SmartICE teams up with locals to teach sea ice safety in Nain
SmartICE works with northern communities to pair technology with traditional knowledge — all in the name of safety. As Carolann Harding tells CBC Radio's The Signal, her team is working to develop maps and educational tools for young people on the ice.
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CBC
20-04-2025
- CBC
Disappearing Nunatsiavut sea ice continues as climate change dramatically alters Labrador landscape
Technology and collaboration can help keep people safe, says advocates Climate change is delaying the formation of sea ice along Labrador's north coast, forcing Inuit communities in Nunatsiavut to adapt. Sea ice in winter months is a vital part of Inuit culture. Warmer temperatures mean limited travel and hunting ability, as locals wait for the sea to freeze over. SmartICE, a social enterprise, brings technology and training to Nunatsiavut and combines it with traditional knowledge, so people can make safe decisions when travelling. Rex Holwell, an Inuk from Nain who is manager of SmartICE operations in Nunatsiavut, said none of the technology they use is meant to replace traditional knowledge. "It's data they can take, much like they do, before they go hunting or fishing," he told CBC Radio's The Signal. The threat posed by disappearing sea ice is one advocates have been sounding the alarm over for several years. CEO Carolann Harding said SmartICE provides climate change adaptation tools to communities, which can be combined with traditional and local knowledge "to be able to make more informed decisions about traveling on the ice." "We're now in 35 plus communities across Canada's north, all Indigenous communities. And it's very exciting," she said. Holwell said SmartICE trains with members of communities, looking for people with knowledge of sea ice, and teaches them how to use SmartICE equipment. They also provide safety and first aid training. "It's a bit of technical skills. It's a bit of on the land knowledge. It's a bit of public speaking. It's a bit of public relations," said Holwell. The data on ice thickness is uploaded and then shared with people by posting it in communities, including printing off maps about sea ice and posting it in places like shops, he said. 'Our highway' Holwell said sea ice enables people to travel in all directions around Nain, allowing them to travel to their hunting grounds, fishing spots and cabins. "The ice really is our highway," he said. "People are just itching to get out on the sea ice for the freedom." Embed | YouTube Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Ron Webb, who is with a search and rescue group, said sea ice is increasingly unpredictable and they need the available information in order to be safe when they are outdoors. "It's getting to the point where now it's more dangerous every year and unpredictable," said Webb. People have always had to adapt to the shifting environment but he said it's tough, and it takes an emotional toll when the sea ice isn't around as long because it limits their travel. "You're stuck in town a lot longer than we usually are and it doesn't go well with us," said Webb. Future plans Harding said SmartICE has expanded in the last couple of years and there is more room for growth across Canada. "What I would like to see in the next couple of years is really expanding deep within those communities," she said. She also wants to "dig" into the communities they're already present in, and train more people, create employment, and find leaders who she said will be the future of SmartICE. Impacted culture Andrew Arreak, who is also with SmartICE, said sea ice used to form in late November but this year it didn't start until December. "Sea ice is part of our identity. It's part of who we are. We travel on it to go to our hunting grounds, camping grounds, and even to travel to another community," said Arreak. Jake Kalleo said he used to be able to snowmobile ride on the ice until his birthday in June. "I'm starting to wonder now, is it better to sell my snow machine to get a boat? It's getting worse and worse every year," said Kalleo. High school student Teagan Michelin told CBC News in January that she wasn't seeing people able to engage in traditional winter activities. "It's like losing culture," she said. "If they can't do it, then their mental health will deteriorate." Michelin said the impacts of climate change is going to have a negative impact on her community and she says people move further north.
CBC
12-04-2025
- CBC
SmartICE teams up with locals to teach sea ice safety in Nain
SmartICE works with northern communities to pair technology with traditional knowledge — all in the name of safety. As Carolann Harding tells CBC Radio's The Signal, her team is working to develop maps and educational tools for young people on the ice.
CBC
09-04-2025
- CBC
Does lemongrass really repel ticks? This expert decided to find out
Social Sharing As Nova Scotians long for warmer weather this spring, the province's large tick population is doing the same. Blacklegged ticks, or deer ticks, are often found around Nova Scotia, hiding in long grass and attaching to a host without notice. Bites from these insects can result in Lyme and other diseases in humans and animals. But researchers at Acadia University's chemistry department are working to determine if lemongrass essential oil works as a natural tick repellent. CBC Radio's Maritime Noon spoke with Dr. Nicolette Faraone with Acadia's chemistry department about their latest research and what Nova Scotians should know ahead of tick season. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What did you observe when ticks came in contact with lemongrass essential oil? Ticks get repelled. They don't like the smell of lemongrass. They wave their front legs, try to smell the repellent and they back off. So, it's a good sign. How did you test this? We did a type of test in our lab and we assessed their repellent effect. We had sticks that we put in a plate and they were surrounded by the lemongrass and we checked if they were crossing the area treated with the lemongrass. If they cross, it means that they were not repelled, but most of the time they stay in the confined area, indicating that they were repelled. How does the lemongrass affect the ticks? They kind of stop moving and considering the ticks are almost totally blind, the moment that you block the ability of them to smell, which is the way they orient themselves in their environment, they don't know where to go. That's why they are inhibited and they get stuck. Why does lemongrass seem to work? What is it in lemongrass that the ticks don't like? Lemongrass essential oil, and all the essential oils, are made by a mix of different components and each one may have different properties and different effects. So what we did in our study was also analyze the different components of lemongrass, which are very smelly compounds. And we found that citral geraniol, geranyl are the main chemicals that are responsible for the repellent activity that we've seen in ticks. And this compound is also commonly found in other types of essential oils like lemon essential oil, citrus essential oils and so on. Some people in the past have not been comfortable spraying on the kinds of insect repellents that contain chemicals such as DEET. So lemongrass, the essential oil, is a natural product. Is it safer to use? I would say since I'm a chemist, I know that everything is basically a chemical and if it's not used properly at the right concentration, it can be dangerous. Now essential oils, which are natural products, are safer than synthetic-made components and compounds because they are biodegradable. They degrade faster in the environment and they have less of an impact on humans and the environment. So, I would say they are safer, but they need to be used wisely. What would you say is the significance of your findings when you put it in the context of what currently is on the market and what we see as a seemingly growing tick population in the region? What we found in our study is that essential oils and specifically in this case, lemongrass, induce a certain inhibitory activity. So they mask the other smells around, making the tick unable to detect a potential host. Now, there's so much more to do in terms of research and understanding the mechanism of other detection. But this is quite promising because it gives us a better understanding of how ticks can find us. Since the tick population is growing in Canada, especially in the northern territories, because of climate change and because of changes in the climate in general, we need to be more aware and be more conscious that ticks are out there. What direction do you plan to go with your future research? The idea is to try to better understand the mechanism of the repellent and the attraction on ticks because this information can give us the right tool to properly design a good repellent product. In fact, I've been working for many years with a Nova Scotia company, AtlanTick, and we have been working on developing new products that are essential oil-based that can be applied on the skin or on fabric. So the idea is not just knowing the chemical ecology of ticks, but by using this information to properly develop products that can give us protection and can avoid the spread of Lyme disease.
