Ashlee Cunsolo

Memorial University of Newfoundland · The Labrador Institute

As the impacts from anthropogenic climate change are increasing globally, people are experiencing dramatic shifts in weather, temperature, wildlife and vegetation patterns, and water and food quality and availability. These changes impact human health and wellbeing, and resultantly, climate change has been identified as the biggest global health th...

Climate change discourse often negates grief and mourning associated with the resulting environmental alterations. Mourning, however, holds potential for expanding climate change discourse in politically and ethically productive ways. This article extends the analysis of mourning to non-humans through a recognition of shared vulnerability, and exam...

Global climate change and its impact on public health exemplify the challenge of managing complexity and uncertainty in health research. The Canadian North is currently experiencing dramatic shifts in climate, resulting in environmental changes which impact Inuit livelihoods, cultural practices, and health. For researchers investigating potential c...

Climate change exerts wide-ranging and significant effects on global mental health via multifactorial pathways, including food insecurity. Indigenous Peoples and pregnant women inequitably experience the harms associated with climate change and food insecurity. This study explores food security and maternal mental health during pregnancy among rura...

Climate change exacerbates global food insecurity, leading to undernutrition and immunodeficiency, which in turn increases susceptibility to infectious diseases. In this way, climate change creates a syndemic, with undernutrition, immunity, and infectious disease risk adversely interacting. This scoping review aims to map: (1) trends in research ab...

Introduction. Indigenous post-secondary education students bring unique insights, knowledges, and expertise into post-secondary education spaces. Yet, post-secondary education in Canada is often a site of marginalization for Indigenous students given its’ colonial underpinnings. Targeted mentorship initiatives can be a way to support Indigenous lea...

The effects of climate change on human well-being are increasingly becoming apparent. Widespread attention to increases in wildfires, intense storms, droughts, flooding, and heatwaves highlights the impacts of climate change not only on physical health but also on mental health. Yet, the range and diversity of impacts is still little recognized. To...

Climate change exerts a profound and far-reaching toll on mental health, resulting in mental illness, diminished wellbeing, and strained social relations, with the severity of these impacts anticipated to intensify under future climate change. News coverage of climate-mental health issues can shape public perceptions and responses, and therefore un...

This commentary emerged from an Indigenous research ethics and governance gathering and a scoping review completed by a diverse team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, which includes some of the co-authors of this article. A lack of detail regarding whether and how community engagement was carried out and reported in the context of publishe...

Climate change has severe and sweeping impacts on mental health. Although research is burgeoning on mental health impacts following climate and weather extremes, less is known about how common these impacts are outside of extreme events. Existing research exploring the prevalence of psychosocial responses to climate change primarily examines univer...

First published advance online December 16, 2022Abstract: Natural resource developments have significant positive and negative impacts on the health and well-being of communities in Inuit Nunangat (Inuit Homelands) in Canada. Mining, hydroelectric, and oil and gas developments significantly alter the landscapes of communities and often an entire re...

Many caribou populations are declining across the Circumpolar North, presenting challenges for many Indigenous Peoples who have deep and enduring relationships with this animal. In Labrador, Canada, caribou herds have recently experienced population declines, including the George River herd, which has dropped by 99% from its peak, leading to the en...

Globally, co-management systems have emerged as negotiated agreements designed to share responsibilities among Indigenous Peoples and State governments for the management of fish and wildlife. Co-management practitioners and policies regularly make decisions that influence the ways in which Indigenous Peoples interact with the lands, waters, and na...

Since AR5, climate-change impacts have become more frequent, intense and have affected many millions of people from every region and sector across North America (Canada, USA and Mexico). Accelerating climate-change hazards pose significant risks to the well-being of North American populations and the natural, managed and human systems on which they...

Commercial fishing supports coastal communities around the world and fishing livelihoods are often interwoven into local societies, including culture, identity, knowledges, and economies, particularly for many Indigenous Peoples globally. Through a case study with co-management board members in Nunatsiavut, Labrador, Canada, we explore how access t...

As climate change progresses, it is crucial that researchers and policymakers understand the ways in which climate-mental health risks arise through interactions between climate hazards, human exposure and social vulnerabilities across time and location. This scoping review systematically examined the nature, range and extent of published research...

Many Rangifer tarandus (caribou or reindeer) populations across North America have been declining, posing a variety of challenges for Indigenous communities that depend on the species for physical and cultural sustenance. This article used a scoping review methodology to systematically examine and characterize the nature, extent, and range of artic...

If climate change is the “biggest health threat of the century,” what does this mean for regions experiencing the fastest warming on the planet? To respond to key Inuit health risks, we call for Inuit self-determination in climate-health research, underpinned by Inuit knowledge, Inuit-led approaches, and decolonization of research processes.

