A UNBC psychology professor has a new five-year plan.
Dr. Henry Harder, chair of the university's school of health sciences, has been appointed to the Dr. Donald B. Rix B.C. Leadership Chair for Aboriginal Environmental Health.
In this position, Harder will be examining the relationship between the environment and the physical and mental well-being in the province's rural and indigenous communities.
Harder came to Prince George and UNBC in 2001 after practicing as a psychologist in the Lower Mainland.
He applied for the five-year position after the spot was vacated by Dr. Laurie Chan in 2011.
Through this chair, Harder will be providing leadership within the growing health research team at UNBC and playing a key role in furthering the school's northern, rural and environmental health research.
The work is right up his alley, according to Harder.
"I've been involved with First Nations here for quite a few years," said Harder, who has been working with the Carrier Sekani in the field of suicide prevention for adolescents for the past six years.
By the time his term is over, Harder said he hopes to be deep into a variety of research projects, which will influenced by partnerships he hopes to establish with First Nations communities.
One of the areas of Harder's interest is in the interdependence between the natural environment needed for sustenance and the same environment needed for ceremony.
While issues such as air pollution and pesticides are issues for the anybody's health, it can also have additional consequences for aboriginal groups.
"People from the western cultures don't often think of things we get from the land as being important in ceremony, like going to church," he explained. "With First Nations, everything has value and everything is part of who they are."
For example, some groups still heavily rely on the berries they harvest from surrounding forests for both food and cultural exchanges.
"And if a logging company goes in and aerial sprays a community for some defoliation, that can have a very negative impact, both on their physical health because the food is poisoned, but also in their emotional and spiritual health as well," said Harder.
The position has a province-wide focus and is half funded by the B.C. government through the Leading Edge Endowment Fund. The chair is named for long-time UNBC supporter Dr. Donald Rix, who contributed to the matching donation of $2.25 million to establish the spot.
