USask professor named Co-Lead of the Fulbright Arctic Initiative

Dr. Greg Poelzer, Professor, School of Environment and Sustainability, will serve as one of the Co-Lead Scholars for the newly announced Fulbright Arctic Initiative. The Fulbright Arctic Initiative is a globally successful initiative that brings together a group of sixteen world-leading scholars and practitioners to address pressing issues facing Northern and Indigenous Arctic communities. Working within and across disciplines, Fulbright Arctic Scholars translate theory into practice to address public-policy research questions relevant to Arctic nations’ shared challenges and opportunities on issues like climate change, energy policy, economic futures, community health, and human and environmental security.

“The opportunity to lead, with Dr. Elizabeth Rink of Montana State University, such a high profile and accomplished group of researchers to address problems, identify opportunities, and advance policy solutions that are of benefit to Indigenous and Northern communities, and to engage directly with high-level policy-makers from the eight Arctic states (Canada, the United States, Norway, Russia, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland), Sweden, and Finland) is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Dr. Poelzer.  The scholars have their own respective, individual research programs, but will also engage in three policy groups focussed on climate change and infrastructure, particularly energy; community health; and Arctic security.   These groups will be engaged with distinguished officials from the United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland, and other Arctic states to provide input in Arctic policy deliberations, as well as participating in community workshops in various locations in the Circumpolar North.

“Dr. Poelzer’s co-leadership of this internationally prestigious undertaking speaks directly to the core aspirations of the University of Saskatchewan to provide academic leadership in the areas of Indigenization and Sustainability and to truly become the university that the world needs,” said Karsten Liber, Executive Director (Interim) of USask’s School of Environment and Sustainability.

The Fulbright Program is a flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build relations between the people of the United States and those of other countries who are needed to solve global challenges. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 125 countries worldwide.

“The U.S. Department of State is committed to our partnership with fellow Arctic Council member nations,” said Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce.  “We are excited that the Fulbright Arctic Initiative will continue to support collaborative research and community engagement to help policymakers address critical issues in the Arctic.”