About
The Extended Stay Program (“ESP”) provides funding to Master’s and PhD students to support relationship building in the northern communities where the students’ research projects are taking place. The purpose of the ESP program is to foster connections between researchers and northern communities and encourage data and results sharing with the communities. Interested students must submit their ESP application at the same time as their application for the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research.
Program FAQ
What is the Extended Stay Program?
The Extended Stay Program (ESP) provides funding to support outreach and relationship-building activities in Northern communities.
Who can apply?
The funding is only available to recipients of the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research at the master’s and doctoral levels.
When is the application deadline?
An application for Extended Stay funding must be submitted at the same time as the application to the award competition.
What is the amount of funding available?
The maximum amount of funding per project is $8,000. Funding will not be provided for projects with activities that have already been carried out (i.e. the funding cannot be used retroactively).
By when must a project be completed?
Extended Stay projects must be completed before the end of the award recipient’s award tenure.
Following completion of the project, recipients must submit a report along with their expense claim.
What costs are eligible for reimbursement?
- Event costs (e.g. room and/or AV rental, food and beverages for the event, translation services)
- Travel costs to the northern community (e.g., airfare, accommodations, per diems)
Project highlights
See what other students have done for their Extended Stay Program projects!
Geneviève Degré-Timmons, MSc, 2021
“I led a community outreach activity at the Water Stewardship Gathering at First River (Kakisa, NT). This on-the-land camp was organized by Ecology North in partnership with the Wilfrid Laurier University and Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation (August 13 -17, 2021).
My activity offered a unique opportunity to engage with youth by bringing them out on the land to learn first-hand about field sampling methods and understand how wildfire impacts caribou habitat. We conducted a vegetation survey in a 2014 burn site.”
Lauren Thompson, PhD, 2020
“I view outreach and engagement with Northern communities in proximity to field science as essential. Opportunities for engagement benefit both researchers and community members as it opens a dialogue on local interests and priorities, and researchers can thus shift their approach to accommodate this. It also allows the communication of scientific results directly to community members to ensure that people on the frontlines of climate change can be informed on how permafrost thaw may impact water quality rather than filing the results in relatively inaccessible scientific reports and journals.
My Extended Stay activities involved community meetings to present ongoing research results and discuss further work with elders; land-based discussions of research activities on the culturally important Hay Zama Lakes; water sampling alongside Dene Tha’ technicians in the Hay River watershed; and experiential learning with Dene Tha’ elders, community technicians, and knowledge holders during an overnight boating trip on the culturally important Hay River to discuss ongoing research, demonstrate water sampling techniques, and to visit important locations for collecting medicines, fishing, and hunting.”
Mathild Poirier, PhD, 2020
“From May 4 to 9, I had the chance to stay in the community of Pond Inlet in Nunavut to carry out two awareness activities. The first part of my stay aimed to hold two workshops in Nasivvik secondary school with young people aged between 13 and 15. The first workshop took place on 5 May in the morning with 9 of the students and consisted of a short field trip to sample the physical properties of snow. The students present dug a well in the snow and tested various devices used to obtain snow measurements, such as density, hardness and temperature.
During of the second workshop on May 6 in the afternoon, I was accompanied by my colleague Flore Sergeant and we led a workshop in the form of discussions with a group of around 20 students as well as 2 elders from the community, Jayko Alooloo and Moses Koonark. During this workshop, we discussed the water cycle, permafrost, snow cover and the links between snow and living beings (animals and humans). I was able to share my scientific knowledge on these subjects, while the elders shared their knowledge with us based on their traditional knowledge. It was a very enriching for all the groups who were present during this workshop.”