Second panel on Arctic development in NYC tomorrow

NYU’s Center for Global Affairs will be hosting the second panel in its series on the Arctic tomorrow, Wednesday, April 6th from 6:30 – 7:45 pm at the Woolworth Building in downtown Manhattan. Entitled “Going North: Economic Development and Sustainable Livelihoods,” this panel will focus on how economic development and sustainable livelihoods can be balanced in the High North. Special attention will be given to how partnerships between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples can generate development while helping to preserve both native lifestyles and the environment.

The panel will be moderated by Robert Lane Greene, a correspondent for the Economist who writes for the magazine’s language blog. Three speakers will participate in the panel. Dr. Louis Fortier, a professor of biology at Université Laval and the director of ArcticNet, researches Arctic ecosystems, from the tiniest marine zooplankton to the Arctic cod, along with sea ice. He has years of scientific expeditions in the frigid seas of the Arctic under his belt. In addition, Fortier helped to found ArcticNet, a research network that helps scientists, managers, and other experts in Arctic affairs to collaborate on studying the consequences of climate change and development in the Arctic on the health and economy of northern communities and Canada at large.

Dr. Charles Ebinger, director of the Energy Security Initiative and a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow will also speak. He studies oil, gas, coal, and nuclear domestic and international energy markets, and also examines the geopolitics of energy in areas including the Arctic and Antarctic.

Udloriak Hanson, a native Nunavummiut and special adviser to the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), will also bring her unique perspectives to the discussion table. ITK is Canada’s national Inuit organization, representing over 50,000 Inuit in four regions: Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Territories.

As the three panelists come from such divergent backgrounds – biology, the geopolitics of energy, and indigenous affairs – the discussion on Arctic development is sure to be insightful and lively. To register for the event, click here.