Université de Sherbrooke is located in the ‘Eastern Townships’ of Southern Québec, Canada. Founded in 1954 and currently registering over 30,000 students, Université de Sherbrooke is a UArctic member since 2022. About a dozen of professors conduct Arctic-related research projects, including in biology, chemistry, atmospheric and Earth sciences, and of specific interest here: in permafrost (frozen ground) science. Over the last few years, some local and international initiatives have fueled great interest in Arctic research, specifically projects involving collaborations with local Indigenous communities and internships for early-career scientists.
For example, thanks to UArctic's overall support through the UArctic Project Funding for Indigenous and Northern Collaborative Research and Education Engagement, funded by Global Affairs Canada and managed by the Harris Centre at Memorial University, the SEDNA project started in spring 2024. SEDNA – for Student Education, Development of professional skills and Networking across the Arctic – is an international, pan-Arctic initiative dedicated to supporting students and early-career scientists working in the broad field of permafrost science. Managed at Université de Sherbrooke, the SEDNA project builds on the success of the PermaIntern Program across the Nordic region, which also generated a lot of interest from the Arctic permafrost research community. For example, since the start of the PermaIntern Program (and including the more recent SEDNA support), we were able to fund nine internships based in Europe and Canada involving interns from several institutions.
The concrete, real-life experience, combined with sufficient time to conduct internships over several weeks to months, seemed to be appreciated by the interns, most of which think about pursuing this academic experience further:
"What I liked most about this project was that it gave me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, something I hadn’t really had in my academic career so far."
"One of the aspects I appreciated most was having enough time to really dive into the topic. The four-month stay gave me the chance to become thoroughly familiar with the subject matter, to think deeply, and to understand the context and implications of the research I was doing."
"This enriching experience, both academically and personally, strengthened my motivation to pursue a career in research."
But this is far from over: thanks to UArctic networks in Canada and in Denmark, travel funding is still available (until March 2026) to support permafrost internships at the national and international level. The PermaIntern/SEDNA program can fund travel and accommodation costs (but no salary) for all interested students. Just reach out!
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Another recent fruitful student experience involving Université de Sherbrooke and an Arctic community happened in winter 2025 in the Inuit community of Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay) in Nunavut. Loek Pascaud, Master student at the Department of Applied Geomatics at Université de Sherbrooke, organized a workshop to present his ongoing research and (first and foremost) to discuss future research opportunities with the community members, especially Elders, hunters, fishermen and trappers. Permafrost dynamics, and the threat of its widespread degradation caused by climate change, is of great concern for the people of Ikaluktutiak because permafrost thawing and erosion along rivers and lakes triggers the release of lots of sediments in those waterbodies, affecting fish habitats. This results in very turbid waters for a part of the fishing season, which, of course, threatens the traditional lifestyle and food security of this resilient community.
So, in February 2025, Loek and colleagues from Université de Sherbrooke (Frédéric Bouchard), Polar Knowledge Canada (Stéphanie Coulombe) and Université Laval (Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille) met with people from the community during an informal, but highly productive workshop. Maps, cartoons, snacks, and lots of fun allowed exchanging ideas and perspectives about studying the short- and long-term impacts of permafrost thawing on downstream freshwater ecosystem dynamics, bridging ‘Western’ science with Traditional Inuit Knowledge. This cooperation even helped to identify zones of interest for future field campaigns (summer 2025 and beyond), building on local observations and available data (e.g., geomorphological surveys, permafrost coring, remote sensing analysis).Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR)
The workshop was also a unique opportunity to present Pascaud’s project in the form of cartoons, produced by the local artist Élise Imbeau in collaboration with Josée-Anne Langlois (PhD student at Université de Sherbrooke, Department of Applied Geomatics). The cartoons are now available in English and Inuinnaqtun (local dialect), and will soon be available in French.
This new collaboration (stemming from the workshop) was possible thanks to initial funding by the Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en limnologie (GRIL) via its Program for Collaborative Projects with First Nations, Inuit, or Métis.