Each year, hundreds of international researchers enter Greenland to conduct scientific fieldwork. Historically, they have had little interaction with local communities and scientists at Greenland research institutes. Recognising that collaboration between Greenland and the United States can yield better research, consider more diverse perspectives, articulate the benefits of research to Greenland society, and train the next generation in a collaborative framework, representatives from both countries have been engaged in a series of events to cultivate bilateral relationships. Here, we describe the process of these events (workshops, conference sessions, and public dialogues), the findings, and the outcomes that have followed. Prior to this focused engagement, United States and Greenland scientists typically pursued their research independently. Since the engagement, more researchers from both countries have successfully partnered to obtain funding for collaborative research. Furthermore, development of a bilateral collaboration network is underway. The focused approach on bilateral engagement also proved essential for maintaining research and other activities during the global pandemic. When United States researchers were prevented from entering Greenland, their Greenland partners were able to continue the fieldwork, ensuring that progress was not lost. Future international projects can build on these successes to expand collaborative and interdisciplinary research in Greenland.

Beginning in the seventeenth century, numerous attempts were made to reach a very high latitude or even the North Pole. One of the more successful of these was the Italian Arctic expedition of 1899–1900, led by Luigi Amedeo di Savoia (Duke of the Abruzzi). Using two successively returning support parties, di Savoia’s second-in-command, Captain Umberto Cagni’s party eventually reached 86°34’N north of their base in the Franz Josef Land archipelago before retreating due to lack of supplies. The second support party also returned safely to the base from 83°16’N. However, the first support party, led by Lieutenant Francesco Querini, disappeared without a trace after returning southwards from 82°32’N. Although previous studies have cited starvation from lack of food supplies or accidents as the potential causes of their disappearance, the extant literature does not provide any deeper analyses to explain these events. This study explores the hypothesis that the first support party in fact turned back from a much more westerly position than they thought. This, in combination with an untimely blizzard that prevented travelling for several days, most likely made it impossible for Querini and his two men to return to base before their limited supplies ran out.

‘Speaking’ and ‘belonging’ have a particular salience as indices of intimacy in a remote corner of northwest Greenland where connectedness is constantly reinforced through a distinct commonality of expression and certain social practices, such as very frequent visiting of one another, story-telling, recycling of names and a shared monistic philosophy. The Inugguit define themselves by a repertoire of communicative and behavioural strategies which are used to ensure that one is accepted in a supportive kin group: the perennial social and personal imperative for each member of the group. This article shows how despite social and climatic upheaval, these practices remain, but that the hunters’ ‘symbiotic’ relationship with nature is eroding as the loss of sea ice means they can no longer live like the animals they hunt.

This study explores the perception of wolverines, a carnivore in decline, by youths in northern Canada, the future generation of stakeholders. To accomplish this, we analysed 165 drawings from children and 22 interviews with Indigenous adults in the Northwest Territories and Quebec. Overall, children primarily drew wolverines in healthy environments, with only a minority depicting the wolverine’s environment negatively. All children demonstrated a basic understanding of the wolverine’s physical appearance and biology/ecology, with few differences in how the wolverine was depicted among the different research areas. Among interviewed adults, the ecological role played by wolverines was less prominent among the themes explored by Naskapi participants than was their role as a thief or pest, when contrasted to Dene participants. These results indicate that information about wolverine habitat or biology is still being acquired by children in areas where wolverines are extirpated, but that a lack of exposure to this species may negatively influence children’s understanding of its ecological role. These results suggest that informing the public about this carnivore’s ecological role may improve public support and, therefore, the likelihood of successful conservation programmes.

This article makes the case for applying recent developments in the history of emotions, and in particular the concept of “emotional arena”, to the study of past polar expeditions. It focuses on the first Antarctic expedition of Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1903–1905), showing how, despite a lack of ideal sources, attention to the role of emotions in his expedition, and in the way it was communicated to the public provides a new understanding of the culture of exploration of the time. The article pays particular attention to two groups of emotions: first, those related to fear, an emotion that Charcot initially was reluctant to say that he had experienced (his position changed under the influence of journalists who saw the emotion as an interesting selling point); and second, anger and hate, emotions that were deemed inappropriate and were omitted from hidden in published accounts of the expedition, even though they appear in other sources.

The activity of intracellular proteolytic enzymes was studied in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fingerlings (0+) after hatching from spawning nests and dispersal in the Varzuga River main stem and its Pyatka tributary (Kola Peninsula, White Sea Basin). The study focused on calcium-dependent cytosolic proteinases (µ- and m-calpains), lysosomal proteinases (cathepsins В and D) and collagenase, and determined the free/protein-bound hydroxyproline ratio, which portrays collagenolytic activity. Compared to fingerlings from the Varzuga main stem, the intracellular proteolytic enzyme activity of cysteine proteinase and collagenase was higher in fingerlings from the Pyatka tributary, where current velocities and food availability were higher. These results indicate that there is a higher rate of intracellular protein metabolism in the juveniles from this phenotypic group.

