I’m Sarah Shakil!

My name is Sarah Shakil (pronounced sah-rah shah-kee-l). I was born in Pakistan but spent most of my life growing up in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada, on the traditional territories of the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe Peoples. I am currently a PhD candidate at the Tank lab at the University of Alberta.

My research examines the biogeochemistry (biology + geology + chemistry) of Earth systems, with a typical focus on the terrestrial-freshwater interface. I have been participating in research north of the Arctic circle since my undergrad, with my first experience with field work looking at how sunlight played a role in the chemistry of lakes in the Mackenzie Delta within the Inuvialuit settlement region. For my PhD research I now work on the Peel Plateau, within the Gwich’in settlement region, and look at the potential for carbon associated with soil particles to be mineralized to carbon dioxide when eroded into streams due to the thawing of ice-rich permafrost.

I find the ecosystems and people I meet in the north and in my field of research really inspiring. I have spent a lot of my life growing up in rapidly developing urban areas, often playing in small forests and creeks between houses and my perspective on life really began expanding boating through rivers, hiking across the tundra, and learning from other researchers and people from the indigenous communities that live on and care for the land. With regards to the Arctic, I think it is important to remember that for centuries the area has been, and continues to be, the home of many Indigenous peoples. I encourage young readers to explore clubs and organizations to learn more (e.g., arctic-council.org) or explore opportunities. The Students on Ice Foundation is one incredible organization that takes youth participants from around the world on educational journeys to the Arctic and Antarctic, among other places. The Woodwell Polaris Project is another program worth checking out!

In the near future, one of the most important things to me is design my research to be more in partnership with local communities.

I was raised Muslim and grew up in a household where we spoke a mixture of English, Urdu, and sometimes Gujarati. My Dada (Urdu for grandpa) and Dadi (Urdu for grandma) eventually immigrated from Pakistan to Canada to live with us too and I enjoyed listening to my Dadi’s stories about the different places that her and my Dada would live across South Asia before the borders between Pakistan and India existed. Unfortunately, my Urdu was and still is clunky at best, so I am working slowly on trying to improve it now. We moved around a lot when I was young, but I spent most of my time growing up in the Greater Toronto Area in a community that was very culturally diverse, which my friends and I loved because making a new friend was almost like travelling. We all really enjoyed playing outside, making leaf and snow forts, and climbing trees. But we also read a lot of fiction, so everything outside became an adventure, and some of the small forests and creeks we visited seemed full of mystery and magic. I still love reading, learning about people, and exploring the outdoors.

I spent most of my time growing up in the Greater Toronto Area in a community that was very culturally diverse, which my friends and I loved because making a new friend was almost like travelling.

We all really enjoyed playing outside, making leaf and snow forts, and climbing trees.

Now that I think back, I feel I was always thinking about the poles because I would always read about changes happening at the poles growing up. I remember being awake at night thinking about the Antarctic Ozone Hole. But I never imagined becoming a polar researcher as a possibility for me, I had never met anyone that even did Earth system or Environmental research. I think a pivotal moment for me was a hydrology course I took in second year in my undergrad. Learning about the physical behaviour of water and how simple and complex it can be, and how integral it is to the functioning of an ecosystem really blew my mind. The professor teaching it, Dr. Kathy Young, specialized in Arctic wetland hydrology so she would spend a lot of time talking about her work and systems in the cryosphere (the frozen part of the Earth system) and I think that got me hooked on the cryosphere. I spent some time in the summer helping her PhD student (Dr. Anna Abnizova) with managing hydrological datasets, and then she connected me with an undergraduate research opportunity in the Mackenzie Delta (within the Inuvialuit settlement region) during the summer of my third undergraduate year with Dr. Suzanne Tank and I spent two months helping an MSc student (Gayla Weeks) and doing my own research in Inuvik, NT. In my last year, all these women were important sources of mentorship and encouragement to continue to graduate research.

The visitor’s center in Inuvik gives these certificates for crossing the Arctic Circle and I bring one back almost every time I go up and my parents keep one copy framed in our living room. I remember the first time I was preparing to go on a trip in my undergrad, my mother said (having grown up in South Asia), “We always talked about these places in school. I never imagined a daughter of mine would go there one day”.

I would love to dive more into microbial dynamics figuring out how those dynamics scale up, develop rapid response monitoring programs with remote sensing systems, work on glacier systems in the Himalayas, especially Pakistan, to see how changes in glacier dynamics affect water supply and quality, and what that means for the people who live there, maybe one day study the biogeochemical dynamics of the Greenland or Antarctic Ice Sheets, look at the biogeochemistry of another planet! In the near future, one of the most important things to me is design my research to be more in partnership with local communities.

I get my inspiration from a lot of different people! My family, friends, colleagues, mentors, people I meet in the indigenous communities up north, people I meet in activist groups, sometimes even just people I meet in the grocery store!

My parents are a big source of inspiration. I’m also really inspired hearing the stories of women of colour in my field.

I think some advice I would give is to value yourself and the perspective and skills you have to offer and remember that there’s always a learning curve. It’s important to try, regardless of whether your first attempt will be perfect, and if you “fail” it’s a really great opportunity to learn and grow. I also think it’s important to remember that things are accomplished by teams of people so it’s important to learn how to communicate effectively, work collaboratively, and appreciate the people you work with. The relationships you build with people along the way are invaluable.