The ALES Mini-Internship Program in the Yukon a life-changing experience

For students in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, experiencing the real-world impact of their field of study is essential to their development as community-minded, career-ready individuals.  

The ALES Mini-Internship Program (AMIP), started in 2016, offers a unique opportunity for students to get first-hand learning experience in agriculture, food and environmental sciences. Offered twice a year for three days each during the Fall and Winter reading weeks, this program matches students with an industry specific organization for a visit and volunteer work.

In 2024, the ALES Mini-Internship placed students in the northern community of Whitehorse for the first time, thanks to financial support from the Gowans Yukon Local Food Endowment. Although only three days in duration, for Israt Jahan Ima (Ima) – a conservation biology undergraduate student, and Munira Khairullah – a first-year food and nutrition student, the internship was a life-changing experience.  

Ima and Munira interned at the Whitehorse Food Bank, which not only feeds the local community but is a vital resource hub for the entire Yukon Territory. It is clear that both students were deeply affected by their experience and by the close community that embraced them. 

While on different career paths, the complexity of non-profit community-based organizations like the Whitehorse Food Bank and other similar organizations they visited was a clear demonstration of how their respective areas of study – nutrition and resource management – directly impacted individuals and communities.    

“I had the preconceived notion that you have to be really powerful like a CEO or a president to have a big impact on society,” says Ima. “After this experience, I realized a person can be impactful even at their most vulnerable. I hope to have this courage and the mindset of not giving up and positively impacting everyone around me that I have seen and learned at Yukon.”

Brimming with new insight and one-of-a-kind experiences, we caught up with Ima and Munira to discuss how the mini-internship impacted them personally and professionally.

Munira Khairullah

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Mumbai, India. When I was 10 years old my family and I moved to Edmonton, Canada. 

What area are you studying, and what got you interested in this particular field?

I am currently studying food and nutritional sciences, in the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science. My relationship with food plays a big role in my career choice. I have always been surrounded by healthy home-cooked meals throughout my life. My mom is a caterer and helping her out with her job has exposed me to different perspectives of food and the ways to incorporate them into meals. She has taught me to create and love the art of food preparation and balancing a healthy diet.

Nutritional health is another reason that drew me towards making this career. My brother had a condition that prevented him from meeting all his nutritional requirements. Dietitians would visit our home and guide our family on what meals would provide my brother with the optimal amount of nutrients. As a kid, I thought it was a very fascinating job helping families like mine and providing guidance to ensure the health of people like my brother. So I decided I would do the same.

What piqued your interest in the AMIP?

I am always keen and eager to try out new experiences and AMIP provides a great opportunity for this. I signed up for AMIP to get experience in any area of the career that I chose, and to meet my peers with similar interests. 

This was your first time in Whitehorse. What was that like for you?

This was my first time in any Canadian Territory. The experience was surreal, the weather was perfect and people in the small city were the kindest strangers I've ever come across. 

Whitehorse is so beautiful and the downtown is very small and walkable. Our main form of transport was on foot. Living there for three days felt like I'd been transported to another world as it was a completely different lifestyle that people were living. While walking around town with Heather Sealey (the person we were interning under in the food bank), I noticed that everyone in the city knew everyone – we wouldn't cross a street without her knowing someone and vice versa. Coming from a big city, I found this very fascinating.

How did you spend your three days in Whitehorse?

The first day, we spent at the Whitehorse Food Bank, where we were introduced to the role and the regulations of the food bank, the challenges Yukon faces and how this food bank has resolved some and is still trying to overcome a few. After our day at the food bank, all 10 of us would meet and dine for dinner at the local restaurants. On the second day, we made hampers and distributed them to anyone who walked through the foodbank doors. This experience was extremely humbling and heartwarming. Everyone who walked through those doors must have gone through so many hardships to come to the food bank for help, and despite all that, I noticed that each person had a smile on their face, and that put a smile on mine. 

This was truly humbling and taught me a great lesson to always be thankful no matter where I am in life. On the last day, we visited all the non-profit organizations in Whitehorse and learned what they had to offer to the community. Whitehorse focuses on the individuality of a person in a collective. What I mean by this is that each individual is cared for and is given recognition – this is not seen in big cities like Edmonton. In big cities there is often stereotyping and prejudice towards a group based on class and race. In Whitehorse, there are so many organizations that provide support and help to anyone who needs it regardless of where their social standing is. 

What will you take away from this experience?

Appreciation. I enjoyed getting to know my peers and getting this amazing opportunity provided by ALES. The AMIP team and the program are truly a U of A hidden gem, and I am so grateful I found it. Also, thank you to Jim and Catherine Gowans for giving me this amazing opportunity of a lifetime!

What's next for you?

I remain passionately committed to pursuing a career in nutrition, while also embracing the unpredictable journey ahead, confident that wherever it leads will offer valuable opportunities for growth and fulfillment.

Israt Jahan Ima

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

What got you interested in conservation biology?

I come from a country vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. As a coastal country, it is always in threat of being completely under water in the near future because of global warming and climate change. The thought of losing my home and loved ones motivated me to choose conservation biology as my field of education. Environmental scientists and conservation biologists are actively trying to reduce the adverse impacts of global warming and climate change. Saving my country and the whole earth from the destructive impacts of global warming and climate change is my biggest motivation to be highly interested in conservation biology.

What piqued your interest in the AMIP?

I think the first time I got to know about AMIP was from the ALES newsletter. I always look for new opportunities to enhance my knowledge and skills. The mini-internship program seemed like a wonderful opportunity to gain experiences that would make me stand out among the candidates while looking for a job after graduating. Another big reason was, as an international student, I don’t really have much to do during reading breaks. My friends go to visit their families but I have no family here in Canada. Doing a mini-internship in reading week is the proper utilization of the free time.

