Yukon Research Centre Lab opens, new era of research begins in territory

Whitehorse – The opening of the new Yukon Research Centre (YRC)  Laboratory at Yukon College will usher in a new era for research in the territory, says the YRC’s director, Clint Sawicki.

“We’ve built a facility that Yukon scientists, and visiting researchers, have needed for many years,” says Sawicki. “We know the basics of what folks want, and we think we have a good start.”

Officials will cut the ribbon opening the $2.7 million facility on Thursday, October 27 at 3:30 p.m..

The gleaming, two-story building on the Yukon College campus has a Class 2 Biohazard lab facility, space for receiving and securing samples, office space for visiting researchers, and a collections room that Sawicki says may one day be a real treasure for Yukoners as the beginnings of a natural history museum.

The building was developed as a multipurpose lab, flexible enough for researchers doing anything from work on permafrost to wildlife to northern health issues.

“It’s a piece of infrastructure that we never had before,” said Sawicki. “It will allow us to do research we could never have done before and attract researchers that we could not have before.”

Sawicki says researchers first identified the need for a Yukon-based laboratory in 2004, and he’s been working with College and federal officials since to make it a reality.

"The Government of Canada is committed to enhancing Canada’s research presence in the Arctic through Canada’s Economic Action Plan - Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund," said Ryan Leef, Member of Parliament for Yukon on behalf of the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

"This investment of $2.7 million in the newly expanded and modernized Yukon Research Centre Laboratory will provide cost-effective logistical support to researchers and help Northerners in the Yukon to grow and prosper."

The lab can hold up to 15 researchers working on projects. Right now the lab has basic equipment for the modern scientist- fridges, freezers, sinks and ovens. More equipment will be purchased as projects are selected and started at the facility.

“It’s really designed to be as flexible and open as possible right now,” he says. “We’re now talking to researchers, planning out our studies. The first projects should be underway this winter.”

The facility is already being used by Yukon College instructor Dave Mossop and an undergraduate student studying the diet of boreal owls.

It’s been an awesome start, and it’s only going to grow” says Sawicki.

“Now we have to get people excited about the potentials and possibilities of what we have here.”