SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Enooyaq Sudlovenick spent the first five years of her life in Pond Inlet, and that's where she'll be returning more often for a master's degree research project starting this fall, studying char genetics.

Sudlovenick came to marine biology in a rather roundabout way.

She spent her school-age years in Iqaluit, where she was an air cadet, then joined the military.

"I went to the Royal Military College (of Canada) in Kingston (Ont.) for two years before realizing that I didn't want to stay in the military for the rest of my life," said Sudlovenick.

She took a year off, then decided to attend University of Guelph.She'll receive her Bachelor of Science in marine fresh-water biology, with a minor in GIS (geographic information system) and environmental analysis, in the spring.

"My parents are very traditional Inuit. They're both from Resolute Bay and both grew up on the land, and they very much preserved the hunting lifestyle. Growing up we did a lot of hunting and camping. And most of that was on the ocean so I just kind of formed a natural curiosity about the ocean," said Sudlovenick.

"I guess I always wanted to be a marine biologist … I just didn't realize it until after."

Zoya Martin, an aquatic science biologist whom Sudlovenick considers a mentor, attests to the young woman's natural curiosity, among

other gifts.

"Enooyaq has a mind for science – she sees things and wonders why. This type of thinking cannot be taught, you either have an inquisitive mind or you don't," stated Martin by e-mail.

"She was able to develop a research program in Pond Inlet for her master's, apply for funding, be granted the funding, and work with federal agencies (DFO), the community of Pond Inlet and her university to instill a research program that is for the community, not just for some southern researcher."

Martin also addresses how Sudlovenick's upbringing meshes with her studies.

"Enooyaq has this amazing ability to bring science to those with traditional knowledge, but more importantly she opens the minds and eyes of those in science to see and respect traditional knowledge," Martin said.

Each summer break, between university terms, Sudlovenick worked on various research projects out in the field – where the blend of Inuit traditional knowledge and science meet.

"One of the summer jobs was in Inuvik, where we were studying beluga. We spent a couple of weeks at one of the Inuvialuit whale camps. The whales that they caught, they let us sample them," said Sudlovenick.

But most recently, she's been working with Parks Canada, as well as on her own project, and as a result, has another admirer.

Her genetic research on char led her to a Koluktoo Lake, which falls in Parks Canada jurisdiction.

"Local people have been saying, 'In this lake the char look different than in this lake, and they taste different and the colour is different.' So she's testing that, if they isolate, if various populations have differences in genetics. It's super-cool," said Nunavut field unit superintendent Jenna Boon.

Sudlovenick explains she is comparing the char in Koluktoo Lake to three Arctic char aquaculture strains to determine if the char in that lake falls into the grouping of Atlantic Arctic char, Arctic Arctic char and Bering Sea char. She wants to know if there really is a unique Arctic grouping.

"She's fantastic. I don't want her to leave to go back to school," said Boon.

Sudlovenick has decided she will pursue a Ph.D. after her master's is completed – though she's not certain if she will end up working as a professor in a university classroom or working as a research scientist.

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