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ALEXANDRA LANGWIEDER
WORKING WITH NORTHERN COMMUNITIES TO STUDY POLAR BEARS
through collaborative research
Projects
We are excited to be working from the southern to northern edges of polar bear range with communities across the Arctic and Subarctic. Our work started in 2020 in the Eeyou Marine Region and has since expanded to support research in Nunavik, Nunavut, the Mushkegowuk region, and Ellesmere Island.
Polar bears are managed globally through 19 subpopulations across the Arctic. We work with the Arctic Basin, Foxe Basin, and Southern Hudson Bay subpopulations.
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Photography by Graham Perry and Mitch Bowmile
Eeyou Marine Region (James Bay, CanadA)
2021 to present
At the southern limit of polar bear range, bears in James Bay face extreme warming conditions but how this will impact their persistence is unclear. Community members in the Eeyou Marine Region (EMR) of eastern James Bay have observed changing polar bear abundance and distribution in the last decade and identified polar bear research as a high priority (Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, 2019). Communities highlighted that research in the region should involve community members, train youth, learn from Cree Knowledge, and be done without handling animals.
Research questions in this region focus on where polar bears are distributed along the coast throughout the summer, how they are genetically related to other bears in the Southern Hudson Bay (SH) subpopulation, through which they are currently managed, and polar bear diet at the edge of boreal and tundra ecosystems. Previous work suggests the bears in James Bay may be genetically and ecologically distinct from others and through this project, we aim to assess these potential distinctions.
Fieldwork for this project is ongoing, with the goal to develop a long-term community-led monitoring program that will support regional management decision making by the Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, Cree Nation Government, Cree Trappers' Association, as well as the provincial and federal governments.
This work is supported by the Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, the government of Quebec, World Wildlife Fund, and Polar Bears International.
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Nunavik- Kuujjuarapik & WhapMagoostui
2024 to present
Following the work in the Eeyou Marine Region (EMR), organizations in Nunavik reached out with interest in starting a similar project in Nunavik communities along the eastern Hudson Bay coast. In 2024, we hosted a knowledge sharing workshop between community team leaders in the EMR and interested community members in Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik. Fieldwork began in the summer of 2024 with seven hair snare and camera trap sampling stations deployed across the coast. Research questions for this project focus on investigating bear movement between eastern James Bay and eastern Hudson Bay, as well as investigating contaminant loads and diet.
This work is partnered with the Anguvigaq and is supported by funding through the Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board Research Fund, Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, and Polar Knowledge Canada Inuit Training and Capacity Building Program.
Brian and team setting up the camera trap
Whapmagoostui team putting the finishing touches
Whapmagoosui- Kuujjuarapik harbour
Brian and team setting up the camera trap
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Nunavut - foxe basin
2024 to present
Coral Harbour deployment team
Camille packing up
Hurody checking for hair samples
Coral Harbour deployment team
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To complement ongoing aerial survey and biopsy darting efforts and address community interests in leading polar bear research, we partnered with the Government of Nunavut to launch a hair snaring project in the Foxe Basin subpopulation. In 2024 we had our first pilot field season with the community of Coral Harbour where field teams deployed and monitored seven hair snare and camera trap sampling stations to collect over one hundred hair samples in a six week period. This work will continue in 2025 with additional communities in the region.
We currently have a MSc or PhD position open in this region for students interested in working with Inuit communities to address regional research questions.
This work is supported by the Polar Knowledge Canada Inuit Training and Capacity Building Program and Polar Bears International.
In collaboration with Dominique Berteaux at Université du Québec à Rimouski, we are collecting hair samples and photo observations of polar bears at CFS Alert on Ellesmere Island. Polar bear observations have increased at the station in recent years and research questions for this project focus on how many individuals spend time in the area. This project aims to monitor presence at the station and body condition over time as well as use stable isotopes in hair samples to investigate diet in the context of rapidly changing sea ice regimes.
This work is supported by the Canadian Department of National Defense, CFS Alert, and the National Research and Engineering Council of Canada.
Dominique setting up a sampling station
Midnight sun in August
High Arctic colours
Dominique setting up a sampling station
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nunavut- CFS Alert
2024 to present
mUSHKEGOWUK mARINE rEGION
fieldwork starting in 2025!
Communities in the Mushkegowuk region of western James Bay face increasing polar bear conflict situations and identified a need for more community-led polar bear research. In 2024 we partnered with the Mushkegowuk Council to launch a field program using hair snare and camera trap sampling stations to collect information throughout the summer on western James Bay bears. This program will complement ongoing efforts by the Ontario and Canadian governments to collect genetic information and understand polar bear movements between subpopulations. The data collected will be used to inform Marine Conservation Area planning and new protected areas along the coast. Fieldwork for this project will begin in 2025, coordinated by the Mushkegowuk Council.
This work is supported by the Weston Family Foundation Northern Biodiversity Program and the Mushkegowuk Council.
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