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INUVUK - Beth Oehler is a long way from home.

"I moved here from Prince George, but I'm from a little bit farther south," the wife and mother of one said.

Beth Oehler, regional nutritionist for the Beaufort Delta region since January, has found something special in what the North has to offer. She said she wasn't sure what to expect when she moved here. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

The new regional nutritionist for the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu regions is originally from Arizona and completed her bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science at Northern Arizona University. She then moved onto Rochester, Minn., where she completed her dietetic internship.

"I kept moving farther north," she said. "It's a much colder climate in Minnesota than Arizona."

Oehler, her husband Alex and their 18-month son Lars, moved to Inuvik in January so she could take on her position. Oehler's husband is studying anthropology at the University of Northern British Columbia and has a particular interest in the anthropology of the circumpolar Arctic.

"We couldn't risk the opportunity of coming a little farther north," she said, adding the cold climate is something she's come to enjoy. "I think the cold atmosphere is quite beautiful in many ways. I don't know to what extent I expected that, but the sun shining across the snow, the brisk air and the northern lights, I like it a lot."

As regional nutritionist, Oehler oversees nutrition in 12 communities, spread out over the Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu, something she said can be quite challenging at times.

"It's a fairly large region so there is a lot of demand for good information on nutrition, so figuring out a way to get to everyone who has questions," she said. "I'm wanting to learn a lot about traditional diets in the North and I want to incorporate this knowledge into contemporary nutrition recommendations, so that's a bit of a learning curve for me."

When in Arizona, Oehler had the chance to work with the Navajo population said the two regions have similarities in diet, but they have their differences, too. She said in the past Northern dietary needs were adequately found in certain parts of the animal, like the liver, but in modern times, people began to eat less of this, causing challenges in obtaining the healthy amount of things like Vitamin A and C.

"New foods have entered in that weren't available traditionally so it can be a tricky getting the vitamins you need," she said.

"If someone now isn't consuming things like raw liver anymore in the same quantities as was traditionally they'd need to eat more fruits and veggies.

"But here, it's challenging to get fresh and affordable produce, so it's a significant challenge to maximize nutrition in this environment."

Oehler said working in smaller communities has allowed for her to be more successful at doing her job.

"It's a little easier to get to know people," she said. "You see someone one place and then you go to another gathering and some of the same people are there. In a bigger community that would very rarely happen. I do a lot of health promotion so I'm out in the community trying to promote healthy eating to prevent disease and maximize health.

"The more I know people the more effective everything will go, personally and professionally. To understand the community and know people a bit better, it helps a lot."