We had a couple of excellent days collecting samples to test for plastics in urban waterways in St. John's !
It was sunny (!) and warm (!!) and SO windy (obvi), we were thrilled to get out and enjoy it all.
JOB OPPORTUNITY:
CLEAR is seeking a Research Coordinator to lead the day-to-day coordination of a horizon scan on Indigenous approaches to contaminant monitoring. This project involves the design and administration of a survey as well as a systematic literature review, and is grounded in Indigenous, community-engaged, justice-oriented research practices.
This position is best suited to someone with demonstrated experience who can work independently, manage timelines, and contribute to a collaborative research environment. We are looking for a coordinator who shares CLEAR’s commitments to careful, ethical, and place-based research, and who brings both technical skill and strong judgment to their work.
More details: https://civiclaboratory.nl/2026/04/27/position-research-coordinator-contract-or-employment/
This Friday at Memorial 💫
Please join us for the Geography Department's Blue Box Speaker Series on Friday April 10th, 2026 from 12-1pm in Arts 2071 for a fascinating talk by Riley Cotter entitled "I hate bad numbers: Stories about microplastic research."
Riley Cotter is a recent graduate of Memorial University’s Department of Geography whose Master's thesis investigated plastics in Arctic surface waters using place-based analytics. Currently a Research Specialist at CLEAR, in this talk Riley will reflect on his early career as a marine microplastic researcher, highlighting opportunities he's found to produce “better numbers” in microplastics research through a critical interrogation of methods and analytics. The talk will conclude with a preview of Riley’s upcoming PhD work, which will aim to harmonize community-based approaches for marine microplastic monitoring in pursuit of more locally meaningful, comparable, and actionable research.
We’re in Nunatsiavut this week to share results in the final year of a nine year plastic monitoring project! And it’s good news: we’re not concerned about plastics as a contaminant in the region.
Hopedale tonight, Nain tomorrow (Postville yesterday, Rigolet was Monday). If you’d like a copy of the final report, let us know!
This week's social media feature is 🏅 JESS 💫
Jess is such an exceptional lab manager that she seems to glue our wet lab research together with ease, even though it's extremely skill-intense, substantial work. We can't thank her enough for all the diverse and essential work that she does!
Photo: Justine Ammendolia
Meet Sydney 🎉 She has been a lab tech at CLEAR for awhile now. Her attention to protocol detail, processing expertise, and overall lab vibe are superb 🏅
Photo: Dominick Flynn
This week's CLEAR feature is SAM 🤟 She is such an excellent colleague and we are so happy to have her as a labber. She takes on all her tasks and projects with care, generosity, and a wellspring of skill. We are incredibly grateful for everything she brings to the lab and feel lucky to work alongside her. 🤩
Photo: Daniel Griffin
As part of the Nunatsiavut plastic monitoring project, one of my (Lana’s) thesis chapters is on the analysis we (community members and researchers from Nunatsiavut and academics at Memorial University) did examining ice for plastics.
This is how we (Riley Cotter, Manasse Pijogge, Darrel Lyall, Frédéric Dwyer-Samuel, Debbie Lyall, Liz Pijogge, Paul McCarney, Lana Vuleta, Max Liboiron) collected ice cores in April 2024.
1. Collect mussels and take pics of each other.
2. Travel from the rattle back towards Nain following Manasse, who is bear guard.
3. Collect ice core using auger.
4. Drill into the ice core.
5. Chat while the thermometer completes the reading inside the drill hole.
6. Saw the ice core into 10 cm intervals.
Lana is on deck for our social media this week ❄ They are our data vis aficionado and a certified computer wiz. Stay tuned for more posts from them later in the week!
Photo taken by Paul McCarney on the ice north of Nain, Nunatsiavut
The IndigeLab Network is hiring a Social Media and Content Creator!!
Swipe to read the job description ➡️
To submit an application reach out to Veronica Madsen, IndigeLab Network Coordinator, at [email protected] or check out our official job post at /employee-opportunity-social-media-content-creator-part-time/
Read more to learn how to apply:
The IndigeLab Network invites researchers, artists, makers, and community storytellers to submit work for the Indigenous Data Communications Exhibit, a curated online exhibit celebrating Indigenous data shifters and re-makers.
We seek works that reinterpret, reframe, and transform data through Indigenous knowledges, worldviews, and lived relationships with place. The purpose of this exhibit is to showcase Indigenous ways of drawing on our knowledge systems to engage with, analyze, and create data. We invite submissions that highlight diverse Indigenous dataworlds.
Rather than a general exhibit displaying Indigenous cultural forms of knowledge, we are excited to spotlight the ways Indigenous Peoples have been and continue to be numerical peoples and trail blazers in contemporary data analysis and communication. We welcome a wide range of data translation forms, including graphs, charts, illustrations, beadwork, weaving, carvings, immersive soundscapes, role-playing or interactive methods, sensory pieces, songs, chants, land-based materials, and more, so long as the work is rooted in data.
Our curatorial practices will centre the protection of intellectual property, relational accountability, and accessibility. We will prioritize contributor control over determining how the exhibit shares their work(s).
We welcome submissions that:
♦ Demonstrate Indigenous methods or methodologies in research, knowledge creation, and/or community collaboration.
♦ Show respectful, community-centered engagement with Indigenous Peoples and/or Nations.
♦ Align with OCAP® and/or CARE Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles.
♦ Draw from work that is completed or in progress.
We will not accept submissions that:
♦ Are about us, without us.
♦ Do not demonstrate alignment with Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
♦ Overemphasize Indigenous victimhood, damage, or trauma.
Apply on the Indigelab Network Website here:
/call-for-indigenous-data-communications/
Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2026, 11:59PM EST.
Congratulations to Riley Cotter, MSc! He officially completed his degree. His thesis, “Toward Place-based plastic monitoring in the Arctic,” received stellar reviews from examiners. Riley will be joining CLEAR as a full time researcher in the New Year!!
