UCalgary - Kutz Research Group

05/26/2026

Earlier this month, members of the Kutz Research Group joined a caribou head processing workshop hosted by the North Slave Metis Alliance in collaboration with the NWT Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (CIMP), Government of the Northwest Territories - Environment and Climate Change (GNWT-ECC), Tłı̨chǫ Government, and Yellowknives Dene First Nation. This workshop was to support a project on health and s*x monitoring of harvested barren-ground caribou on the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road. We were happy to join the processing team and are looking forward to seeing what we can learn from all the samples and data collected.

05/21/2026

A new article by CBC North features one of our postdoctoral fellows, Dani Nowosad. A great read on bridging the gap between western science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (an Inuktitut term for traditional knowledge that translates as “what Inuit have always known to be true”).

🔗CBC article (just delete the two spaces, Facebook doesn't allow linking news articles): https://www. cbc .ca/news/canada/north/researchers-inuit-bridging-traditional-knowledge-science-9.7204934
🔗Dani's original paper: https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2023-0081

05/02/2026

New master position based either in Montreal or Calgary.
This is a collaboration with Dr. Juliette Di Francesco on the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge in a long-term wildlife health monitoring program.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EHLeNOkiNID4GM6uAyYUdHxRIaOrny7H/view?usp=sharing

05/01/2026

Only a few days left to apply!

🦌POST-DOC OFFERS SOMETHING TO CHEW ON

If you have a passion for ungulates and love the thought of endless days and longer nights, then this post-doc is for you.

An opportunity exists for a motivated, hard-working individual to help predict and prepare for emerging threats to northern ungulate health.

Based at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary (UCVM), the successful applicant will work within a dynamic, transdisciplinary team, as this project is a collaboration between Dr. Susan Kutz’s research group (UCVM) and the Animal Health and Protection Branch of the Department of Environment, Government of Yukon.

The aims of this project are to:
1) describe and summarize current infectious disease threats to Yukon’s wild ungulates using previously collected pathogen surveillance data, incorporating an understanding of current species population trends and concurrent threats;
2) using modelling approaches, describe top emerging disease risks to free-ranging ungulates in the Yukon under climate-driven scenarios;
3) work with partners and rights-holders to inform adaptive wildlife health management for ungulates in the Yukon, providing recommendations on current and future surveillance plans, risk mitigation approaches, and preparedness strategies.

Application reviews begin on May 5, 2026 with the intent of filling the position as soon as possible.

For all the details including how to apply, visit the WDA Careers Center - https://bit.ly/4efYaI9

04/29/2026

In January, one of our postdoctoral fellows, Olivia Hee, travelled to Fort Smith to teach the students in the Environment and Natural Resources Technology program at Aurora College. The group spent the day discussing different wildlife diseases and how to conduct field investigations, and doing a hands-on laboratory session on wildlife necropsies and health sampling methods. Olivia forgot to take any photos to share because she was having too much fun with the students!

🔗 If you want to learn more about the program, please check out this link:

Environment and Natural Resources Technology Learn while experiencing the adventure of a lifetime School: Arts and Science Location: Thebacha Campus – Fort Smith Program length: 2 Years Start date: August Credential: Diploma Delivery: ClassroomLabField Camps Apply Online Program Description The En...

04/20/2026

New paper out on the transmission of a bacterium (Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae) in muskoxen 🦠🔬

🔗https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2026.111602

04/14/2026

Amish Dua, a PhD candidate in our lab, has been spending time in Délı̨nę and Kugluktuk, learning from Elders, harvesters, and community members about the Bluenose-East caribou herd. He will be continuing this work next month in Wekweètì.

04/13/2026

04/10/2026

Dani has been working in the Soghigian lab to process black fly samples that she collected in the freshwater river next to Cambridge Bay. Black flies use rivers to lay their eggs in and are fully aquatic as larva and pupa before emerging as terrestrial adults. By assessing which species of black flies are in the rivers and what time in the season they emerge as adults, we can better understand the timing and risks of insect harassment and disease spread in wildlife.