Using a combination of Western and Indigenous practices, researchers are exploring how climate change is impacting bakeapple quality and picking practices
As a child growing up in Labrador, Tara Ryan would go picking bakeapple berries with her parents and grandparents. Ryan grew up in a community in central Labrador and looked forward to participating in these picks.
Bakeapple berries, also known as appet and cloudberries, are an important traditional food and sustenance for Inuit in the north. The berries continue to be a part of cultural practice and promote community well-being.
“Stories about our land and our history can tell us a lot, not just about where we’ve been but where we are going,” says Ryan, a Masters student at the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. “I’m passionate about connecting the science I do with my heritage to better understand the impacts of climate change.”
Supported by funding from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Indigenous Scholars Award, Ryan is studying how environmental changes are impacting bakeapple berries, a critical and culturally relevant food source.
As temperatures warm in the summer and less snow accumulates in the winter, the yield of bakeapple is shrinking.
Recently, Ryan traveled across Labrador and connected with research participants in coastal communities to listen to their stories and better understand their shifting attitudes and berry-picking practices.
Through soil and vitamin c analysis, and interviews with community members, Ryan is shedding light on how climate and resource anxiety impacting Inuit in the region.
The research findings will be shared in ways that are relevant to Inuit communities through formal and informal presentations, maps, physical and digital posters.
“The University of Waterloo has a strong research connection to Newfoundland and Labrador,” Ryan explains. “That connection is how I found out about the University in the first place and is what drew me to study here.”
For the past 50 years, the University has been a leader in sustainability research and education, and the Faculty of Environment has been a catalyst for environmental innovation, solutions, and talent developed with the world, for the world.
While in high school, and working for her Indigenous group's natural resources team, she undertook a project identifying local natural sciences research being conducting by researchers from across Canada. The University of Waterloo kept coming up as she reviewed projects, and when it was time to apply for undergraduate studies that is where she wanted to go.
Moving between coastal communities this past summer was a full-circle moment for Ryan as she became a part of that Waterloo-Labrador connection. Even better, her research is connecting her culture with the land.
“Everyone in the Faculty of Environment is passionate about making a difference, and I am proud to make a contribution, especially in partnership with my community.”
Once she finishes her studies, Ryan is looking forward to returning to Labrador and joining CLIMAtlantic to help enhance Atlantic climate resilience. At the same time, she can't wait to go bakeapple picking with her family and friends.