This was your first time in Whitehorse. What was that like for you?

Whitehorse is absolutely beautiful. It was nothing like what I expected but in the best possible way. I knew very little about Yukon and Whitehorse when I went there. I had an image in my mind of a stereotypical small town covered in snow. It was in the middle of winter during February. However, we got very lucky with the weather. The temperature was not unbearably cold like -40 degrees. It was around -10 degree celsius. Which was perfect to observe the beauty of the place without any difficulties. Whitehorse felt like a warm hug on cold days of winter. The most amazing part was the people of Whitehorse always looking out for each other in the community as well as for outsiders like us. It never felt like we didn't belong there, everyone was very welcoming and made us feel the warmth they share among themselves.

How did you spend your three days in Whitehorse?

I worked out a routine in my mind when we went there. The Whitehorse Food Bank opens at 9 a.m. in the morning. I was up and ready by 8 a.m. and then I would go to one of the local cafes for breakfast. The sun would not usually be up at that time – it rises completely at around 9:30 a.m. At around 12 or 1 p.m. I would get some lunch from one of the local restaurants. All eight of us interns along with Allie and Vicky would get dinner together and talk about what we did throughout our day.

On our first day at the food bank, the volunteer manager of the food bank, Heather Sealey, gave us a complete idea about the operation of the food bank and its importance in the food and resource supply chain all over Yukon. We observed how the orders from remote communities are made and we helped prepare big pallets of food orders from Yellowknife and Atlin.

On our second day we got the opportunity to work with the clients directly and Heather gave us very clear instructions on how to handle the clients. We were paired with experienced volunteers for our first couple of hampers. The hampers were distributed based on the number of family members or reliance on the hampers. A big part of Whitehorse depends on the food bank for their monthly groceries. Interacting directly with the clients was a humbling and very emotional experience. On our third day we got the opportunity to visit and learn about the operation of some of the major non-profit organizations of Yukon. After our shift at the food bank, we went to the WoodCutter’s Brewery for dinner. We got a tour of the brewery, and got to know how the whole process of brewing works, including a taste of the famous Yukon beer. There were many different kinds with the most interesting flavour profiles.

What were some of your highlights?

The sense of community and bond that I witnessed in the Yukon is incomparable with any other place I’ve been. The food bank is one of those places that holds the community together. The volunteers are as young as six years old and as old as 80 years old, maybe older. The Yukon food bank supports many remote communities outside of Whitehorse with food and other necessary supplies like menstrual hygiene products.

I still remember one interaction with a client. They were putting back some of the items from their hamper and told me, “I don’t need these, please include them in the hamper of someone else who can use these.”  The whole experience was so powerful and emotional for me because even in such a vulnerable position the compassion shown by the clients of the food bank was astonishing. 

I don’t know if I would have the courage, empathy and compassion I saw in them, if ever I was in a similar situation. It made me aware of the shortcomings of us “big city dwellers”, because we no longer have that sense of community and unity in us anymore.

The manager of the food bank, Heather, told us before we began our hamper delivery shift that it is very important that we give the clients the ability to choose what they want for themselves.

They are already so vulnerable and they are voluntarily putting themselves in this situation because they have nowhere else to go. The least we can do to normalize their experience is make them feel empowered by giving them choice.To us it may not seem like much but I have witnessed their faces light up when they can choose their favourite items among all the available items. Just asking if they would like meat or fish is enough to make a difference. 

We visited Yukon Anti Poverty Coalition, Blood Ties Four Direction Centre and Yukon Women's Transition Home Society on our third day. Blood Ties really stood out for me. They provide safe kits to decrease the risk of disease transmission and overdose significantly among substance abusers. They have a used syringe collection bin and they have a return rate of 105%, which means it encourages users to dispose of their used syringes even if they were not provided by Blood Ties. The person in charge there told us, “Someone chooses this path when something is going wrong in their life, they are vulnerable and it is their way of coping. We all cope in our own way and just because their way is different and unconventional does not mean that they should be treated worse than animals. They deserve access to health care as much as any of us do.” So this organization ensures that for them. No matter in what condition you are, you will be given the healthcare and the respect that you need.

Has this experience influenced what you’d like to study or do for work?

It was a huge learning experience for me in terms of understanding the importance of conservation and maximum sustainable utilization of the resources available in the Northern Territories of Canada. I hope to utilize the lessons I learned in my professional life. I had the preconceived notion that you have to be really powerful like a CEO or a president to have a big impact on society. After this experience, I realized a person can be impactful even at their most vulnerable. I hope to have this courage and the mindset of not giving up and positively impacting everyone around me that I have seen and learned at Yukon.

What's next for you?

Honestly, I am ready for whatever life throws at me. I am much more grateful for what I have right now after my internship at Yukon. However, one can dream and my dream is to work for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) one day. I would keep applying to be an intern for AMIP while I am a student and hopefully will be qualified enough to work for UNEP someday. I want to leave a mark on earth so that people can remember me even after I am no longer alive. I wish to be like Frank Robinson and influence everyone I know positively. My dreams are big but I am much more confident about achieving them because I have the best support system a student can have. I have the support of the Frank Robinson Youth Academy (FRYA) and Faculty of ALES to make my transition to professional life as smooth as possible.

The ALES Mini-Internship Program is funded by the ALES Work Integrated Learning Opportunities and Program Endowment Fund, with Yukon-related programming supported by Jim and Catherine Gowans through the Gowans Yukon Local Food Endowment.