July 2025

Dr. Liris Smith, Assistant Professor and Health Research Chair at Yukon University, has published an article in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health, highlighting the urgent need to support frontline healthcare workers in the Yukon and beyond.

The study, conducted in the Yukon Territory, explores the perspectives of nurses and physicians to better understand what factors may help mitigate burnout and strengthen healthcare system responses to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.

Conducted in two phases – the completion of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and in-depth oral interviews – the study offers a nuanced view of healthcare worker experiences during the pandemic. A hybrid thematic analysis of 38 interviews revealed five core themes: personal impacts; work-related effects; client effects and patient care; perceptions of the territorial response to COVID-19; and recommendations for future pandemics.

WHITEHORSE – The Northern Review, Yukon University’s open access scholarly journal, has published its 57th issue. This latest edition is the first of three special issues that will be published in collaboration with the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), exploring northern economic development.

“Within a few months of getting started, we discovered that we had tapped into a deep vein of talent and subject matter on northern commercial activity,” writes Ken Coates, a founding editor of The Northern Review.

The special issue is a collection of essays that speaks to challenges and opportunities facing northern businesses, industries and communities. On one hand high costs and small populations can challenge commercial success, on the other land claims settlements, Indigenous rights and strong social economy present potential for local economic diversification.