When weather redraws Arctic research

Summer 2022, members of the CEN and their collaborators from the North and abroad travelled to Ward Hunt Island (83.1°N, 74.166667°W), a key access point for their respective sampling sites in northern Ellesmere Island. Three years later, an unexpected sampling effort led to a publication in FEMS Microbiology Ecology.

An Expedition to the Heart of the High Arctic

The story happens in July 2022, when 15 people headed to Ward Hunt, at the northernmost station of the Qaujisarvik network. After two years of pandemic restrictions, many were eager to collect long-awaited data in this region, just a few hundred kilometres from the Pole.

Among them were Pénélope Blackburn-Desbiens (PhD candidate in biology, supervised by Catherine Girard and Milla Rautio), Catherine Girard (Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics - ULaval), as well as Raoul-Marie Couture, Denis Sarrazin, Warwick F. Vincent, and several students.

Sampling at the Mercy of the Weather

Pénélope had her sights set on Markham Lake, a 30-minute helicopter flight away, central to her thesis on ecological connectivity. The first days at Ward Hunt brought promising weather, making it easier to set up camp and finalize team travel plans. However, in the following days, thick fog and several bouts of rain delayed the arrival of the helicopter—essential for activities beyond the island. As a result, the work of these 15 people was limited to the immediate surroundings of the camp.

It was in this context that an unplanned sampling was carried out on Ward Hunt Lake. A stroke of luck, since this exceptional lake—located at the heart of the last ice refuge—raises many scientific questions. For Pénélope, it was an opportunity to study ecological connectivity from a new perspective. In fall 2025, these spur-of-the-moment data were published in FEMS Microbiology Ecology.

A Memorable Season, Promising Results

The study aimed to understand how terrestrial and marine inputs influence the composition of bacterial communities in Ward Hunt Lake. The results revealed the presence of ecological filtering within the lake, limiting the establishment of organisms from external sources. These findings are promising and suggest a certain resilience of the lake to future changes in its hydrological regime linked to climate warming.

The 2022 season was remarkable for many reasons—post-pandemic return, a large CEN and international team at Ward Hunt, challenging weather conditions—yet it remains unforgettable. A prime example of the flexibility and versatility required for Arctic research!

On the eve of departure south, at the very last minute, the helicopter finally arrived at Ward Hunt, and Pénélope was able to spend a few hours sampling her original target, the famous Lake Markham… But that’s for another publication!