DEH CHO
Deh Cho high school, college and university students have the chance to apply for a unique opportunity that will take them from the Nahanni National Park Reserve to Labrador and Greenland.

Students on Ice students and staff use Zodiac rafts to explore icebergs during the organization’s 2013 Arctic expedition that took participants to Canada's eastern Arctic and western Greenland. This year, a partnership between Students on Ice and Parks Canada is giving one Deh Cho student the chance to see parts of northern Quebec, Labrador and Greenland. - photo courtesy of Students on Ice/Lee Narraway

On April 15, Leona Aglukkaq, Canada's environment minister and minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced Park Canada's sponsorship of student participation in Students on Ice, an organization that offers educational Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. Through the three-year agreement, Parks Canada will contribute approximately $150,000 annually to sponsor 13 students' participation in the program, seven from the North and six from the south.

For the seven students chosen in the North each year, Parks Canada will be creating seven new summer jobs in Northern parks. The Nahanni National Park Reserve (NNPR) will have one of the positions this year. That position will then move to Wood Buffalo National Park and Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve.

"We think it's a great opportunity not only for youth to be able to get into the park and find out what type of work we do here at Parks Canada, but also to go on that cruise," said David Britton, NNPR's superintendent. "Which, quite frankly, I think a lot of our full-time staff would like to have the opportunity to go on.

"It's also a good opportunity for us to have some young local people employed at the park because we are always looking to have local staff here."

Any Dehcho First Nations' member who is between the ages of 14 and 18, currently enrolled full-time in a secondary or post-secondary institution and returning full-time in the next academic year can apply. The NNPR position will be based in either Fort Simpson or Nahanni Butte and the successful applicant must secure their own accommodation in either of the communities.

The position will begin on June 30 if a high school student is chosen or mid-May for a post-secondary student. From July 9 to 24, the student will participate in the Students on Ice Arctic expedition that is sailing from Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec and exploring the Torngat Mountains National Park in Labrador before heading for the southern and western coasts of Greenland, ending at in Kangerlussuaq – a settlement in the west of the country.

The student will be immersed in learning about climate change, traditional knowledge, scientific research and Arctic and global topics through workshops, presentations, hands-on research and visits to remote Arctic communities.

Back in the Deh Cho, the student will continue to work at the NNPR until Aug. 31. Through the paid position, the student will get to explore the different career options at the park, including those in resource conservation, visitor experience and asset management and also get to the park itself, said Britton.

"A lot of people don't get an opportunity to see it," he said.

Britton hopes the position will give a local student an appreciation for the park, an interest in the career possibilities with Parks Canada and a chance to broaden their horizons while on the expedition.

They should develop the knowledge, skills and perspectives to become ambassadors for the Arctic and more responsible citizens, he said.

Students who are interested in the opportunity can contact Dorothy Stearns at the NNPR office in Fort Simpson. Applications must be received by May 5.