In 1866, Charles F. Hall recorded testimony from a Pelly Bay native named Sŭ-pung-er who reported that together with his uncle, they had visited the Northwest coast of King William Island 4 years prior in search of materials abandoned by the Franklin Expedition. Sŭ-pung-er told Hall that he had identified a site which Hall believed was a “vault” which might contain documents and speculated that it could have been a burial site for a high-ranking officer. Sŭ-pung-er’s testimony also included the description of a wooden “pillar, stick or post” which marked the spot of the vault. The location of this site and the pillar have never been found. Yet they remain sought-after for both their significance and the potential bonanza of information about the expedition. Any clue or artefact, which could provide clarity for this site, is therefore of great value. This paper describes a model of the pillar seen on King Williams Island, replicated by Sŭ-pung-er, which Hall brought back from the Arctic and included in his list of Franklin relics. The model, now housed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, was first featured in a drawing of relics appearing in 1869 in Harper’s Weekly magazine. The fact that this artefact has been in plain sight for so long, but unrecognised for what it is, is significant. The pillar model both provides clarity and continues the mystery surrounding the Franklin Expedition.

The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (the forerunner of the Arctic Council) and the Northern Forum are both products of the sea change in Arctic politics occurring in the wake of the end of the Cold War. Both are soft law arrangements and both are lightly institutionalized. Yet these similarities have not provided a basis for collaboration between the Arctic Council (AC) and the Northern Forum (NF). For the most part, the two bodies have behaved like ships passing in the night. This article seeks to explain this lack of collaboration and to evaluate future prospects in this realm. The lack of collaboration is attributable in part to a number of sources of tension or fault lines, including issues relating to core-periphery relations, the concerns of indigenous peoples, divergent constituencies, the Russian connection, and bureaucratic politics and the complexities of political leadership. In part, it stems from ambiguities about the status of the AC and the NF combined with restrictions on the roles these bodies can play. There is little prospect of combining the two bodies into a more comprehensive Arctic regime. But there are opportunities to devise a realistic division of labor and to develop useful coordination mechanisms. The AC, for example, is the appropriate vehicle for efforts to strengthen the voice of the Arctic regarding global issues; the NF is well-suited to dealing with matters of community viability. Ultimately, the two bodies might consider creating a joint working group on sustainable development or organizing occasional joint meetings of the AC's Senior Arctic Officials and the NF's Executive Committee.

The fur seals of the North Pacific comprise three distinct herds, which do not intermingle in any way, having distinct breeding grounds, feeding grounds, and routes of migration. By far the most important of the three herds is that which resorts to the American Pribilof Islands. This herd breeds upon the islands of St Paul and St George during the summer, and in winter passes down through the channels of the Aleutian Islands into the Pacific Ocean. The migration reaches as far south as the coast of southern California and returns along the west coast of North America. The next herd in importance is that resorting to the Russian Komandorski (Commander) Islands. This breeds upon the islands of Beringa and Medni, passing in winter down along the eastern coast of Japan and returning by the same route. The third herd is resident in the Sea of Okhotsk on the Japanese Robben (Kaihyoto) Island, where a considerable remnant still exists. It formerly occupied other rookeries on four islands of the Japanese (formerly Russian) Kuril (Chishimi) group, but these are now virtually extinct. The migration route of this herd lies in the inland sea of Japan.

The major economic benefit which the U.S.S.R. derives from its Arctic territory comes from the exploitation of mineral resources. Detailed information about production has long been withheld, at least in the case of important minerals, but enough general information is available to permit a summary in broad terms of current activity in this field. Murmanskaya Oblast' is not included in the summary, because its relatively mild climate, near absence of permafrost, and favourable location render it atypical of the Soviet Arctic as a whole.

One of the most spectacular achievements during the late 1950's was the attainment of the South Pole and the subsequent crossing of Antarctica by Vivian Fuchs with the support of Edmund Hillary. Both parties reached the pole driving over-snow vehicles ranging from modified farm tractors to mechanically complex Sno-cats. The first and last bases on the crossing were named after Scott and Shackleton, in honour of Britain's two most celebrated names during the ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration. The fact that it was Shackleton and Scott who introduced the ‘motor age’ to Antarctica is perhaps even more significant. Their attempts to introduce motor transport to Antarctica make an interesting footnote to their famous exploits.

Since the Antarctic Treaty came into operation, Antarctic affairs have been characterised by international cooperation. The major issues of potential conflict, namely sovereignty, military activity, and mining, have now been largely removed. As a result, the remaining disagreements between parties have been resolved through consultation and negotiation. No dispute has ever found its way to judicial settlement, with most disagreements usually resolved at an early stage through ATCMs. While there is no reason to suspect that the use of consultation and negotiation will not continue, with the introduction of far more comprehensive measures for the protection of the Antarctic environment, combined with the significant increase in activity in and around the continent, there is a greater likelihood of situations occurring that clearly breach these principles or give rise to a dispute. In addition, where extensive damage to the environment has already occurred, negotiation may be limited, so that the other mechanisms for settling disputes must be instituted. The dispute procedures of the Protocol, taken almost entirely from CRAMRA, represent the most comprehensive system for the peaceful settlement of disputes arising in any Antarctic instrument to date. However, clear problems such as remedies, enforcement, and uncertainties with respect to standing and liability remain. Until these problems are resolved, all aspects of all disputes cannot be covered, and comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment specified in the Protocol will remain an objective, not a reality.