For Olivia Andres, an Indigenous scholar from Saskatoon, SK, a analysis venture proved to be a bit ‘choosy’. She spent the summer time months choosing up manure left by the well-known wild horses of Sable Island.
“In much less glamourous phrases, it was simply chasing horses for poop for a month,” Andres is quoted in Sasktoday.ca. “It was a superb time although, and tremendous cool to get to try this.”
The fifth-year biology main on the College of Saskatchewan (USask) is a member of Sweetgrass First Nation and has familial ties to Birch Narrows Dene Nation. She can be ending a minor in Indigenous Research within the School of Arts and Science.
Olivia Andres. (College of Saskatchewan Fb)
Distant fieldwork is a part of her biology program. The manure she collected was given to her supervising professor to review its dietary steadiness, presence of stress hormones, parasites and microbiomes within the wild herd.
Andres was additionally tasked with photographing the horses as she collected the manure samples to assist establish the varied equines.
The famed horses of Sable Island embrace a smallish inhabitants of round 450 animals. The island, which is managed by Parks Canada, is off the coast of Nova Scotia and is barely about 40 kilometres lengthy and roughly one kilometre throughout at its widest level.
Andres admitted to having a concern of horses, but regardless of this, she was constructive concerning the expertise. “I’m grateful for attending to struggle my very own imposter syndrome a bit,” she mentioned. “I went into my first 12 months saying … it was a fluke. I made it right here.”
That imposter syndrome stemmed from seeing few Indigenous individuals on the analysis finish of the biology discipline. However having now damaged that barrier for herself, she had recommendation for different Indigenous college students. “If you happen to can see [someone like me] in analysis, then anybody will be in analysis,” she informed SaskToday. “Don’t really feel confined to solely [try] inside your discipline and your particular departments and your diploma path. Get on the market … strive numerous analysis.”