Katherine Minich

– Bachelor of Art (BA) (Concordia University)
– Masters of Health Science (MHSc) (University of Toronto)
– PhD (Policy Studies, in progress) (Ryerson University)

Katherine focuses on the practices of Indigenous self-determination in community, particularly Inuit self-determination practices in Nunavut. This includes studying the policy spaces in the cash and non-cash political economies and policy processes in community, self-government and citizen organizations.

A few key moments have influenced my desire to study policy processes within the academy. Firstly, when I worked as a research assistant following my undergraduate degree I observed research administration cycles and became engaged in Indigenous health discussions. Second, in my pursuit of an MHSc at the University of Toronto, political will was consistently an attribute for Indigenous Peoples well-being so I decided to study the underlying processes of this influence in my doctoral studies. I learn about, research and write about policy processes, in particular the meeting places of Canadian public policy and Inuit governance, circumpolar environmental and social policies, and Nunavut freshwater and wastewater in community design.

• Minich K, Saudny H, Lennie C, Wood M, Williamson-Bathory L, Coa Z, Egeland G. (2012) Inuit housing and homelessness: Results from the International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey 2007- 2008. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. Vol. 70 No 5. p. 520-531.
• Luo, ZC, Wilkins, R., Heaman, M, Smylie, J., Martens, PJ, McHugh, NG, Labranche, E., Simonet, F, Wassimi, S., Minich, K., Fraser, WD. (2012) Birth outcomes and infant mortality among First Nations Inuit, and non-Indigenous women by northern versus southern residence, Quebec. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 66(4): 328-33.