Major Migrations: Rearranging the Solar System
Dr. Christa Van Laerhoven
Postdoctoral Fellow, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto
September 20, 2015, 7:30pm, Beringia Centre, Whitehorse
In 2008, Parks Canada launched a multi-year program to locate the lost ships of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition. This program grew over the years to become a large multi-partner collaboration that led to the discovery in September 2014 of one of the two vessels, HMS Erebus. Join Thierry Boyer, one of the archeologists on the crew, as he gives an overview of the discovery and plans for future work on this site. He will also talk about the wealth of data being mined from the well-preserved wreck which is helping to clarify our understanding of the tragic fate of the Franklin expedition.
Dinosaurs in the Arctic?!
Roland Gangloff
Former Professor at University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Author of Dinosaurs Under the Aurora.
June 7, 2015, 7:30 pm, Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
June 8, 2015, 7:30 pm, Kluane National Park and Reserve Visitor Centre, Haines Junction
Not long ago the Arctic was the last place that anyone in their right mind would look for dinosaurs. Then, in 1960, the first evidence of dinosaurs popped up serendipitously on Spitzbergen in the eastern Arctic. By the year 2000, evidence of dinosaurs had been excavated and studied in extreme northeastern Eurasia, Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and the Canadian Arctic Islands. This mass of evidence cries out for explanations of how dinosaurs thrived in the ancient Arctic. Join Roland Gangloff as he explores different possibilities based on finds across the Arctic.
The Franklin Expedition: Discovery of HMS Erebus
Thierry Boyer
Underwater Archeologist, Parks Canada
March 22, 2015, 7:30pm, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (Multi-Purpose Room), Whitehorse
March 23, 2015, 7:30pm, Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, Dawson
In 2008, Parks Canada launched a multi-year program to locate the lost ships of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition. This program grew over the years to become a large multi-partner collaboration that led to the discovery in September 2014 of one of the two vessels, HMS Erebus. Join Thierry Boyer, one of the archeologists on the crew, as he gives an overview of the discovery and plans for future work on this site. He will also talk about the wealth of data being mined from the well-preserved wreck which is helping to clarify our understanding of the tragic fate of the Franklin expedition.
Transformations in Subarctic Prehistory: Ice Age Infants, Ancient Houses, and the Peopling of the New World
Dr. Ben Potter
Department Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
March 15, 2015, 7:30 pm, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (Multi-Purpose Room), Whitehorse
March 16, 2015, 6:00pm, Junior Ranger Center, Skagway
In fall of 2013, Ben Potter led the team that discovered the remains of two Ice Age infants, buried more than 11,000 years ago at a site in Alaska. Their age at the time of their deaths make them the youngest human remains from that era ever found in North America, while simultaneously being the oldest human remains ever to be found in subarctic North America. Join Ben as he shares the story they tell about the lives of the earliest foragers in Eastern Beringia when taken in the context of the well-preserved site where they were found, and other nearby archeological sites in Yukon and Alaska.
What is the White River Ash doing in Europe?
Dr. Britta Jensen
NSERC Post-doctoral Fellow, Queen’s University Belfast
Sunday, February 15, 2015, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Tuesday, February 16, 2015, 7:30pm, Dawson City Community Library, Dawson
The White River Ash is familiar geologic feature for many Yukon residents. This distinct volcanic ash layer emerges from many riverbanks and road cuts, reaching up to a meter thick near Carmacks. Originating from an Alaskan volcano about 1200 years ago, it has long captured the attention of geologists and archaeologists, and is an important geologic time marker in northern Canada and Alaska. Just recently it has also been identified in Europe. Join Britta Jensen as she explores what this exceptional distribution can tell us about how ash is dispersed, its use in linking geologic records, and how past records of eruptions help us understand volcanic hazards.
Can we use bacteria to clean up mine water? Of course!
Dr. Amelie Janin
Industrial Research Chair, Yukon Research Centre, Yukon College
February 1, 2015, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
February 3, 2015, Supper & Lecture starting at 6pm, Village of Mayo Community Hall, Mayo
When Amelie Janin lifts a shovelful of mud out of a creek at Keno Hill, she knows it will be full of unusual bacteria that have a peculiar diet and a promising future. They eat heavy metal compounds, and they’re the latest word in mine cleanup. Bacteria are cheap and they're sustainable – requiring little human support for up to 100 years. The challenge is to adapt these biological technologies to cold temperatures and that's what she's working on. Join her as she explores the environmental and economic benefits of biologically-based technology and its future development in Yukon.
