Emma J. Stewart

Without doubt, my involvement in the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation has provided me with some of the richest academic experiences of my career to date. The opportunity to engage with members of the Trudeau Foundation has added immensely to my studies in Canada. As an international student, I have learnt a lot about Canada, and issues important to contemporary global society. The generous funding has allowed me to undertake research in Arctic Canada where human geographers rarely work because of prohibitive travel and living expenses. My research has laid the foundations for many more years of potential research, evidenced by our successful SSHRC application for funds from the Northern Communities Fund. This will facilitate my return to Arctic Canada and allow me to maintain and develop important research relationships developed through my doctoral studies. Although I will soon be based in New Zealand, I will continue to work in Canada on the SSHRC project and through my appointment as a research associate at the Arctic Institute of North America. I am certain that none of this would have been possible without the confidence inspired in me by the Trudeau Foundation, and the wider Trudeau community. I am ever grateful that the Foundation saw potential in my research ideas and approach. With opportunity comes responsibility, so I look forward to contributing further to the Foundation and the global academy in my alumni capacity.

Biography

Emma J. Stewart, originally from the UK, completed her Ph.D. in geography at the University of Calgary in 2009. Her research explored resident attitudes to tourism in Arctic Canada. This builds on research experience in Antarctica (she visited Scott Base five times) and in New Zealand where she completed her Masters degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Lincoln University (1997). She was a Senior Lecturer in Leisure, Recreation and Tourism Management at the University of Glamorgan (1998-2003) and since 1993 she has worked as an Associate Consultant for a heritage and tourism consultancy in Scotland. Emma’s research interests include: tourism in Polar Regions, community attitudes to tourism, participatory research, public participation geographic information systems, interpretation, and tourism weblogs. She has published in a number of international journals, including: Tourism Management, International Journal of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Arctic, Landscape Research, and Tourism in Marine Environments. She is currently working on three edited text books, two on polar tourism and one on community-based research. In 2008, Emma was appointed as a research associate at the Arctic Institute of North America (Calgary, Canada), recognizing her work in social science at both poles.