My name is Jesse Tungilik and I am Inuit from Nunavut. I've spent the
majority of my life traveling and experiencing as much as I can.
Luckily, I had parents that nurtured my wanderlust so as a kid they
took me to Europe and to the far corners of the Americas.
As I got older, my desire to explore got stronger. I left my family at
15 and finished high school on Vancouver Island. I graduated at 16 and
hit the road from there. I made my way to the likes of Scandinavia,
Polynesia and even to Antarctica before I turned 20.
My curiosity and eagerness to try new things were also reflected in my
professional life. I've been working since I was 14 and have tried out
many different fields.
Over the years I have worked with Canadian Wildlife Service researchers
in the lab and in the field, tracked the magnetic north pole, repaired
and maintained medical equipment, volunteered with the Canadian Coast
Guard, served as registrar of historic sites for the Territory of
Nunavut and represented Canadian Inuit youth through Inuit Tapiriit
Kanatami and the National Inuit Youth Council.
For the past two years, I have worked for Students on Ice Expeditions, an organization that takes high
school students from all over the world on educational expeditions to
the Arctic and Antarctica, but in September I will begin my work as an intern for the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat in Copenhagen, Denmark through the IISD Circumpolar Young Leaders Program.
I love the outdoors and when I'm home, I try to spend as much time
hunting and being on the land as I can. I also love the ocean and going
sailing and kayaking. I've dreamed about learning how to build traditional
Greenlandic and Baffin Island kayaks for a long time, and hopefully I will find a good teacher soon.
I'm passionate about a lot of issues in the north and around the world
and always love meeting new people and hearing about cool projects, so
if you have one, I'd like to know about it!