Join Dr. Donna Mergler for a College of Health seminar on 50 years of mercury poisoning research in Grassy Narrows First Nation.

Nearly 10 tons of mercury were discharged into the waterways of Grassy Narrows First Nation's traditional territory, devastating the community's culture, health, livelihood and food sources. In this College of Health Research Seminar, Dr. Donna Mergler — Professor Emerita at the Université du Québec à Montréal and co-founder of the WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre CINBIOSE — shares how interdisciplinary, community-engaged health science research helped advance the First Nation's 50-year struggle for recognition.

Dr. Mergler's work integrates neurotoxicology, ecosystem health, gender and social equity across communities in Brazil, Quebec and Ontario. She chaired the Expert Panel to Reform the Mercury Disability Board and co-chaired the Detailed Services Plan for the Paapiiwaaniimaan Mercury Care Home. She was named Radio-Canada Scientist of the Year in 2023.

This is a virtual prevention, but if you want to come to HFC 115 there will be snacks. Dr. Mergler will also stay online for discussions after the webinar from 1-2 p.m.

Watch via https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/92163760361

Learn more about upcoming and past seminars.

Speaker

Donna Mergler, PhD is a Professor Emerita at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she was a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences since 1970. She is co-founder of the research centre CINBIOSE, a World Health Organization and Pan-American Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Occupational and Environmental Health.

The primary focus of her research has been on early neurotoxic effects of occupational and environmental pollutants, using an interdisciplinary ecosystem approach, integrating community participation, gender, and social equity.

She was a founding member of the Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health in Latin America and the Caribbean (COPEH-LAC) and the Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health in Canada (COPEH-CAN).

She has studied the effects of mercury from freshwater fish consumption on health and wellness in Brazil, Quebec, Canada and now with Grassy Narrows First Nation, whose culture, health, livelihood, and nutritious food source were devastatingly impacted by an industrial discharge of almost 10 tons of mercury into the river which flows into the waterways of their traditional territory.

She chaired the Expert Panel to Reform the Mercury Disability Board, which provides individual compensation to members of the two First Nations that were impacted by the discharge and co-chaired the Detailed Services Plan team for the Paapiiwaaniimaan Mercury Care Home.

She has won many honours and awards for her research, the most recent of which was Radio-Canada Scientist of the Year 2023. She has given numerous keynote addresses and authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications.