Kugluktuk bug collection in the name of science

Kugluktuk youth between 17-30 years old set up traps and collected invertebrates like spiders and bees over five days as part of a collaborative project between the Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay and the University of Guelph. Liam Mulgrew (centre) was hired to continue the sampling weekly for 10 weeks, Elise Imbeau, who works for the project said. Two summer students are also working in Cambridge Bay and will travel to Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven to collect organisms across the Kitikmeot region. The goal of the project, called ARCBIO, is to create a platform for surveying animals, plants, fungi and lichens in the North based on their “DNA barcodes” to automate species identification. From left to right: Elise Imbeau, Lauren Anavilok, Liam Mulgrew, Calden Stirrett and Ryder Aviogana. (Photo courtesy of Elise Imbeau)