INRS Student Nadine Vollant Becomes Third Recipient of the Joyce Echaquan Scholarship

The project led by the Innu student aims to develop a cultural safety index for health and social services

QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 16, 2024 /CNW/ - The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) congratulate Nadine Vollant on receiving the Joyce Echaquan Scholarship. This is the first time since its launch in 2021 that the award has gone to a member of the INRS student community.

This 2-year, $36,000 scholarship is awarded and funded jointly by the Canada Research Chair in Issues Relating to Indigenous Women at UQAT and the DIALOG Network, an Indigenous peoples' research and knowledge network anchored at INRS. The Fonds de recherche du Québec provides additional funding for both organizations.

The scholarship is intended to finance the research work of an Indigenous woman who wants to pursue a master's degree at INRS or UQAT. That work must focus on the call for action and engagement in Joyce's Principle, as presented in November 2020 by the Atikamekw Council of Manawan and the Atikamekw Nation Council.

Ms. Vollant, who comes from the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam in Quebec's Côte-Nord region, is an emeritus social worker whose practice was largely developed while working in youth protection with the First Nations. "As a professional who has worked with vulnerable populations, but also as a First Nations person, I am acutely aware of the importance of providing culturally safe services to Indigenous communities," she explains.

Her studies focus on creating and developing a cultural safety index—a tool that does not yet exist in the province. Ultimately, Ms. Vollant's research hopes to promote equitable, non-discriminatory access to health and social services for the Indigenous population, echoing both Joyce's Principle and the Viens Commission.

In keeping with the collaborative spirit that unites their home institutions, the scholarship's founders, INRS professor Carole Lévesque and Suzy Basile, a professor at UQAT's School of Indigenous Studies, will respectively be supervising and co-supervising Ms. Vollant's research.

Professor Lévesque who is from the INRS Urbanisation Culture Société Research Centre and who is also director of the DIALOG Network, looks forward to this role with gratitude: "It will be a true privilege for me to support Nadine in this new step on her knowledge journey, not to mention an opportunity for mutual learning. By choosing INRS, Nadine will be continuing her involvement with the DIALOG Network from the inside, and contributing to its deployment among First Nations. She will be sharing a rare type of expertise with us, and the entire INRS community will benefit."

"I'm proud that the Joyce Echaquan Scholarship has been awarded to a third Indigenous woman, this time from the Innu Nation. The recipient has outstanding expertise that she will be able to put to use in support of Joyce's Principle, the ultimate goal of this initiative," adds Professor Basile.

For over 20 years, the DIALOG Network, anchored at INRS, has been promoting the co-construction and sharing of knowledge between researchers, the student community, and Indigenous knowledge keepers. It is in keeping with this mission, and with the support of the family of the late Joyce Echaquan, that this memorial scholarship was founded.

About INRS
INRS is an academic institution dedicated exclusively to graduate research and training in strategic sectors in Quebec. For the past 55 years, it has actively contributed to Quebec's economic, social, and cultural development. INRS is first in Canada in research intensity. It is made up of four interdisciplinary research and training centres located in Quebec City, Montreal, Laval, and Varennes, which focus their efforts on strategic sectors: water, earth, and environment (Eau Terre Environnement Research Centre); energy, materials, and telecommunications (Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre); urbanization, culture, and society (Urbanisation Culture Société Research Centre); and health and biotechnology (Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre). The INRS community includes over 1,500 students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty and staff members.

About UQAT
For nearly 40 years, UQAT has been an exceptional, committed university in the community. With its three campuses, four centres, and numerous points of service, UQAT has over 6,000 students and offers more than 150 programs, including Indigenous Studies. Since it was founded, the university has worked closely with Indigenous people, fully embracing its role as an agent of change. It takes part in reconciliation between nations in a concrete way by contributing to Indigenous peoples' skills development and well-being. UQAT has consolidated its partnership with First Peoples through the creation of the School of Indigenous Studies, a department devoted entirely to teaching and research with Indigenous people.

About the FRQ

The Fonds de recherche du Québec is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Economy, Innovation, and Energy. Its mission is to ensure the coherent, strategic development of Quebec research and provide financial support, facilitate the training of researchers, establish partnerships, support knowledge mobilization, and promote French-language science and research in the natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts fields. For more information, visit the Fonds de recherche du Québec website..

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