We are proud to welcome the first Banting scholar, Dr. Patricia Johnston, to the School. Her research project is titled, “Inuit child and family welfare.”
Dr. Johnston’s research program concerns social services in the Canadian Arctic. She has worked in social services for the governments of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories (NWT) and Nunavut and also with the Inuvialuit Game Council in the NWT. She has worked, travelled and researched in the Canadian Arctic for almost 15 years.
During her two-year post-doctorate Dr. Johnston will be conducting a research project that will explore Inuit-led approaches to child welfare in consultation with Inuit women in Arviat, Nunavut. She is interested in policy solutions that will transition social welfare responsibilities from the federal government to Indigenous communities. She is also working on a Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded project, “Engaging Inuit concerning perinatal health and wellness: developing insights, interests and an approach to action” with colleagues from McGill and Dalhousie universities.
Dr. Johnston will work with an advisory team at the UW headed up by Dr. Nadine Fabbi, Canadian Studies Center and including Stan de Mello, School of Social Work, Dr. Emma Elliott-Groves, School of Education, Dr. Jason Young, Information School, and Dr. Dian Million, American Indian Studies.
Patricia Johnston has a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of British Columbia (2018).
The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program is one of the most prestigious postdoctoral awards in Canada. The program is intended to increase the supply of highly-qualified research personnel in Canada and to provide Canada as a nation known for quality research and research training. The Jackson School will be just the third school at UW to host a Banting Fellow in the last decade (the Schools of Marine and Environmental Affairs and Aquatic and Fishery Sciences have both hosted Banting Fellows).