The Churchill Northern Studies site
The Churchill Northern Studies site
Eco-Journal, v.17.1, January/February 2007
By Michael Goodyear
In an effort to tip the balance, the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) hopes to bring a little global cooling to Winnipeg with the opening of our new office in the EcoCentre. Having been a Manitoba Eco-Network member for several years now, it seemed like a logical location for our next big step. Staffed by Pat Hardy and Shawn Lund of the Tunnelwood Group, the CNSC´s Winnipeg office will function both as a base for upcoming fundraising efforts and a point-of-contact between Churchill and our many southern-based clients.
Founded in 1976, the CNSC is an independent, non-profit research and education facility located twenty-three kilometres east of Churchill, Manitoba. The CNSC provides accommodations, meals, equipment rentals, and logistical support to scientific researchers working on a diverse range of topics specific to northern science. The CNSC also supports a wide variety of educational programming ranging from general interest to university credit courses.
Located on the marine coast of historic Hudson Bay, the CNSC is situated along a transition zone where the northern limit of the boreal forest meets the southern extension of Arctic tundra. The scientific importance of transitional zones as barometers of environmental change is critical to our understanding of global warming and its related impacts. Each year, more than one hundred researchers and dozens of “citizen scientists’ participate in over fifty projects as diverse as polar bear population dynamics, carbon cycling, atmospheric physics, and the societal impacts of a changing climate.
Since 1985, the CNSC has occupied several buildings on the site of the former Churchill Research (Rocket) Range. Built in the mid-1950´s as part of the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58, the rocket range made possible a clearer understanding of Earth´s upper atmosphere and was instrumental in the development of the Canadian designed and manufactured Black Brant rocket. Many of the buildings are now over forty years old, poorly insulated and lack some of the modern equipment required by today´s increasingly complex studies.
The Churchill Northern Studies Centre is currently embarking on a major capital fundraising plan for the eventual replacement of its aging facilities. We envision our new EcoCentre location figuring prominently in these efforts. Please stop by and say hello to Pat and Shawn to learn more about the CNSC and our exciting plans for the future.
Visit the Churchill Northern Studies Centre online, at: www.churchillscience.ca.