Barrow's Goldeneye: tracking for conservation
Sean Boyd
PhD, Research Scientist, Environment Canada
January 7, 2015, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Barrow's Goldeneye is one of the most common duck species in the Yukon, but where are they when they're not in the Yukon? Do they return to the same site year after year? Are there areas of particular importance to the ducks? Using satellite transmitters to track over 300 Goldeneyes in the Pacific northwest over several years, researchers were able to describe migration routes, seasonal habitat affiliations, and degree of site fidelity in order to answer these questions. Join Sean as he shares their work, including the discovery of an important (and previously unknown) molting lake in Alberta which has been recommended as a RAMSAR site ( wetland of international importance).
Carnivores, roads and plants: how unexpected relationships change ecosystems
Alberto Suárez-Esteban
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta (Yukon College)
December 7, 2014, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Roads are usually known by their negative ecological impacts. However, they may have other surprising effects. The presence of dirt roads and firebreaks can alter the relationships between carnivorous animals and plant species, making them stronger in some areas and weaker in others. These altered relationships mediated by roads can change entire ecosystems. Join Alberto Suárez-Esteban as he describes his research in Spain, and how his findings there may apply in the north.
Solar fuels: The chemical storage of solar energy
Simon Trudel
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, and Nanoscience Program, University of Calgary
Sunday, November 23, 2014, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Monday, November 24, 2014, 7:30 pm St. Elias Convention Centre, Haines Junction
Renewable energy promises a sustainable, emission-free alternative to energy production that would go a long way towards remediating climate-change issues. The challenge of renewable energy (e.g. wind and solar) is its intermittency: energy is not necessarily present at the time of need. Solving this issue requires energy storage. An attractive storage approach is water splitting: separating water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen gases. Simon Trudel's research group has developed a new family of highly active water-splitting catalysts that reduce the energy input, and increase the efficiency, of water splitting. Join Simon as he introduces you to these catalysts and their potential application in the north.
Ptarmigan and Gyrfalcon tell us about a changing Tundra
Dave Mossop
Professor Emeritus, Yukon Research Centre
October 26, 2014, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Dave Mossop has spent over 30 years chasing Gyrfalcon and Ptarmigan across the Yukon tundra. Through his collaborative decades-long research, he has had the opportunity to observe the amazing survival strategies these two species have developed for dealing with the harsh realities of the tundra ecosystem. How intimately they are interconnected, not only with each other, but also with environmental conditions, is a key element in their survival. Recently he has seen disruptions in the functioning of this intricate species complex. Join Dave as he leads us to examine how these two species, dependent on environmental predictability, are faring under changing climatic conditions.
Dr. Christa Van Laerhoven
Postdoctoral Fellow, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto
September 20, 2015, 7:30pm, Beringia Centre, Whitehorse
In 2008, Parks Canada launched a multi-year program to locate the lost ships of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition. This program grew over the years to become a large multi-partner collaboration that led to the discovery in September 2014 of one of the two vessels, HMS Erebus. Join Thierry Boyer, one of the archeologists on the crew, as he gives an overview of the discovery and plans for future work on this site. He will also talk about the wealth of data being mined from the well-preserved wreck which is helping to clarify our understanding of the tragic fate of the Franklin expedition.
Dinosaurs in the Arctic?!
Roland Gangloff
Former Professor at University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Author of Dinosaurs Under the Aurora.
June 7, 2015, 7:30 pm, Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
June 8, 2015, 7:30 pm, Kluane National Park and Reserve Visitor Centre, Haines Junction
Not long ago the Arctic was the last place that anyone in their right mind would look for dinosaurs. Then, in 1960, the first evidence of dinosaurs popped up serendipitously on Spitzbergen in the eastern Arctic. By the year 2000, evidence of dinosaurs had been excavated and studied in extreme northeastern Eurasia, Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and the Canadian Arctic Islands. This mass of evidence cries out for explanations of how dinosaurs thrived in the ancient Arctic. Join Roland Gangloff as he explores different possibilities based on finds across the Arctic.
The Franklin Expedition: Discovery of HMS Erebus
Thierry Boyer
Underwater Archeologist, Parks Canada
March 22, 2015, 7:30pm, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (Multi-Purpose Room), Whitehorse
March 23, 2015, 7:30pm, Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, Dawson
In 2008, Parks Canada launched a multi-year program to locate the lost ships of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition. This program grew over the years to become a large multi-partner collaboration that led to the discovery in September 2014 of one of the two vessels, HMS Erebus. Join Thierry Boyer, one of the archeologists on the crew, as he gives an overview of the discovery and plans for future work on this site. He will also talk about the wealth of data being mined from the well-preserved wreck which is helping to clarify our understanding of the tragic fate of the Franklin expedition.
