UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
UNBC Provost joins UArctic board

Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu is taking a leadership role with the University of the Arctic (UArctic), a global network of universities and colleges committed to higher education and research in and about the North. 

Beaulieu, UNBC's Provost and Vice-President Academic, has been appointed the UArctic Board for a three-year term. The Board is responsible for UArctic's strategic development and setting main priorities, including finances and staffing. 

Provost and Vice-President, Academic Dr. Michel Beaulieu was elected to the board of the University of the Arctic.

"The Arctic sits at the centre of urgent national and international conversations about climate, sovereignty, Indigenous rights and sustainable development," Beaulieu says. "Being on the UArctic board is an opportunity to work alongside colleagues from across the circumpolar world to build partnerships that turn shared knowledge into collective action." 

Beaulieu brings extensive personal involvement with UArctic to the role. For over a decade, he taught Circumpolar Studies courses to hundreds of learners across the Arctic region, including students in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Canada and the United States. He also served as site coordinator for UArctic's north2north student mobility program at Lakehead University from 2008 to 2014, contributed to curriculum development workshops and is a founding member of the Læra Institute for Circumpolar Studies. 

Beaulieu's scholarship has also engaged directly with UArctic, including co-authored work on the role of non-state actors in the Arctic region. 

UArctic connects more than 240 member institutions across the circumpolar world, supporting shared programs, student exchanges and collaborative research focused on Arctic communities and environments. 

"The questions that drive research at UNBC, about northern ecosystems, Indigenous communities, resource development, governance models and climate, are the same questions UArctic was built to address at a global scale," says UNBC Interim President Dr. Bill Owen. "Dr. Beaulieu's appointment advances UNBC's commitment to building meaningful international partnerships, supporting northern and Indigenous communities and driving research excellence with real-world impact. The North is the future, and UArctic is a vital network for ensuring that future is shaped by the institutions and communities who know it best." 

The appointment deepens a longstanding institutional relationship. UNBC has been a member of UArctic since the network's founding in 2001 and hosted the UArctic Assembly in 2014.  

UNBC faculty are actively involved in several of UArctic's Thematic Research Networks and students can take online courses in circumpolar studies offered through the University of the Arctic.  

"Dr. Beaulieu is an internationally recognized Arctic historian who has been actively involved in the University of the Arctic for many years," says UNBC Political Science Professor and Acting Program Coordinator for Northern Studies Dr. Gary Wilson. "His participation on the UArctic Board will strengthen UNBC's relationship with this important circumpolar institution."