QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE - An open house at Polar Bear Pass near Resolute last month allowed residents to visit with researchers and take a look at some of the field research being done this summer.

Simeonie Amagoalik at the Polar Bear Pass research cabin near Resolute on July 18. Elders and researchers came together at an open house event to share knowledge about the area. - photo courtesy of Anna Abnizova

It also allowed elders to share their knowledge of the land with researchers.

"Part of the reason for having the open house is to invite the elders, the community members, to come over and we can show them what we are doing and they can pass on some knowledge to us as well," said project leader Kathy Young.

The researchers are studying freshwater systems near Polar Bear Pass, according to researcher Anna Abnizova. It's part of an International Polar Year project.

Abnizova said the research for the Arctic Freshwater Systems: Hydrology and Ecology project involves looking at how hill slopes affect the wetlands, calculating snow melt, observing ponds and lakes and looking at how nutrients are transferred. Abnizova said Polar Bear Pass is a distinct area because of its wetlands system.

"It's a very unique environment in the High Arctic because it is a polar desert environment and having such a large expanse of freshwater system existing in the polar desert is very unique," said Abnizova.

She said this is the second time researchers have held an open house at Polar Bear Pass. Six elders came to the cabin this year.

"We had coffee, tea and cookies and we spoke with them about wildlife, about our experience at Polar Bear Pass," Abnizova said. "They’ve been coming there for hunting purposes."

Resolute resident and former MLA Ludy Pudluk served as an interpreter during the open house.

"Lots of people came in and for myself, it was really interesting," he said. "They were showing the inside of the building."

Abnizova said the event gave her and other researchers an opportunity to connect with people who experience life in the Arctic year-round.

"It was very emotional for me to talk to people who really live in this land, not just for us who come just for the summertime and experience it for a short period of time," she said. "It was an emotional exchange, for me at least."

She said the group discussed topics such as climate change and wildlife.

"Our hydrologists' focus is on the sustainability of this large wetland and it contains quite a lot of wildlife," she said. One topic of discussion was on the lack of lemmings seen in the field this year. Abnizova said elders explained the connection between fox and lemming populations.

"The interpretation was more foxes, less lemmings," she said.

Elder Simeonie Amagoalik asked why the researcher's schedules had changed in recent years, according to Abnizova.

"Simeonie wanted to know why we come for such a long time," she said. "Our answer was that lately snow melt has started to happen much earlier."

She said the research teams used to arrive in early June, but now schedule their arrivals for mid-May. The team also stays later in the year.

"The reason we stay so late is we are interested in the freeze and how much water is available there for the next year," she said.

Pudluk said he would like to see the researchers stay year-round and study during the dark season.

"Maybe one day people from the south might want to do some research in the dark season," he said. "It would be interesting to try and find out if the daylight is going to be a little longer than it used to be, if the ice freezing earlier than it used to be or later than it used to be."

Young said the research not only benefits the scientific community, but the knowledge about the water systems can be used by local residents as well.

"This may provide the wildlife managers with how muskox might change their grazing patterns or go somewhere else," Young said.