City student joins Arctic expedition
Keegan James one of 125 to take part in ship-based journey
A city high school student learned about the realities of living in the arctic on a recent expedition with youth from around the world.
Keegan James returned to Peterborough Tuesday after more than two weeks on a shipbased arctic expedition.
He was one of 125 students to participate in the 2018 Students on Ice Arctic Expedition. Students on Ice is an organization that works to educate youth on the importance of polar regions. Youth hailed from 16 countries including China, Italy, Germany, Norway, United States, and Russia.
Almost 40 per cent of the students were Indigenous from Canada, Greenland and Alaska.
James, 16, is Chippewas from Rama First Nation and is going into Grade 11 at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary in the fall.
A family friend told him about the expedition, so he applied and lucked out. His trip was fully funded by Student’s on Ice.
The group travelled to western Greenland before crossing the Davis Strait to Canada’s high Arctic and the Northwest Passage.
During the tour, they’d hop onto zodiacs (small boats) to visit remote Arctic communities and engage with residents to learn about history, politics, culture and the social and environmental challenges they face.
James’s favourite community was in Uummannaq, Greenland. He was taken aback by how friendly everyone was.
“I met a lot of good people there,” he said.
The expedition was packed with daily activities including excursions around icebergs, glaciers and bird colonies, hikes across tundra, and environmental workshops.
Students also worked with scientists and archaeologists to understand the drastic changes in the polar regions and their impact, learning first-hand about the Arctic marine ecosystems.
Visiting remote communities offered James a new outlook on how people live, not just in the Arctic, but locally, too.
“I definitely learned that it’s a lot harder to live up there than it is around here. It put it in perspective how easy it is down here for most people.”
He spoke of the high cost of food and travel. With limited road access, he said people often have to fly, yet it’s absurdly expensive.
Reflecting on his time away, James feels fortunate to have had such an experience and even luckier to have met all the people that he did.
In fact, the friendships he made were the best part of the whole thing.
“I’ve been able to connect with a lot of people from all around the world.”