The Arctic has long fascinated people from around the world. Learn how myth compares with reality through the experiences of an Arctic scientist and traveler.
Polar bears (not penguins!). Indigenous Peoples at home in a world of ice and cold. Dreams of wealth from furs and minerals. The Northwest Passage. For these reasons and many more, the Arctic looms large in our imagination. Join an experienced Arctic scientist and traveler to dig beyond our first impressions and discover why the Arctic may be even more interesting and relevant than we know.
For most people, the Arctic is a distant realm, full of unlikely creatures such as the narwhal as well as fur-clad hunters equally at home on ice floes as on open tundra. Nowadays, the Arctic also makes news for the rapid loss of sea ice and for the increasing development of resources and transportation routes. The changing Arctic affects the world’s weather and climate. Mineral development can disrupt traditional ways of life. China, Russia, and the United States vie for influence and opportunity in the far north. How do these stories intersect?
Led by an expert on Arctic science and policy, Henry Huntington, this interactive seminar will explore why the Arctic continues to fascinate us and why the Arctic matters now more than ever. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased appreciation for the peoples, environment, and significance of the Arctic.
This January 5 Context Travel conversation is part of a 3-part series on the arctic with Dr. Henry Huntington. Each session is designed as a stand-alone seminar as well as part of the series. $36.50 per session – register by clicking the links below.
- An Introduction to the Arctic and Why It Matters with Dr. Henry Huntington
- Implications of a Changing Arctic with Dr. Henry Huntington
- What Indigenous Knowledge Can Teach Us about the Arctic with Henry Huntington
Henry P. Huntington earned his bachelor’s degree in English at Princeton University and his master’s and doctorate in Polar Studies at the University of Cambridge. He lives in Eagle River, Alaska, where he works as an independent researcher and on Arctic Ocean conservation for Ocean Conservancy. Huntington’s research activities include reviewing the regulation of subsistence hunting in northern Alaska, documenting traditional ecological knowledge of marine mammals, examining Iñupiat Eskimo and Inuit knowledge and use of sea ice, and assessing the impacts of climate change on Arctic communities and Arctic marine mammals. Huntington has been involved in a number of international research programs, such as the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, the Program for the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, and the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment. He was co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences committee on emerging research questions in the Arctic and a member of the Council of Canadian Academies panel on the state of knowledge of food security in the North. Huntington has written many academic and popular articles, as well as three books. He has made long trips in the Arctic by dog team, open boat, and snowmobile.
