Driving on ice roads in the far north is a normal occurrence for geographer and storm expert David Atkinson. In late April, Atkinson and colleagues drove the ice road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, and later flew up even farther to Ulukhaktok and Sachs Harbour (pop. 80 people). His purpose was to interview residents about the impacts of weather (especially storms), as he says, “who knows more about northern weather than the people most affected by it?”

Ecologist and ethnobiologist Dr. Trevor Lantz (environmental studies) has been named a Fulbright Scholar by the Fulbright Arctic Initiative for his Arctic ecosystems research. Lantz studies the rate and causes of Arctic environmental change and its consequences for northern communities. Using a combination of field studies, remote sensing, and collaboration with knowledgeable hunters and trappers, he will examine the vulnerability of Arctic coastlands to storm surges. His fieldwork will be conducted in the Beaufort Delta region of the Northwest Territories while collaboration with other Fulbright Arctic Initiative scholars will be in Nunavut and Finland. 

The following University of Victoria faculty member is available to discuss his research on the vulnerability of Arctic coastlands to storm surges. Trevor Lantz (Environmental Studies) is an ecologist and ethnobiologist studying the rate and causes …

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) has expanded its footprint across Canada with the launch of a new collaboration with the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy on the Atlantic coast, in addition to established observatories on the Pacific coast and in the Arctic. ONC was also prominently featured in a Globe and Mail article last Saturday on innovation leaders in BC.

Makenzie Zouboules, third-year UVic honours political science and writing co-op student, is something of a celebrity in her hometown of Yellowknife, NWT. Last month, along with FOXY co-founders Candice Lys and Nancy MacNeill, Zouboules accepted a $1-million Arctic Inspiration Prize for their work with northern youth. Originally part of Lys’ PhD dissertation on public health promotion, FOXY (Fostering Open eXpression among Youth) is a participatory research project aimed at talking with young people about sexual health, sexuality and relationships across the three northern Canadian territories.

On Aug. 23, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Laureen Harper were with UVic President Jamie Cassels and Ocean Networks Canada’s President Kate Moran to view the latest instrumentation that showcases Canadian technology and science applied in the Arctic at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

After a year and a half in development with the Government of Nunavut and the community of Cambridge Bay, a new mini-observatory created by UVic's Ocean Networks Canada is now streaming continuous data from the Arctic seafloor.

The University of Victoria's Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is making its first foray into the Arctic, just as the sea ice extent is setting a new record low. The observatory has been granted a five-year research license from the Nunavut Research Insti…

For several weeks during the first of three years in the Canadian Arctic, famed Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen and his crew built igloos every day, under the watchful eye of an Inuit teacher, until they had mastered the art. Their instructor shook his head at the sheer abundance of igloos, certain the crew had lost their senses to build so many. But such learning experiences and close relationships developed with the Inuit while on a quest to navigate the Northwest Passage from 1903–1906 proved valuable in Amundsen’s later success in becoming the first person to reach the South Pole on Dec. 14, 1911.

For several weeks during the first of three years in the Canadian Arctic, famed Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen and his crew built igloos every day, under the watchful eye of an Inuit teacher, until they had mastered the art. Their teacher s…

Unprecedented snowfalls, the worst drought in generations, heat waves and flooding – extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity all across the northern hemisphere. At the same time, the sea ice cover in the Arctic is in acceler…