Early-career researcher report from UArctic Congress 2026: Aaron Orkin

I work in Canada to strengthen emergency response in remote, subarctic, and Arctic settings, with a primary focus on Indigenous communities and locally led models of care. My program of work develops and evaluates approaches for air-access and underserved communities where formal services are distant or delayed by geography and weather.

For more than 15 years I have advanced Community-Based Emergency Care, an evidence-informed model that supports trained lay and volunteer responders and integrates them with broader emergency systems in culturally grounded and operationally feasible ways. This work draws on my doctoral research in first aid and task sharing and is supported by longstanding Red Cross partnerships in Canada and internationally, alongside collaborations with Norwegian researchers working in similar contexts with Sámi communities. Through Ornge, Ontario’s air ambulance service, I apply this research as medical director of emergency first response teams in Indigenous communities, delivering early response capacity and strengthened interfaces with aeromedical and regional care pathways. I also serve as co-chair of the Canadian Red Cross’ National Medical Advisory Committee.

Purpose of my travel

My goal in attending UArctic Congress was to advance this work through circumpolar exchange. The Congress uniquely convenes researchers, practitioners, and community partners who centre northern realities and the ethical and practical questions of building emergency systems across distance, climate, infrastructure constraints, and diverse cultural and governance contexts.

I also attended to share and refine my current research and implementation, including presentations on community engagement, empowerment and support of lay and volunteer responders, and the contribution of these responders to emergency response and workforce strengthening in underserved Arctic communities. I sought feedback and partnership opportunities to strengthen evaluation, governance, and system integration, including dispatch pathways, aeromedical interfaces, and community readiness.

Equally important, I came seeking an intellectual home. Within an increasingly urban Canadian discourse, my work can be perceived as niche. At UArctic, northern work is central, and I was able to situate my efforts within a shared circumpolar agenda.

Impact of the grant

The grant made this travel possible and had a substantial impact on my professional trajectory. UArctic provided a circumpolar perspective that reframed my work from being an outlier in national conversations to being part of a broader set of parallel efforts across the North. Meeting colleagues working on similar challenges revealed strong alignment in priorities, methods, and values, and enabled meaningful relationship building that is difficult to achieve virtually. 

The Congress delivered on my hopes and more. I found new and strengthened collaborations, including deeper international relationships and new connections focused on community response, volunteerism, first aid, task sharing, and workforce strengthening in northern settings. The event helped me to develop clearer program direction and evaluation priorities, particularly related to governance, community readiness, and integration with dispatch and aeromedical pathways. I met collaborators from other northern communities, across disciplines and cultures, and also institutional collaborators such as UArctic itself and international Red Cross societies.

I also felt a profound and renewed sense of belonging and long-term commitment to UArctic networks. I felt I had found my people, and I intend to continue contributing over the course of my career.

The Faroe Islands experience also provided deep inspiration. Experiencing Faroese culture and place reinforced the importance of designing emergency response systems that fit the realities of where people live, rather than the assumptions of where policies are made.

Looking forward

This grant advanced my work by strengthening my circumpolar network, sharpening my evaluation and implementation plans for EFRT and Community-Based Emergency Care, and reinforcing a long-term commitment to contribute to UArctic. I am grateful for this support and for UArctic’s investment in emerging Arctic researchers and practitioners.

The travel grant was funded by the UArctic Heal Founders' Fund.