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Inuit communities and COVID-19: perspective from a FLAS fellow

Four paddlers in a red canoe.
Robyn Long, third from the right, participated in the Sx̌ʷnítkʷ Canoe Journey in June 2023 as part of a Seven Directions research project.Photo Credit: Zach Delaney, Kelowna Capital News.

September 13, 2023

During her FLAS fellowship, Robyn Long interned at the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada and co-wrote a now published paper with her colleagues there.

Robyn Long, Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellow in French (2021-22), interned at the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada during her master’s program. Robyn, Selma Ford and John Crump – all at ICC Canada – co-wrote a paper titled “Community responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Inuit Nunaat.” The paper was just published in Arctic Yearbook 2023 – Arctic Pandemics: COVID-19 and other Pandemic Experiences and Lessons Learned.

The paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has simultaneously heightened the vulnerability of Inuit communities as well as amplified collective resilience. You can access Arctic Yearbook and a copy of their paper (plus many others) here.

Robyn Long, MSW, MA (she/her) joined Seven Directions at the University of Washington (UW) in October 2022, after having completed a practicum with the organization during her Master of Social Work (MSW) program. Robyn supports research and projects related to environmental and climate change and well-being, including Canoe Journeys, and the Tribal Opioid Overdose Prevention Project.

In her master’s program, Robyn focused on Administration and Policy Practice. As part of her MSW program, she was a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow through the Canadian Studies Center and interned with the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada. Prior to pursuing her MSW, Robyn worked on well-being programs and evaluation in the UW Department of Psychology. She has a background in international development and social change and has lived in the Middle East, India, Canada, and Botswana while working on community health, environmental and human rights programs.