Mining in Inuit Nunangat relies on a southern Canada fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) and local workforce. The FIFO workforce, combined with existing social determinants of health, can create health risks to Inuit Nunangat. These risks were increased with COVID-19. As newspaper reporting can shape public opinion and policy actions regarding these COVID-19 ris...

Climate change worry, eco-anxiety, and ecological grief are concepts that have emerged in the media, public discourse, and research in recent years. However, there is not much literature examining and summarizing the ways in which these emotions are expressed, to what processes they are related, and how they are distributed. This narrative review a...

In this article, we present a case study of sewing as a strategy for arts-based inquiry in health research, situated within a broader project that highlighted Nunavut Inuit women’s childbirth experiences. Five focus groups were hosted as sewing sessions with pregnant women ( N = 19) in Iqaluit, Nunavut (2017–2018). Women’s reflections on the sessio...

Introduction Participatory research involving community engagement is considered the gold standard in Indigenous health research. However, it is sometimes unclear whether and how Indigenous communities are engaged in research that impacts them, and whether and how engagement is reported. Indigenous health research varies in its degree of community...

Climate change impacts on population health and wellbeing are spatially and socially distributed, and shape place-based capacities, constraints, and priorities for climate change adaptation. Inuit across the Circumpolar North have called for public health monitoring and response systems that integrate environmental and human health data, and provid...

Aylward, B., Cooper, M., & Cunsolo, A. (2021). Generation Climate Change: Growing Up With Ecological Grief and Anxiety. Psychiatric News, 56(6). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2021.6.20

With the widespread use of digital media as a tool for documentation, creation, preservation, and sharing of audio-visual content, new strategies are required to deal with this type of “data” for research and analysis purposes. This article describes and advances the methodological process of using documentary film as a strategy for qualitative inq...

For many Indigenous Peoples in the Circumpolar North, cultural engagement and continuity across generations is directly related to relationships between and among people, animals, and landscapes. However, minimal research outlines the emotional responses and disruptions to culture and identity that are driven by ecological change, and the subsequen...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (2014) assessed the state of climate change and health knowledge, globally through the Human Health: Impacts, Adaptation, and Co-Benefits Chapter and regionally through chapters, such as the North America Chapter. With IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report scheduled to be released in...

Introduction Indigenous communities across Canada report that transformations in Indigenous health research are needed, where the benefits of research shift intentionally, collaboratively, and with transparency from the researchers directly to Indigenous communities and partners. Despite its challenges and potential for harm, research, if done ethi...

Background: Climate change has important implications for mental health globally. Yet, few studies have quantified the magnitude and direction of associations between weather and mental health-related factors, or assessed the geographical distribution of associations, particularly in areas experiencing rapid climatic change. This study examined th...

Objectives To determine healthcare service utilisation for cardiorespiratory presentations and outpatient salbutamol dispensation associated with 2.5 months of severe, unabating wildfire smoke in Canada’s high subarctic. Design A retrospective cohort study using hospital, clinic, pharmacy and environmental data analysed using Poisson regression....

Background Climate change is a defining issue and grand challenge for the health sector in North America. Synthesizing evidence on climate change impacts, climate-health adaptation, and climate-health mitigation is crucial for health practitioners and decision-makers to effectively understand, prepare for, and respond to climate change impacts on h...

Across Inuit Nunangat, Inuit rely on wildlife for food security, cultural continuity, intergenerational learning, and livelihoods. Caribou has been an essential species for Inuit for millennia, providing food, clothing, significant cultural practices, and knowledge-sharing. Current declines in many caribou populations—often coupled with hunting mor...

Current challenges relating to water governance in Canada are motivating calls for approaches that implement Indigenous and Western knowledge systems together, as well as calls to form equitable partnerships with Indigenous Peoples grounded in respectful Nation-to-Nation relationships. By foregrounding the perspectives of First Nations, Inuit, and...

Nunavut’s maternal healthcare system is characterized by rapid transition from community-based birth to a practice of obstetric evacuation and institutionalized birth. Given calls for Inuit self-determination in research, maternal health research – which informs healthcare practices and policies – may need to be conducted differently, using differe...

Rapid environmental change due to climate change impacts Inuit mental wellness by altering the relationships between people, place, livelihoods, and culture. Little is known, however, about how fluctuations in weather contribute to the experience of place and the connection to mental wellness in Inuit communities. This study aimed to characterize t...

Amidst unprecedented variability and change in climate across the Circumpolar North, increasing attention has been directed towards integrated environment and health monitoring systems to inform responses to climate change impacts on Inuit health. Yet, existing monitoring systems are often not designed to consider Inuit-identified conceptualization...

