Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Drs. Corinne Schuster-Wallace and Krystopher Chutko, University of Saskatchewan. This research respectfully involves and engages Indigenous communities. As changing climates contribute to drier seasons in different regions around the world, W. Canada and E. Africa have experienced reduced air quality due to drought and drought conditions, such as wildfires and dust storms. Drought-induced poor air quality has impacts on the health and day-to-day activities of individuals and communities. Differing physiology and roles of community members will result in varied exposure levels. Early warning tools (EWT) can be created to give advance warning to community members to reduce risks and impacts on their health and daily activities. Individuals with underlying health conditions, Indigenous communities, and rural, remote, and marginalized communities are at a higher risk of suffering adverse consequences caused by poor air quality and need to be involved in the creation of EWTs. This study looks to: (1) understand differences in exposure levels associated with different activities and groups; (2) develop an EWT that responds to the needs of different groups and exposure levels; and (3) explore the transferability to other drought-prone communities. This will be achieved through mixed methods and participatory approach with standard evaluation techniques. It will result in the creation of a tool that can provide advanced warning of poor air quality events, a manual, academic and general publications and presentations, and community gatherings. This study combines environmental, social, and health data to create a tool that can support individual and community risk management of the impacts of drought-induced poor air quality. The EWT will braid Indigenous and Western science so it is culturally appropriate for Indigenous communities and applicable to drought-prone communities more broadly, which can be used to inform policy and practice to reduce impacts of poor air quality.