Episode 39: Caribou conservation. Guided by Inuinnait and the Killinikmiut Tukuit

Andrea Hanke is a researcher with a PhD in veterinary medicine, specializing in community-based wildlife co-management with Inuit communities. Their work focuses on integrating Inuit knowledge into wildlife management decisions, particularly concerning caribou, and involves close collaboration with Hunters and Trappers Organizations (HTOs). Andrea's contributions include authoring a book of elders' stories about caribou well-being, designed to make Inuit knowledge accessible to communities and decision-makers. They also articulate the concept of "icky feelings," a manifestation of cognitive dissonance, as a tool for individuals to navigate and manage discomfort in intercultural settings to foster better teamwork. Andrea's research highlights the importance of incorporating diverse ways of knowing, challenging Western-centric assumptions within approaches like One Health, and emphasizing that health is culturally mediated. They ensure their published work is open access, promoting accessibility of research findings.Resources:Caribou Conservation Guided, Enacted, and Embodied by Inuinnait and the Killinikmiut Tuktuithttps://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/46387Supporting Inuit food sovereignty through collaborative research of an at-risk caribou herdhttps://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1306521A Caribou Decline Foreshadowed by Inuit in the Central Canadian Arctic: A Retrospective Analysishttps://doi.org/10.14430/arctic73826