Transformations in Subarctic Prehistory: Ice Age Infants, Ancient Houses, and the Peopling of the New World
Dr. Ben Potter
Department Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
March 15, 2015, 7:30 pm, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (Multi-Purpose Room), Whitehorse
March 16, 2015, 6:00pm, Junior Ranger Center, Skagway
In fall of 2013, Ben Potter led the team that discovered the remains of two Ice Age infants, buried more than 11,000 years ago at a site in Alaska. Their age at the time of their deaths make them the youngest human remains from that era ever found in North America, while simultaneously being the oldest human remains ever to be found in subarctic North America. Join Ben as he shares the story they tell about the lives of the earliest foragers in Eastern Beringia when taken in the context of the well-preserved site where they were found, and other nearby archeological sites in Yukon and Alaska.
What is the White River Ash doing in Europe?
Dr. Britta Jensen
NSERC Post-doctoral Fellow, Queen’s University Belfast
Sunday, February 15, 2015, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Tuesday, February 16, 2015, 7:30pm, Dawson City Community Library, Dawson
The White River Ash is familiar geologic feature for many Yukon residents. This distinct volcanic ash layer emerges from many riverbanks and road cuts, reaching up to a meter thick near Carmacks. Originating from an Alaskan volcano about 1200 years ago, it has long captured the attention of geologists and archaeologists, and is an important geologic time marker in northern Canada and Alaska. Just recently it has also been identified in Europe. Join Britta Jensen as she explores what this exceptional distribution can tell us about how ash is dispersed, its use in linking geologic records, and how past records of eruptions help us understand volcanic hazards.
Can we use bacteria to clean up mine water? Of course!
Dr. Amelie Janin
Industrial Research Chair, Yukon Research Centre, Yukon College
February 1, 2015, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
February 3, 2015, Supper & Lecture starting at 6pm, Village of Mayo Community Hall, Mayo
When Amelie Janin lifts a shovelful of mud out of a creek at Keno Hill, she knows it will be full of unusual bacteria that have a peculiar diet and a promising future. They eat heavy metal compounds, and they’re the latest word in mine cleanup. Bacteria are cheap and they're sustainable – requiring little human support for up to 100 years. The challenge is to adapt these biological technologies to cold temperatures and that's what she's working on. Join her as she explores the environmental and economic benefits of biologically-based technology and its future development in Yukon.
Barrow's Goldeneye: tracking for conservation
Sean Boyd
PhD, Research Scientist, Environment Canada
January 7, 2015, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Barrow's Goldeneye is one of the most common duck species in the Yukon, but where are they when they're not in the Yukon? Do they return to the same site year after year? Are there areas of particular importance to the ducks? Using satellite transmitters to track over 300 Goldeneyes in the Pacific northwest over several years, researchers were able to describe migration routes, seasonal habitat affiliations, and degree of site fidelity in order to answer these questions. Join Sean as he shares their work, including the discovery of an important (and previously unknown) molting lake in Alberta which has been recommended as a RAMSAR site ( wetland of international importance).
Carnivores, roads and plants: how unexpected relationships change ecosystems
Alberto Suárez-Esteban
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta (Yukon College)
December 7, 2014, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Roads are usually known by their negative ecological impacts. However, they may have other surprising effects. The presence of dirt roads and firebreaks can alter the relationships between carnivorous animals and plant species, making them stronger in some areas and weaker in others. These altered relationships mediated by roads can change entire ecosystems. Join Alberto Suárez-Esteban as he describes his research in Spain, and how his findings there may apply in the north.
Solar fuels: The chemical storage of solar energy
Simon Trudel
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, and Nanoscience Program, University of Calgary
Sunday, November 23, 2014, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Monday, November 24, 2014, 7:30 pm St. Elias Convention Centre, Haines Junction
Renewable energy promises a sustainable, emission-free alternative to energy production that would go a long way towards remediating climate-change issues. The challenge of renewable energy (e.g. wind and solar) is its intermittency: energy is not necessarily present at the time of need. Solving this issue requires energy storage. An attractive storage approach is water splitting: separating water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen gases. Simon Trudel's research group has developed a new family of highly active water-splitting catalysts that reduce the energy input, and increase the efficiency, of water splitting. Join Simon as he introduces you to these catalysts and their potential application in the north.
Ptarmigan and Gyrfalcon tell us about a changing Tundra
Dave Mossop
Professor Emeritus, Yukon Research Centre
October 26, 2014, 7:30 pm Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
Dave Mossop has spent over 30 years chasing Gyrfalcon and Ptarmigan across the Yukon tundra. Through his collaborative decades-long research, he has had the opportunity to observe the amazing survival strategies these two species have developed for dealing with the harsh realities of the tundra ecosystem. How intimately they are interconnected, not only with each other, but also with environmental conditions, is a key element in their survival. Recently he has seen disruptions in the functioning of this intricate species complex. Join Dave as he leads us to examine how these two species, dependent on environmental predictability, are faring under changing climatic conditions.