Setting sail for the Arctic

Chris Burn will set sail on the MV Academik Shokalskiy, a Russian research vessel, when she embarks on a two-week Arctic expedition in September.

The Cape Farewell Youth Expedition is an international climate change awareness program that brings together 28 international high school students – including 16 Canadians, with top scientists, artists, and educators. The students hail from the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, India, and Germany.

“My role is to help teach these young people about climate change from a scientific standpoint by involving them in several intriguing science projects,” says Burn, NSERC Northern Research Chair, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.

Burn is an expert on the impact of climate change on permafrost. He divides his research efforts between sites near Mayo, in central Yukon, where he has worked since 1982, and the Mackenzie delta area (since 1987), which he visits all year round.

“The project is designed to educate young people to be Climate Change Ambassadors in their own communities,” says Rebecca Zalatan, Climate Change Programme Manager for the British Council in Canada which is one of the co-organizers of the venture. “These students have fresh and imaginative ideas and they have already initiated many exciting projects in their schools and communities.”

The voyage will also incorporate art projects in genres such as film and photography, fine arts, performing arts and literature. British filmmaker Colin Izod, internationally acclaimed dancer Subathra Subramaniam, biogeographer Dr. Rebecca Zalatan, and illustrator/author Geneviève Côté, who recently won a Governor General’s award for children’s book illustration, will also be on board.