Finding opportunities in the North

Sara was entering the last year of her bachelor’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Saskatchewan when the global economic crisis erupted in 2008. With governments putting in hiring freezes, she found her post-BA job prospects shrinking.

“My plan was always to work for a few years and then go back to get my masters,” Sara says. “My fiancé and I were getting married that summer, and he still had to finish his engineering degree, so I thought, why not go now? The MPP program at Johnson Shoyama gave me an opportunity to continue developing my research and analytic skills in public policy, which I hoped would open doors for future opportunities.”

Sara started the Master of Public Policy program in the fall of 2009. Looking back, she smiles when she remembers thinking that fewer classes meant more free time. “A big difference between undergraduate and graduate school is that, while you have fewer classes, you have a huge reading list. And you not only have to keep up with the readings, you have to engage with what you’re reading and be prepared to discuss it in class. It’s not enough to skim a textbook or sit in a lecture—the expectation for you to engage with the material is much higher.”

Sara enjoyed her classes that first year, particularly economics and qualitative research. Her strong academic performance led to an unexpected opportunity to become the first student to earn a PhD in Public Policy (PhD) through JSGS. The Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy was developed to give JSGS students an opportunity to advance their research, while also creating a cadre of public policy professionals with the necessary skills to train the next generation and to conduct research for government, business and think tanks.

A graduate scholarship from the University of Saskatchewan, a Queen Elizabeth II Centennial Parliamentary Studies Scholarship and a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRS) helped support full time studies. Sara also earned a teacher scholar doctoral fellowship that required her to design and teach an undergraduate level course (Political Studies 226: Canadian Public Policy).

Sara served as president of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate Students' Association from 2010-2012 and as project manager of the student-run Policy Shop from 2011 until her graduation in 2014.

JSGS opened doors to a number of exciting learning experiences as well, including participation in the NSERC-CREATE Integrated Training Program in Infectious Diseases, Food Safety and Public Policy (ITraP), an Agent-Based Modeling Bootcamp for Health Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, a week-long workshop in Agent-based Modeling at Humboldt State University in Germany and a ZIBI Summer School on Pathogen-Host Interplay, also in Germany. She spent 10 weeks in Rome, Italy, doing research as a volunteer intern with the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).

In the spring of 2014, Sara was nearing the end of her program. “My husband, Lucas Knowles, and I were talking about what we wanted to do,” she says. “We talked about various big cities, like Edmonton and Ottawa, but none seemed appealing. I hadn’t looked at opportunities in the North because I didn’t think he’d want to go, but he said yeah, let’s look.”

Sara and her husband began exploring career opportunities in the North. They hit pay dirt in the Yukon Territory, where both were hired by the Government of Yukon.

“It all happened very quickly,” she says. “By mid-October, we had found a place to rent in Whitehorse, listed our condo in Saskatoon and Lucas was driving north with the moving truck. I still had to do the oral defence of my PhD. I defended on a Friday, went out for a celebratory dinner that night and was on a plane the next morning.”

Sara started as a policy analyst in the Transportation Maintenance Branch of the Highways and Public Works department. She spent her first months organizing and structuring an operational policy manual, a project that used skills she’d developed working with the Policy Shop. From there, she moved to a permanent position with the department’s Corporate Policy group.

“In a territory like the Yukon, infrastructure is a huge issue, so it’s a busy department, especially when the Legislative Assembly is in session,” Sara says. “The skills you develop at JSGS have been an asset, whether it’s knowing how to work independently and communicate policy in plain language, or knowing how to evaluate options, think critically and focus on priorities.”

She looks forward to the future. “Being in a small jurisdiction gives you a lot of opportunity to move to different departments and do different things. It would be interesting to work in health and food safety, where I have some background, or to work on the political side of things where policy is made. I’d also like to get back into teaching; Yukon College has a campus in Whitehorse, so that’s an option.”

Sara and her husband are enjoying their Yukon adventure. “We both enjoy outdoor activities and the outdoor lifestyle, so it’s a good fit. Whitehorse is small—it has a population of about 28,000—but it feels bigger. It has a good arts scene and tons of events. There are lots of young, professional people and direct flights from Germany bring in summer tourists, so it’s got great energy.”