Having been able to survive in the harsh Arctic climate for millennia, indigenous Northern communities have extensive intimate knowledge about the Arctic ecosystems in which they live. Increasingly, researchers are taking advantage of this wealth of knowledge to help them study the ecosystems of the Far North and how climate change is affecting them. One programme to monitor ice cover being run by the Nunavik Research Centre (NRC), the research arm of Québec's ...

Since the last International Polar Year, circumstances in the eight Arctic nations have changed considerably. Interactions with southern countries have increased, affecting the social dynamic of indigenous communications. This has impacted the diet and nutrition of indigenous communities. Traditionally, many indigenous communities relied on the land for food—coastal communities ate marine mammals whereas inland communities hunted for animals such as reindeer or caribou. This diet was supplemented with other mammals, birds, fish, or plants. Today, store-bought items like white bread, pork chops, and beef ar...

Massive ground ice body on Herschel Island At the start of the fourth International Polar Year in March 2007, Professor Wayne Pollard of McGill University’s Geography Department, a permafrost scientist involved in seven different IPY projects, and his PhD student, Nicole Couture, were discussing ways to improve permafrost education for students at McGill University. Even though half of Canada is underlain by permafrost, students rarely get to see what is currently at stake in northern environments. As a result, they decided to set up a program that would allow students to participate in a major scientific expedition an...

Where to begin? I am buzzing.. just buzzing. What a Day,- and half the world hasn't even woken up yet! Today is our sixth International Polar Day, and we are focusing on People in the Polar Regions. Plans for the day have been very experimental, very grassroots, much in line with IPY.. but with that comes that great big unknowingness.... will anyone join in? Will anyone turn up? Last night...

I'll let the pictures tell today's story — and the Students On Ice journals that I have just been proof-reading prior to transmission. It was a great day for me, but an amazing day for most of them. The highlight without a doubt was the Arctic Swim, and the phenomenal weather. Then, in the evening, hearing the students telling their ideas for activities they want to get involved in when they get home. But as I said, the pictures tell a thousand words. ...

It gets a bit tiresome starting every new entry with 'what a great day' but the truth is, most are... and it wouldn't be appropriate to focus on any lower moments in this forum. That said, yesterday we tried a smaller group exercise, "high - low - wow - now" which gave the students and mentors the opportunity to be that bit more reflective and open about how the trip is going so far. What was your high point, low point, wow moment... and where are you at right now? For many, the lows were the lectures. Not the content, just the format. In fact, they wanted to stay awake... they want this information and knowledge... but after long hikes outside or big meals it's hard to stay alert in a warm, dark, rocking room. I empathize. The information has been heard and we already notice that ...

photo credit: Alex Taylor We've been on this 'expedition' for a week now, half way through, and I can feel the dynamic shifting. Faces are pretty much all familiar and I'm not doing badly on names either... only a few students left whom I haven't had at least a brief conversation with. Amongst the students cliques have formed, as expected, but there is also a sense of change — more pondering, clearer questions, greater attentiveness, thoughtful poetry, and increasing questions about the educational content of the coming week. ...

The intercom system has just announced that wake-up tomorrow has been postponed by half an hour to 8am. Everyone cheered. We have a happy, but very tired, shipful of folk today. It was a wonderful day, awe-some, in its true sense. In the morning we glided down Hirbilung Fjord, sheer cliffs on both sides, glaciers and waterfalls pouring off them. It was almost too much to take in, to process. For the first half hour on deck everyone milled, took photos, chatted, gaped... but what to do after that? How to take this in? Spontaneous groups of painters, writers, singers, players gradually filled the decks... a singsong on the back-deck, group games on the very top, somehow laughter and fun was the magic missing ingredient that made it all digestible again. In the afternoon we wer...

Another great day and we'll all go to sleep buzzing. Qikiqtarjuaq was fab: the people, the place, the food, the air, the weather, the crafts, the welcome, the kids. Kids everywhere, excited about strangers in their town, better yet, students. Craftspeople displaying sealskin hides, jewelry from bone and baleen, walrus tusk carvings, polar bear claws. The naturalists among us also came home with skulls from polar bear and walrus and, most impressive, narwhal tusk. NARWHAL TUSK. No, really. The first time I saw one, never having heard of a narwhal, I battled with my inner belief system. What from this earth could this beautiful spiralling ivory possibly have been created by if it wasn't a unicorn? I saw three or four on display today,- the smallest about the length of my fore-arm, the tall...

Today is the first full day of our expedition, and I have just returned from our first expedition of the expedition — a zodiac cruise around Hantsch island to observe a colony of thick-billed murres, or 'akpak' in Inuktitut. They are the Penguins of the North. Well, they look like penguins, but they fly. And genetically they're not penguins, they're part of the Auk family, like puffins and other black and white sea-birds. In fact, the thick-billed murre is the most abundant marine bird in the northern hemisphere. But they stay so far north that they are little appreciated or recognised. We also saw black-legged kittiwakes, really sweet looking seagulls. Amazing what you can learn when there's an ornithologist on board and a briefing before the outing. ...