Good day. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today.

I have conducted research across the Arctic—in the Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, northern Manitoba and northern Norway—for over 40 years. I primarily study polar bears but have also worked on Arctic grizzly bears, Arctic seals, caribou, northern mountain sheep and wolves. While most of my work has focused on the Canadian Arctic, I was a polar bear research scientist for the Norwegian government for seven years. I have been a tenured professor at the University of Alberta for 22 years. I first addressed climate change as an issue in 1993 with the publication “Possible Impacts of Climatic Warming on Polar Bears”.

I'd like to begin on a positive note by recognizing the contributions of the polar continental shelf project of Natural Resources Canada, or the shelf. Their support has been vital throughout my work in the Arctic, most recently this past spring on the sea ice of Hudson Bay. Without shelf support, I would have left Arctic research long ago. The shelf is the glue that holds Canadian Arctic research together, and as such, it is a critical component of Canadian Arctic research infrastructure.

I have several points I'd like to make, but I'll preface them by saying that the research trajectory I have been fortunate enough to take over the past decades is likely impossible for new academics. Many of my colleagues are leaving Arctic research, and new ones view it as a non-viable trajectory in academia. I'd like to touch on funding and predictability.

I returned to Canada from Norway in 2002, as there was a stated desire to expand Arctic research in the 2000 report “From Crisis to Opportunity: Rebuilding Canada's Role in Northern Research”, published by NSERC and SSHRC. While there have been successful Arctic programs, such as ArcticNet and the International Polar Year, the ability of Canada to sustain Arctic research with a focus on climate change has been limited. Funding levels have not kept pace with research costs and expectations. By its very nature, research on climate change requires long-term commitment, yet funding is often short-term—less than five years. Without the high profile of my research species, my work in the Arctic would have ended long ago. I rely more on funding from non-governmental organizations than any other source.

Further to this, as a past member and past chair of the review committee for NSERC's northern research supplement, I found it disheartening to repeatedly underfund—or not fund—many deserving Canadian researchers. The level of NSERC funding has not changed in many years for this program. The current average northern supplement would approximately cover the round-trip airfare to Resolute for a professor and one graduate student.

From a logistics perspective, Canada is lacking the appropriate infrastructure to conduct long-term research in the Arctic. The limited number of locations from which to base research is a significant constraint. While the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, CHARS, provides support for that area, the Canadian Arctic would benefit from a hub-and-spoke model. A series of well-funded, community-supported research facilities across the north would expand research capacity and increase community-researcher collaboration.

On this collaboration point, long-term research by default is collaborative, yet there are few means of linking researchers in the Arctic with communities and research opportunities. Joint research among various levels of government, stakeholders and universities is essential to maximize research outcomes. Without my long-term collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, my research would be severely challenged.

Northern researchers are sometimes criticized for a “fly in-fly out” style. However, research timing is frequently decoupled from results, making communication with communities difficult. Southern-based researchers must collaborate with northern communities, but it is challenging when research funding is insufficient to travel back to the communities when they are available to meet. Enhanced collaboration between researchers and local communities would increase Canada's research productivity, as would more integrated teams of researchers. However, opportunities to collaborate with communities vary widely depending on the research topic, location and funding. Community-based research centres would facilitate researcher-community collaborations in a sustainable, long-term manner.

Thank you.