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91直播 PhD candidate Alexandra Langwieder works with James Bay Indigenous communities to better understand polar bears

When Alexandra Langwieder began her research on polar bears in eastern James Bay in 2021, she wasn鈥檛 just gathering data. She was entering into a relationship with the land and its people. A PhD candidate at 91直播 and a member of its聽聽Lab, led by聽Murray Humphries, Langwieder recognized that Cree Knowledge Holders offered a depth of insight that no satellite image or scientific model could match. Today, her work is part of a growing movement that brings together Indigenous communities, academic researchers and government agencies to understand how climate change is affecting polar bears and other sea-ice-dependent species in James Bay and Hudson Bay.

This collaboration recently received a significant boost through a grant from the Weston Family Foundation鈥檚 Northern Biodiversity Research Program worth $2.5 million over three years. The grant supports an interdisciplinary research team that includes Langwieder, the Mushkegowuk Council, the Eeyou Marine Region Management Board, academic institutions and federal and provincial partners. The goal: to weave Western science with Cree knowledge and produce research that not only advances ecological understanding but also addresses the priorities of the Indigenous communities in the region.

鈥淟ocal knowledge plays a huge role in shaping our research,鈥� Langwieder said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to build and test hypotheses that come directly from people鈥檚 lived experiences on the land, insights you鈥檇 never find in the scientific literature.鈥