Dr. Murray is a transdisciplinary scholar with expertise in both the social and natural sciences. Trained as an environmental archaeologist, she transitioned to focus on contemporary climate change and the impacts on people and the environment in the Arctic. Today her research activities are focused in three areas: the integration of historic and modern data sets to better understand how the Arctic functions as a system; mobilizing genomics and genomics tools for Arctic biodiversity conservation and wildlife management; and research and strategic planning for the ongoing development and implementation of an internationally supported Arctic Observing System.
In 2016 Maribeth initiated the development of the Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (CCADI), a national coalition of universities, Indigenous organizations, federal departments, not-for profit and private-sector partners. The CCADI is engaged in the design and establishment of an Arctic Research Data Infrastructure for Canada to improve access to data, data interoperability and data analytics in support of decision-making across scales and organizations, and for research.
Maribeth is a member of the Board of Directors of Polar Knowledge Canada, a member of the Canadian Mountain Network Board of Directors, a past member of the Board of Directors of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, and a past faculty member of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.