Karen Bouchard

Karen Bouchard is a doctoral student in political science at Université Laval. Her research, entitled “Can Modern Treaties Reverse the Resource Curse? A Case Study on the Effects of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on Mining and Inuit Socioeconomic Development”, examines how the institutions established through Modern Treaties may enhance the positive effects and mitigate the negative repercussions of mining in Nunavut. Her research is part of the Modern Treaties Implementation Research Project co-directed by Thierry Rodon, Professor of Political Science at Université Laval, and Alastair Campbell, Senior Policy Advisor at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, the Nunavut Inuit land claim organization. Her PhD also contributes to the Knowledge Network on Mining Encounters and Indigenous Sustainable Livelihoods: Cross-Perspectives from the Circumpolar North and Melanesia/Australia (MinErAL Network). Karen has additionally collaborated on research projects with the Nisga'a Lisims Government on the impact of Modern Treaties on indigenous well-being.

Karen is a recipient of a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC), the doctoral scholarship of the Chaire de recherche Sentinelle Nord sur les relations avec les sociétés Inuitand Northern Scientific Training Program awards. She works part-time as a research analyst in the Strategic Research and Data Innovation Branch at the Departments of Indigenous Services and Crown-Aboriginal Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.