Sierra completed a Master of Environmental Studies in Geography and Geomatics at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she researched habitat selection and movement behaviour.
Sierra will be conducting fieldwork while travelling with Adventure Canada on the Greenland and Wild Labrador: A Torngat Mountains Adventure expedition. This fieldwork will support the Inuit Qaujisarnirmut Pilirijjutit on Arctic Shipping Risks in Inuit Nunangat—the ice, water, and lands of Inuit.
This project is focused on understanding risks from climate change and growth in shipping across Inuit Nunangat and to identify ways to manage these issues that support Inuit self-determined shipping and ocean governance.
On board, Sierra will opportunistically conduct water samples for eDNA to identify any non-Indigenous species upstream and downstream of the ship. At shore locations, Sierra will also conduct sediment samples and take pictures to document any plastic debris.