Student Story: PhD One Health course and the NUNAMED Conference
The following story is written by Janat Ibrahimi who participated in the One Health in the Arctic PhD course in October 2025.
My participation in the PhD One Health course and the NUNAMED Conference in Nuuk, Greenland, provided an invaluable opportunity for academic growth, professional connection, and personal reflection - one that I would not have experienced had I not attended.
The PhD One Health course created a unique space to connect with other graduate students engaged in circumpolar research. The course provided an opportunity for critical dialogue with professors and peers that pushed me to reflect deeply on how I approach my work and the responsibilities I carry as a researcher in northern contexts. It was a rich cultural and knowledge exchange where we challenged ideas, compared methodologies, and learned from one another’s approaches. These discussions validated my own ways of doing research, especially as they relate to working collaboratively and respectfully with communities in the North.
This experience was particularly meaningful in relation to my doctoral research, which examines holistic birthing practices across the circumpolar North. It is one thing to study these practices through literature; it is entirely different to be immersed at a conference where researchers, health professionals, and community members are actively sharing distinct experiences of providing care in their own regions. Hearing these experiences firsthand helped me better understand the contexts and values that shape different models of care.
As a member of the Circumpolar Maternal and Child Health Working Group, sub-group of a UArctic thematic network, the conference also offered an invaluable opportunity to meet and network with many of the members I had previously only connected with online. Meeting in person allowed us to strengthen our relationships, exchange ideas more meaningfully, and lay the groundwork for future collaboration.
Beyond the academic setting, I felt deeply honoured and privileged to visit Nuuk. The land and its people were incredibly welcoming. One of my highlights was joining the hike organized by the conference up Quassussuaq Mountain - a humbling and memorable experience that I will always carry with me.
The PhD course was funded through the project YoungArctic (funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and it is an activity under the UArctic Thematic Network on Health and Well-being in the Arctic.