Dani Nowosad, PhD

What’s the work that you do?

My work integrates Arctic ecology, genomics, and Indigenous Knowledge to understand biodiversity and climate change impacts in northern ecosystems. I lead community-driven research on insect vectors of parasites and disease which contributes to wildlife health surveillance. We combine DNA barcoding, metabarcoding, and habitat modelling to predict ecological shifts. Partnering with Inuit communities, we conduct research by invitation, ethical collaboration, and respecting Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty in research. We are building biodiversity baselines and translate findings into stories and policy-relevant insights connecting Arctic wildlife, climate resilience, and Indigenous leadership in environmental research.

What keeps you going?

My job exceeds my wildest dreams, and I am honoured and privileged to conduct research that is driven by and supports Indigenous communities. My work is highly varied, from working with Inuit youth and facilitating training and other experiential learning opportunities, to liaising between our academic team and our Inuit organization partners, to paddling down Arctic rivers to collect black fly larva. This is in between writing reports, reading academic papers, pursuing specific research questions, and talking about these projects with the public and at science conferences. I get to learn constantly from the most amazing people.

What’s your message to the world?

Nurture your curiosity. Pursue opportunities. There is no single pathway and you are a sum of your experiences – advocate for yourself, ask questions, do things that excite you. In my life I have worn many hats. I’ve done manual labour for Public Works of my local government, I was a bartender for many years, I was an assistant manager for a local community centre, I lived in Ireland to train horses. All of these things helped me develop life and social skills that helped me get to where I am now.