Jason Stow

A member of the NCP Secretariat at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada shares his appreciation for the Arctic and the longevity of the NCP.

Transcript: Jason Stow

Hi, my name is Jason Stow. I work for the Northern Contaminants Program where I oversee the environmental monitoring and research subprogram. That involves monitoring levels of contaminants in area and biota, and that includes things like caribou, arctic char, ringed seal, beluga whales, seabird eggs. And one of the main components of this program that makes it fairly unique in the Arctic is that we monitor all these species on an annual basis at set locations. And we’ve been doing that now for almost 10 years.

Lots of science programs come and go. They look at particular questions and issues, but they don’t have the longevity or the stability to build time series over a long period of time – over a decade of time.

Since I joined the program we started – we implemented a monitoring program that went back to communities every year. The communities are becoming more and more involved to the point where they are even going to be able to eventually direct programs themselves, I suspect. In a way that’s what a lot of these programs are aiming for. One of the great opportunities that this job has given me is the opportunity to work with some of the most highly regarded contaminant scientists in the world. And these are people who have been working on contaminant issues since contaminants became an issue.

I was drawn to the north almost by accident, but once I started working there I developed a profound appreciation for the environment. I fell in love with the landscape, with the climate, and the people.

Biography

Jason Stow is an Environmental Scientist with the NCP Secretariat at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Jason has been with the NCP since 2002 and currently manages the Environmental Monitoring and Research subprogram.