Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 05/02) - A group of 34 Rangers will begin a patrol of 1,700 kilometres to the Magnetic North Pole next week.

The expedition, called Kigliqaqvik Ranger, will take 16 days to complete and is the first time Rangers from Nunavut, the Yukon and NWT will work together on a patrol.

The purpose of the trek is to exert Canada's sovereignty and commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Rangers.

Julian Tomlinson is a Ranger and recreation leaders instructor at Aurora College's Inuvik Campus. He will operate the communications for the trek, beaming back daily updates as the team travels along.

"We've got satellite phones and lap top computers," he said. "The theory is, I'll be able to file photos and e-mail reports and they'll update it through the Canadian Forces Web site, so people will be able to follow along with what we're doing and all the crazy stories of the day."

He says they have a couple back-up systems if the new technology fails.

Tomlinson will write daily updates on the trek as well as feature profiles on individual Rangers, but as an educator has other interests in the project.

"I've been experimenting with something I call 'Ed-venture,' where we bring classrooms into remote places and create learning activities through the digital communications," he said.

While at the pole, he plans to do some experiments and educational activities with magnetism, compass declination and the aurora borealis.

"I'm going to post the information on the college Web site, so students can log in and learn about the expedition and also have an opportunity to do some basic science and some fun learning activities," he said.

"That's the theory."

Has travelled on previous expeditions where he's done similar experiments with education.

In 1998, he took a trip along the Arctic coast to Fairbanks, Alaska where they did some classes at the University of Alaska, as well as providing the college here with daily updates via satellite phone.

On the success of that trek, Tomlinson took his second trek to Nunavut in 2000. Northern knowledge and environmental sciences were shared with students across the planet. "We hit over 4,000 students in classrooms, face-to-face along the way and we were linked with students from around the world," he said. "We were sitting in a computer lab in Gjoa Haven, talking with kids from Greece and Washington D.C."

"It was amazing."

Tomlinson calls himself a "computer moron," and relies on some technical support that he says will help him through the tough spots.

The group are expected to reach the pole around April 16.

To follow along with the adventure visit: www.cfna.dnd.ca