (Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic). Its mandate is to develop ways to ensure that a larger share of the resource development benefits stay in the region for the people of North with fewer costs to communities.
For more information about Dr. Southcott, visit his Lakehead biography web page.
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Dr. Southcott is available for interviews in person or over the phone. For more information, please contact Brandon Walker, Media Relations Officer, at (807) 343-8177 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for a multidisciplinary teaching approach that emphasizes collaborative learning and independent critical thinking. More than 8,700 students and 1,850 faculty and staff learn and work at campuses located in Orillia, and Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Lakehead University promotes innovative research that supports local and regional socio-economic needs. In Orillia, development continues on building a campus that meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) standards.