Park’s ISAMR Program Travels to Northern Canada for Climate Change Research

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September 12, 2025

Members of the International Student-led Arctic Monitoring and Research (ISAMR) program took their annual trip to Northern Canada this summer to conduct permafrost research and study its relationship to climate change in Manitoba’s Wapusk National Park. This year, seven Park Upper School students and two faculty members, along with two students from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, met up with seven Junior Canadian Rangers (JCRs) from Churchill to work and travel together. They also traveled with Mark Dhruv, an environmental scientist volunteer, and parent of two Park Alums.

The ISAMR program is a coalition of students, teachers, and professional researchers working on a projected 30-year study of the subarctic climate. The unique extra-curricular program is an opportunity for students to travel annually to the edge of the Arctic Circle to conduct original scientific research.

This year’s trip consisted of 5 days at a camp on the outskirts of Churchill, followed by 6-7 days in Wapusk National Park at a research station called Nester 1. In both locations, students collected data on permafrost (frozen soil), fox dens, and plant cover, among other facets of different arctic habitats. They will then analyze the data during the school year, building on the dataset that ISAMR has been collecting since 2008.

Club member Ezra E. ’26 shared that, “the most impactful part of the experience was the complete immersion in science, culture, and the environment during the couple of weeks we spent in Canada. Simply being out in the middle of Wapusk National Park 24 hours a day provided a really powerful backdrop to all the work that we were doing. We often spent time thinking about and discussing what it meant to be doing research in this wild area and the implications of our interactions with this land. I think that these ideas and our time on the land greatly expanded our views of what it means to be doing this research and interacting with this huge ecosystem.”

“Whether we were collecting data, walking in the great, open tundra, hanging out at Nester 1, or stuck in a random state, I loved every moment of it,” said Hayden W. ’27. “Sometimes it was because I was with such an amazing and fun group of peers, or because I was in the middle of a brand new experience; other times it was because I was witnessing or doing something incredible. If I were to pick out some favorite memories, it would be the first sunset safari in Churchill with the JCRs and seeing a polar bear and the northern lights on the same beautiful night, surrounded by friends.”

The ISAMR trip leaves a lasting impact for all of those involved. Senior Akelya G. ’26 shared, “This trip pushed me miles out of my comfort zone, but it ended up being one of the best decisions of my time in Upper School. I formed friendships that’ll last a lifetime, created unforgettable memories, and developed a deeper passion for environmental conservation and veterinary medicine. Being able to conduct climate change research in the Subarctic, learning from the land, wildlife, and the native Sayisi Dene people, reminded me never to take opportunities like this for granted. I was also lucky to see the trip through a camera lens as the trip’s Chronicler and document such a formative experience in my life for others to see and be inspired by.”