Indigenous Peoples globally are among those who are most acutely experiencing the mental health impacts of climate change; however, little is known about the ways in which Indigenous Peoples globally experience climate-sensitive mental health impacts and outcomes, and how these experiences may vary depending on local socio-cultural contexts, geogra...

High prevalences of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were recently found in enteric illness patients in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut, Canada, with a foodborne, waterborne or animal source of parasites suspected. Clams (Mya truncata) are a commonly consumed, culturally important and nutritious country food in Iqaluit; however, shellfish may concentr...

The health impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed among the global population. Indigenous peoples are expected to bear a disproportionate burden of the climate-related health impacts given their close relationship with and dependence on the local environment for subsistence and food security, as well as existing gradients in health an...

Cet article présente une synthèse de la version préliminaire du chapitre à venir « Collectivités rurales et éloignées » de l’Évaluation nationale des changements climatiques du gouvernement du Canada, et il répertorie les principales préoccupations en matière de santé exposées dans la littérature sur les changements climatiques à propos des régions...

This article provides a synthesis of the forthcoming first order draft of the Canadian Government's National Assessment on Climate Change 'Rural and Remote' chapter, highlighting key health concerns from the literature associated with climate change in rural and remote regions, as well as existing and future adaptation strategies. To support the he...

Research on climate change media coverage is growing. Few studies, however, have investigated how the media portrays climate change impacts on human health. This review, therefore, presents a quantitative spatiotemporal analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage of climate change impacts on health between 2005 and 2015. Using the ProQuest® and Eureka®...

This special issue brings together a series of papers that were presented at the Northern, Rural, and Remote Health Conference in Labrador, Canada. In this collection, scholars and community leaders use local examples to explore some of the most pressing issues in Circumpolar health: Indigenous self-determination in health care and health research;...

In Northern Canada, climate change has led to many acute and interrelated health and environmental impacts experienced among Inuit populations. Community-based monitoring, in which community members participate in monitoring initiatives using various forms of technology, is a key strategy increasingly used to detect, monitor and respond to climate...

Indigenous communities in the Arctic often face unique drinking water quality challenges related to inadequate infrastructure and environmental contamination; however, limited research exists on waterborne parasites in these communities. This study examined Giardia and Cryptosporidium in untreated surface water used for drinking in Iqaluit, Canada....

Environments are shifting rapidly in the Circumpolar Arctic and Subarctic regions as a result of climate change and other external stressors, and this has a substantial impact on the health of northern populations. Thus, there is a need for integrated surveillance systems designed to monitor the impacts of climate change on human health outcomes as...

Background: Season and weather are associated with many health outcomes, which can influence hospital admission rates. We examined associations between hospital admissions (all diagnoses) and local meteorological parameters in Southwestern Uganda, with the aim of supporting hospital planning and preparedness in the context of climate change. Method...

The term planetary health—denoting the interdependence between human health and place at all scales—emerged from the environmental and preventive health movements of the 1970–80s; in 1980, Friends of the Earth expanded the World Health Organization definition of health, stating: “health is a state of complete physical, mental, social and ecological...

Objectives: During the period of June-September 2014, the Northwest Territories (NWT) experienced its worst wildfire season on record, with prolonged smoke events and poor air quality. In the context of climate change, this study sought to qualitatively explore the lived experience of the 2014 wildfire season among four communities in the NWT. Me...

Background Addressing factors leading to health disparities in the Circumpolar North require approaches that consider and address the social determinants of health including on-going colonization. Today, colonization and related policies and processes, continue to manifest in the marginalization of Indigenous knowledge, particularly its use in rese...

Data extraction questions. (DOCX)

Flowchart for qualitative analysis. (TIFF)

Climate change is increasingly understood to impact mental health through multiple pathways of risk, including intense feelings of grief as people suffer climate-related losses to valued species, ecosystems and landscapes. Despite growing research interest, ecologically driven grief, or 'ecological grief', remains an underdeveloped area of inquiry....

Background: Between June and August 2014, Canada's Northwest Territories experienced their worst wildfire season on record, with prolonged smoke events and poor air quality. In total, 385 separate fires burned 3 400 000 hectares of land costing CAN$56·1 million in firefighting expenses. In the context of climate change, this study sought to explore...

A network of Indigenous co-management organizations is alive and robust within the management of fisheries in Canada and, subsequently, forms an important part of Arctic marine governance. This chapter examines Indigenous co-management in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Region of Nunatsiavut, Labrador through a case study of the Labrador Inuit Land C...

Water-related issues disproportionately affect Indigenous communities in Canada. Despite millions in investment, Western-trained scientists, engineers, and other researchers as well as the government agencies that have constitutionally-mandated fiduciary responsibilities to address such issues have been rather unsuccessful in solving them. This has...