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HURRY IN Sale ends Nov. 27 Flooring Area Rugs Paint Window Coverings Janitorial Supplies interior design headquarters By CRAIG GILBERT Surrounded by local elders Ontario farm boy hunter-trapper-angler and biologist Phillippe Thomas stands in a party tent in a remote Northern community and turns an- other muskrat inside out. They could be gathered in any one of 10 villages or hamlets in the oilsands region of Alberta or upwards of 30 Northwest Territo- ries communities he has brought his work to in the past three years measuring contami- nant levels in furbearing animals. Organizations Thomas is associated with include Environment Canadas Joint Oil Sands Monitoring Program and the Stra- tegic Partnership Initiative SPI the Slave Watershed Environmental Effects Program SWEEP run out of Dr. Paul Jones shop at the University of Saskatchewan and the Peace Athabasca Ecological Monitoring Program to name a few. The only member of a family who left the dairy farm to pursue another career Thomas is aware that he knows not nearly enough to waltz into the Slave River watershed and do good science without help from the people who for generations have been harvesting the animals he is interested in. I just cant stress enough the importance of including traditional knowledge in some of the science we do he said. As scientists we dont know everything. This is where working with a lot of the elders and putting yourself in their shoes and living their life has value. Traditional knowledge is a database of infor- mation allowing us to determine how nor- mal is normal What constitutes a change Thomas said he stays with families not in motels and eats traditional foods when he is in the eld. He returned to his Ottawa base from his most recent trip North about three weeks ago and plans to be back in February. HecreditstheUniversityofNorthernBritish Columbia where he earned his graduate de- gree for his inclusive worldview. He said First Nations have strong inuence on the curricu- lum there which requires students to take a qualitativesciencecoursethattrainsthemhow to talk about their research in plain language. Being inclusive I think makes for stronger science and more relevance trying to answer questions people care about Thomas said. Its fun to write papers and get published but I think its really important and to me its the most rewarding part just being able to address some concerns that communities have on the wellbeing of the wildlife or the water that they drink. I think we cant do that alone. We need to do it with the communi- ties involved and committed. The research involves strong collaborations with the Alberta Trappers Association and various trappers throughout the province of Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The work was mostly through the Peace Athabasca Ecological Monitoring program out of Fort Chipewyan with the Dene and Cree nations. In his rst three years on the ground Thomas recruited resident trappers and hunters train- ing them to perform dissections and handle samples. Then he essentially hired them to do the groundwork sourcing animals from their regular harvesting activities. Collect- ing thousands of samples alone would not have been feasible. Front and centre theyve been my closest collaborators and Ive been extremely lucky to partner with these guys. He also involved elders and young people in the science and said the benets go both ways. Even doing dissections and looking at simple things like the colour of the liver and having some elders with you working along- side - who better to know than an elder who has been eating and trapping muskrats for 40-50 years as opposed to a scientist who has been working with the animal for ve Talking with these guys getting to know a little bit about where to look and what to look for and what species to work with just by doing this consultation and getting them involved and answering some of my questions Ive generated a lot of interest with the communities. They start wanting to be involved. He ts right in Bruce Maclean community-based moni- toring research coordinator for the Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Na- tions said seeing a federal scientist with a collaborative approach is a breath of fresh air in Fort Chipewyan. Hesfuntoworkwithbecausehechallenges the status quo within government and cer- tainly under Harper that was a rare breed Maclean said. He kind of sacriced personal job stability to actually succeed in making those connections with the First Nations. Maclean praised Thomas ability to cut through red tape and bring research fund- ing into Aboriginal communities. Its a very collaborative process and to me that stands out. His relationship-build- ing piece is generous Maclean continued. Hes in the community hes meeting with elders going out on the land talking to stu- dents. Hes put in the time to create the trust and hes also bringing capacity and employ- ment to us. Its a nice partnership. Im a sci- entist and sometimes its our nature to be a little more reserved. We prefer data sets to people. Phil is a people person and hed love nothing more than to sit around in a bush camp shooting the breeze with the elders so he ts right in. Thomas said spending that time with young people is his favourite part of the job. Im trying to encourage the youth to stay in school and encouraging them to also visit the labs here and getting them really involved in a hands-on approach he said. I work with youth from eight years-old through to late teens. Its funny you learn a lot from youth too just talking to them. Inconversationsoverpizzathatoftenstretch into the night Thomas said he quizzes the teens and is always surprised to hear how few of them have been out on the land. Im a hunter and I trap. If I were out there I would always be out on the land he said. A lot of these young guys they really dont so it gives them an appreciation and sort of en- courages them to reconnect with these roots talk to an elder follow some mentors out on the land and reconnect to where we all came from I guess. Its a great part of the job. Within acceptable guidelines There is very little baseline data in the NWT on toxins in the animals Thomas is studying including lynx otters muskrat and beaver and virtually none in Alberta. He also has moose bison and deer samples in the freezer more than 8500 samples from 1700 animals in all. Thomas has the liver and muscles screened for contaminants including heavy metals and hydrocarbons as he describes them contaminants that are not only generated by the oilsands in- dustry but also by forest fires the mining industry and so on. The rst lab results have begun to roll in. In the oilsands you nd for sure a con- taminant signature in some of the mam- mals Thomas explained. Mammals asso- ciated with water semi-aquatic mink otters more so than others. Id say levels are not above tissue residue guidelines so to speak when you can nd them. He said mercury levels are comparable to for example a mink found near the Great Lakes. There have been a lot of studies on mink and the mink Ive collected in the oilsands are equal if not slightly less contaminated than Ontario mink he said. I think that just speaks to the higher population there but without a baseline its hard to say. By definition there is no sunset on Thomas work. This is where Im saying Im committed for the long-run. Whats really important is not so much the tissue residue levels but seeing if those levels are going up or down. Then you can provide mitigation strategies. Federal scientist sources traditional knowledge PhotocourtesyofPhillipeThomas Fort Mackay youth participating in a dissection workshop organized by Environment Canada Fort Mackay Sustainability Dept. and the Fort Mackay Youth Centre.