Feds open new Nunavut research facility in Pond Inlet

It’s a deal: Catherine McKenna, the federal minister of Environment and Climate Change, shakes hands with Evan Richardson, a polar bear biologist with her department, at the official opening of the new Pond Inlet Research Facility. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

In Pond Inlet, where she and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the federal government declared Aug. 14 that they had reached an agreement for Tallurutiup Imanga Lancaster Sound marine protected area, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, Catherine McKenna, also kayaked—and announced the opening of a new research facility Aug. 16.

“Science is the foundation of maintaining healthy biodiversity in Canada, and I am thrilled that our scientists have a facility to carry out their research. The facility will strengthen Canada’s role in supporting Arctic Council initiatives while helping to address the impacts of climate change on the Arctic,” McKenna said in an Aug. 16 news release.

Including start-up operational costs, the facility, which was started in 2015—and will completed only at the end of this month, cost $1.95 million.

With McKenna at the opening of the facility was Environment Canada’s polar bear biologist Evan Richardson who said in a video posted to Twitter that the new centre will provide “a great opportunity” to work with local residents.

The Pond Inlet Research Facility will support the department’s Arctic wildlife programs, including research and monitoring of polar bears and migratory birds, such as snowy owls and snow geese, and vegetation as well as monitoring the impacts of contaminants and climate change on Arctic wildlife.

Climate change studies have already looked at the three-million-year-old fossil forest on Bylot Island in Sirmilik National Park for clues to the impacts of climate change in the High Arctic.

At the opening, Richardson stated that the impacts of climate change are seen on polar bears as a “reduction of sea ice has an impact on their survival”—a position not shared by all Inuit.

The Pond Inlet facility will also support community-based research and monitoring programs through “knowledge exchanges” that include Inuit and traditional knowledge, as well as educational and employment opportunities, the press release said.

Several community members were involved in the construction of the facility.

“New research and monitoring will help ensure the ecosystem health of the area for future generations,” the federal government said.

Pond Inlet had been one of the three top contenders for the site of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, now set to open in Cambridge Bay this October.