Program Schedule

Pick up your badge and delegate package, check out the silent auction and get your questions answered by friendly volunteers.

• Technical Program

Featuring Dr. Eliezer Gurarie and Dr. Cheryl Johnson This plenary brings together two leading voices in wildlife ecology to explore how caribou—and the ecosystems and communities that depend on them—are navigating unprecedented environmental change. Dr. Gurarie (SUNY-ESF) will share insights from his work on animal movement and spatial ecology, highlighting how migratory caribou use sociality, collective memory, and adaptive strategies to persist amid climate change and industrial pressures. Dr. Johnson (Environment and Climate Change Canada) will complement this perspective with a broader conservation lens, tracing her work’s evolution from species-specific management to ecosystem-based and social-ecological approaches that integrate multiple knowledge systems. Together, they will emphasize the critical role of centering Indigenous and local knowledge in shaping research priorities, management decisions, and policy. By weaving cutting-edge science with community-driven insights, this plenary will highlight innovative pathways for sustaining biodiversity and supporting resilient northern landscapes in a rapidly changing Arctic.

• Technical Program

Nahots'eezı̀ k'ee (Naa-ho-tseh-zee-k'eh) means a place to rest or take a break in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì. This is a space for listening, reflection and care during the workshops. Take a rest and ground yourself in this calm, welcoming space that offers touches of northern lifestyle, traditional medicine, teachings and art.

• Rest space

Enjoy refreshments and a chance to connect with fellow delegates.

• Networking

Moderators: Michel Laforge, Pete Cott

• Technical Program

Moderators: Christina Joynt, Missy MacLellan

• Technical Program

Organized by Anne Gunn and the late Don Russell, this symposium will share CARMA’s information on North American herds in the context of monitoring circumarctic caribou and wild reindeer herds and their changing climate. As the Arctic climate is warming, the need for sharing knowledge and experience is increasing as caribou face a rapidly changing world. CARMA is an official network under the Arctic Council’s Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program that brings together a broad spectrum of scientists, community representatives, and co-management agencies to discuss and better understand global changes and migratory tundra caribou. Following two presentations a sharing circle will invite everyone to offer their views on the importance of sharing information about the circumarctic Arctic caribou and their landscapes. The future of the CARMA network will also be discussed.

• Technical Program
• Symposium

• Networking

Moderators: Olivier Jumeau, Pete Cott

• Technical Program

Moderators: Jesse Tigner, Melanie Routh

• Technical Program

Lead: Tim Fullman Development is expanding across much of the Arctic, increasingly bringing caribou in contact with human activity and infrastructure. A better understanding of how caribou are affected by infrastructure and how impacts can be mitigated are critical to informing effective management and conservation strategies. This symposium will bring together scientists and local knowledge experts advancing new approaches to reveal and mitigate impacts of infrastructure on barren-ground caribou. Combining multiple data sources and methodologies, including both Indigenous approaches and Western scientific methods, presenters will discuss the cutting edge of caribou impact analyses and mitigation before participating in a panel Q&A/discussion with the audience about how the information can be applied to support caribou conservation and management.

• Technical Program
• Symposium

Enjoy refreshments and a chance to connect with fellow delegates.

• Networking

A view into barren-ground caribou behaviour throughout the year, set to Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” For more videos and other resources on barren-ground caribou, visit our website: www.gov.nt.ca/ecc/barren-ground-caribou. Produced by the Government of the Northwest Territories | Edited by Umingmak Productions Inc.

Moderators: Tara Russell, Melanie Routh

• Technical Program

Moderators: Chantelle Bambrick, Pete Cott

• Technical Program

Lead: Tim Fullman Development is expanding across much of the Arctic, increasingly bringing caribou in contact with human activity and infrastructure. A better understanding of how caribou are affected by infrastructure and how impacts can be mitigated are critical to informing effective management and conservation strategies. This symposium will bring together scientists and local knowledge experts advancing new approaches to reveal and mitigate impacts of infrastructure on barren-ground caribou. Combining multiple data sources and methodologies, including both Indigenous approaches and Western scientific methods, presenters will discuss the cutting edge of caribou impact analyses and mitigation before participating in a panel Q&A/discussion with the audience about how the information can be applied to support caribou conservation and management.

• Technical Program
• Symposium

An interdisciplinary storytelling initiative that transforms cutting-edge Arctic wildlife research into an immersive audio work for public audiences. This presentation introduces the collaborative scientific and creative foundations of the project, tracing how fine-scale ecological data become soundscape, narrative, and poem. Grounded in research led by wildlife biologist Megan Perra, the work draws on high-resolution acoustic recordings from land-based sensors and animal-borne devices. These recordings reveal how climate change, industrial noise, and insect harassment shape caribou behavior across winter, spring, and summer. Listening provides an intimate register of these pressures, capturing subtleties of movement, stress, and adaptation that are often invisible to the eye. Our session will offer an inside look at how these scientific recordings are being shaped into an audio story following a mother caribou and her calf across the Barrenlands, blending authentic field audio with ecological interpretation and poetic narration by writer Caitlin Scarano. We will discuss methods for integrating science, sound, and story. The presentation will conclude with a brief live reading from the project’s narrative script, giving attendees a first encounter with its sonic and emotional landscape.

• Technical Program

This evening offers the perfect blend of academics, food, conversation and swing dancing. We wrap up NACW 2026 with a shared meal and reflections on the week. Join the live auction for a chance to go home with some truly incredible treasures. Cap off the evening with a swing dancing lesson and live music by the Ragged Ass Swing Band. Come dressed comfortably and ready to dance - whether that’s business casual, dressed to impress or the-airline-lost-my-luggage chic. Meal options for specific food allergies and dietary requirements will be available.

• Networking