Churchill bound

Churchill, Manitoba – 1947. World War II has finally come to an end, and a new era has dawned. Cold-war paranoia has gripped the nation. The United States Military, in conjunction with the Canadian Department of Nation Defense, identifies the Arctic as a vulnerable landscape, ripe for Soviet invasion. They must act quickly to secure the frontier.

Along with the Pine Tree Line and the Distant Early Warning Line, the Defense Research Board is established, with the sole purpose of assessing chemical and biological agents with defense capabilities. The greatest biological threat a northern solider will face – the biting fly.

The Northern Insect Survey, conducted between 1947 and 1962, remains the most extensive insect survey in North American History. By the time it was completed, over 72 sights were sampled, all with the sole intent of assessing how troops would withstand northern climates in the event of a Soviet invasion. In the end little was done with the data, and for years it lay mostly dormant in the Canadian National Collections on Insects in Ottawa. Until Now.

The Biological Survey of Canada, a joint initiative by the Royal Ontario Museum, McGill University and the University of PEI, will recreate the Northern Insect Survey at 12 key locations over a two-year period. The timing of this project is imperative; Today the Arctic is among the most fragile ecosystems on earth. The immense environmental pressures increase annually as the effects of global warming are felt most acutely at northern latitudes. With their diversity and potential for rapid population growth, arthropods can serve as barometers of environmental change. In recent years yellow jacket wasps have been observed on Baffin Island, an unprecedented site, and believed to be only the tip of the iceberg for northern arthropod populations.

In the coming weeks I will travel to Churchill, Manitoba, to document this project. There will be biting flies and midnight sun, and if I’m lucky, the odd polar bear. No word on whether the Russians are planning an appearance yet.