Her research on everyday decision-making began with a focus on public views of residential pesticide bans. Now, Rachel Hirsch is interested in what happens next - after citizens are surveyed? Rachel is currently focusing on knowledge translation related to Arctic climate change adaptation policy development. She has rapidly developed a new research program and partnerships since being hired as a joint Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, and York University Postdoctoral Fellow in December 2009. This project is entitled, ‘Sharing research findings in the Canadian Arctic: Assessing the integration of Inuit knowledge in policy communications about climate change related food insecurity’.
This current research builds on Rachel's past research experiences through a continued interest in how environment and health policy-making in Canada can be informed by taking into consideration the social contexts that situate decision-making processes. An ongoing research goal connected to her doctoral work is to facilitate the policy initiatives of health and environmental managers by promoting a greater understanding of the capacities of, and constraints acting on, the general public. Over the next 3-5 years Rachel will continue working with local community partners in Iqaluit (and elsewhere in the north), government and other scientists who are interested in:
1. supporting community-research groups who would like to know what happens to results from their projects by developing a way to track the exchange of different types of information such as local (animal counts from hunters), traditional (stories from elders), or scientific (genetic variation among caribou) knowledge; and
2. collaboration with community research groups, starting in Nunavut, who would like to track findings from studies they have conducted on climate change and food security.
Rachel Hirsch came to the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University from the University of Western Ontario where she completed her PhD in Geography to further explore the social context of hazard experiences. Rachel's doctoral research was grounded in hazards geography and neighbourhood health studies with a particular interest in the social-cultural context of everyday decision-making about pesticide use on the lawn and garden. Rachel Hirsch is interested in becoming involved with the IPinCH working groups, especially those focusing on ethics and cooperation, because it is important to her and her partners that knowledge tracking methodologies be made available to other community research groups and that any such exchanges occur in a transparent and equitable manner.
This work is also being supported by the ArcticNet project led by Chris Furgal and David Hik entitled, ‘Integrating and Translating ArcticNet Science for Sustainable Communities and National and Global Policy and Decision-Making’.
