Introduction... the place and the people

Welcome to the blog posted by the Churchill Northern Studies Centre Research Staff to detail our adventures in subarctic field science, both ours and yours. Join us from your desk, travels or field of study as we share a bit of our daily work lives, weather conditions and our incredible field science jobs in the Canadian Subarctic of Churchill, Manitoba on the western shores of Hudson Bay.

Introduction to the place we work…

The Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) is an independent, non-profit field station located 23 km east of the Town of Churchill, Manitoba. Established in 1976, the mandate of the CNSC is to ‘understand and sustain the North’ through the provision of logistical and technical support to researchers, facilitation of educational programs to the general public, and improved north-south communication. As a community-based organization serving Canadian universities, government agencies, and international organizations, the CNSC provides enhanced access to the Canadian Subarctic generally, and the Hudson Bay Lowlands specifically, for a number of researchers and educators.

The CNSC provides year-round support to researchers involved in northern research in the Western Hudson Bay region. Major research themes include auroral research, climate change, climatology, greenhouse gas emissions, inland water quality, marine ecosystems, northern ecology, peatland and treeline dynamics, snow pack dynamics, and wildlife management. Since 1976, the CNSC has served as one of the most accessible northern field research stations in Canada.

Photo of the CNSC looking North towards Hudson Bay. This photo was taken in September 2008 prior to construction of the new facility commencing.

The Centre is located in a transition zone where the northern extent of the boreal forest meets the southern edge of the arctic tundra and near the Churchill River where this freshwater river enters the marine ecosystem of Hudson Bay (58°44N, 94°49W). This convergence of ecosystems (forest, tundra, taiga, freshwater, estuary and marine) provides a wide array of representative environments for study. The scope of research that the CNSC has supported over the years attests to the broad range of study conducted in this area.

The Centre supported a total of 8200 user days from April 1, 2009 – March 26, 2010. Research use of the facility accounted for 3700 user days. Including Earthwatch Institute research teams and university credit courses, the academic and research use of the Centre accounted for about 5000 of the 8200 (60%) recorded user days this year. The remaining CNSC user days reflect the educational programs (considered non-research related at the Centre including non-credit travel study tours, school groups, independent educational tours, staff and volunteers.

Awareness of climate change impacts on northern systems has increased the level of research activity at the CNSC in the last 10 years and we now currently have three full-time research staff to provide the same level of high service to our clients. At this time, the CNSC is fully engaged in the construction and eventual commissioning of our new 27,000 sq ft research and education facility that is scheduled for completion in March 2011.

Photo of the CNSC looking southeast from Launch Road. The wooden structure to the left of the existing facility is the new facility under construction. Photo taken March 26, 2010.

The area under the curved beams in foreground will be the new laboratory on the first floor with residence rooms on the second floor. The structure for the cafeteria is still to be added on the south east end. Photo taken March 26, 2010.

Introduction to the CNSC Research Staff...

Dr. LeeAnn Fishback is the Scientific Coordinator and Research Scientist at the CNSC. Her back ground is in environmental geochemistry but true specialty is northern field research and logistics in environmental sciences. LeeAnn has been working at the Centre since 2002 after completing a Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.

Carley Basler is the full-time CNSC Research Technician and has been in this position since 2006. She's been associated with the Centre since 2000 when first coming to Churchill and the Centre for a six month co-op placement as the Program Coordinator. While the first visit hooked her on Churchill, it was a few more years until she was able to make Churchill my permanent home having moved here from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Katrina Jansen is currently the Seasonal Research Technician at the Centre following three summers as the Centre’s Summer Research Technician. This was her first subarctic winter and will be staying on with the team until the end of April 2010. We suspect she'll be back once her schooling is done.

Believe it or not, we actually don’t have a photograph of just the three of us together. We will try to rectify that in the coming days and post some information about some of the past CNSC Research Staff. So here's the start of what we hope will be an entertaining and informative communication tool for the researchers who visit, friends of the CNSC and those with a casual interest in Churchill.