Gerlis Fugmann was born in Ansbach, Germany, on November 4, 1979. I completed a Magister Artium (M.A.) degree in Geography at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn (Germany) in 2005 with Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology as minors. During an exchange year to the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, Canada, I first developed a keen interest in the Canadian Arctic which inspired me to start research in economic development perspectives for Nunavut for my Magister thesis.

I am currently a PhD candidate in Geography at the Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany). My research focuses on a comparison of grassroots economic development opportunities in Canadian Inuit regions (especially Nunavik and Nunatsiavut) after the settlement of land claims agreements. In 2006 I was able to participate in the 4th IPSSAS (International PhD School for Studies on Arctic Societies) Seminar in Kuujjuaq, Canada. After receiving a scholarship of the DAAD in Germany I was able to complete my fieldwork phase in Kuujjuaq (Nunavik), Kangirsuk (Nunavik) and Nain (Nunatsiavut) in 2008. I am also working and teaching as a research associate at the Department of Geography of the Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany).