As a Research Assistant, you will work part-time with children and youth between the ages 3 to 19, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The work of the Research Assistants is essential to the quality of data collected and the usefulness of the results for establishing health guidelines and priorities related to possible contaminant exposure in Yellowknife, Ndılǫ, and Dettah.  Work will take place from March 25 to June 30, 2023.  The Research Assistant will work flexible hours and will make their own schedule.  Most work will take place during evenings and weekends.

Visit our website for more information: ykhemp.ca/job-opportunities

Interviews & biological sample collection

You will interview both past and randomly selected participants, as part of a 5 year follow-up.  Interviews and sample collection will take place from March 26 to June 30, 2023. During the interview, the questionnaire will be completed in participants’ homes, most often on evenings and on weekends.  The interview process takes approximately 30 minutes with extra time devoted to contacting, setting appointments, getting to the appointment, and following-up to collect biological samples.  You will be required to maintain a complete and accurate record of interviews.  You will be responsible for getting to and from appointments.  

Canvassing

Part of your role will be to go door-to-door to seek participation from a list of randomly selected households. 

• Introduce yourself and the study
• Determine if anyone in the household is an eligible participant
• Explain the benefits of participating in the study
• Schedule an interview

 Weekly meetings

You will be required to participate in weekly check-ins with your coordinator and bi-weekly virtual meetings with the full Research Assistant team.  

Training

You will participate in a 1 day training workshop on Saturday, March 25. You will be trained on:

• Conducting interviews (lifestyle and food frequency questionnaire),
• Providing basic information about the program; and
• Collecting samples of toenail clippings, urine and saliva from participants.  

You will be supported by the project team for the duration of the sample collection period.

Experience

• Experience with children and youth
• Experience working with Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets
• Knowledge of Yellowknife, the legacy of mining, and of local geographical features (ie. lakes, popular recreation areas) is desirable, but not required

  Education

• Minimum Grade 12 High School Diploma
• Specialization in nursing, health sciences, environment, or education  is desirable, but not required

  Qualifications

• Clean Criminal Records’ Check with Vulnerable Sector prior to hire
• Up to date immunizations
• Excellent interpersonal skills 
• Data entry skills

  Competencies

• Cross-cultural skills 
• Independent and self-motivated
• Reliable and punctual 
• Well organized
• Attention to detail

The Health Effects Monitoring Program (YKHEMP) started in 2017 to establish a baseline of contaminant exposures and potential health effects in people living in Yellowknife, Ndılǫ, and Dettah, Northwest Territories to ensure that the Giant Mine Remediation Project does not negatively impact the health of the local residents during its remediation activities. Then, during remediation, as monitoring continues, new results will be compared to the baseline to ensure participants’ arsenic levels are not increasing because of work being done at Giant Mine.

The program is led by Dr. Laurie Chan, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Toxicology and Environmental Health at the University of Ottawa.

YKHEMP focuses on arsenic and other contaminants of concern, including cadmium, lead, antimony, manganese and vanadium. To characterize any trends between contaminant exposure and health effects, the study will be repeated every five years in children and youth (spring 2023), and every ten years in adults (2028).