Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries in the Alaskan Coastal Arctic

The Laney lab at WHOI has been leading a series of interdisciplinary studies in the Alaskan coastal Arctic since 2016 that focus on interactions between rivers, sea ice, and the coastal ocean.

Mr. Laney is an oceanographer and engineer who likes to work at the interface between oceanography and technology. His research is strongly interdisciplinary, and novel instrumentation and observational approaches play an important role in his laboratory and field studies. He has broad interests in phytoplankton ecology and especially how phytoplankton interact with the oceanic light environment. Mr. Laney is especially drawn to ice-covered polar regions where little is known about the distributions and ecology of algae in and under sea ice, or how variability in the light environment affects under-ice ecosystems. A main theme in his current research is the development of new observational approaches to help us overcome historical roadblocks that keep us from better understanding polar ocean ecosystems.

At the crossroads of knowledge: a molecular adventure in Nunavik

Contrarily to tropical ecosystems, organisms from northern ecosystems have been scarcely investigated by chemists to identify natural products they synthesized. By contrast, members of indigenous communities of Nunavik have developed an extensive knowledge on plants, lichens, animals and all other organisms living under harsh climate conditions. One example is the traditional use of the small labrador tea infusion for a good general health.

Unfortunately, the North is warming up faster than anywhere else on the planet, impacting tremendously the life cycle of plants growing in northern ecosystems. What is the impact of climate change on the chemical substances composition of medicinal plants? How these changes alter their medicinal properties? How warmer temperatures affect the harvesting period?

To answer to these questions and others, we have started a vast intersectorial research project that was coconstructed with members of the communities of Whapmagoostui First Nation and the Northern Village of Kuujjuarapik. We will describe the project origins and the synergies of combining traditional and scientific knowledge to the benefit of the northern communities and of the scientific community.

Biophilic Architecture in the Arctic

Biophilia defines the innate attractiveness of humans towards nature, daylighting being its primary vector. As a genuine extension of the body, architecture stands between nature and humans and expresses the tangible meeting point of climate, biology and technology. The research aims to optimize biophilia by creating living environments adapted to the limited availability of natural light in extreme climates. It stems from a collaboration with the community of Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut. The partnership shows clear mutual benefits for both the Inuit community and the research team to actively develop new co-design methods for future infrastructure promoting the well-being of its users in the Arctic context. The presentation highlights how architecture played a central role in the integration of fundamental research into locally driven projects to envision and build together.

Community co-creation workshops in Nunavut have enabled the development of innovative architectural strategies for sustainable developments that consider the light cycles of the Inuit seasons, linked to well-being and low-energy buildings in extreme climates. A transdisciplinary design studio involving master students of the professional program in architecture have developed co-designed bioclimatic solutions, ensuring the integration of Inuit cultural identity and expertise to high performance architecture in the Arctic. The integrated design process of the physical ambiences studio, unique to Université Laval, offers the opportunity for a dialogue based on immersive visualization and experimentation, involving its community partners. It represents the ultimate integration of all research fields involved within our Sentinel North projects, developing frugal and robust low tech-high tech architectural solutions to improve well-being in the Arctic. Workshops explored how the integration of Arctic prefabricated greenhouses could not only ensure local food sovereignty, but also meet architectural needs linked to the transmission of intergenerational knowledge celebrating Inuit culture, while minimizing environmental impacts in zero energy and carbon neutral concepts.

Our transdiciplinary approach is based on a transectorial team that evolved since 2016, generating original research outputs and technology developments with a wide array of expertise from four Faculties, Planning Arts Architecture & Design, Science and Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture and Nutrition. Researchers share a common interest in integrating new knowledge to generate innovative solutions and explore areas beyond disciplinary boundaries. In addition to community workshops, research outcomes have enabled the development of original R& D solutions for biophilic inhabitation and technological instrument developments from low-tech to high-tech 360° environmental multisensory sensors, 360° capture systems for circadian health and thermal comfort, including the collaboration with the Sentinel North platform for technological development, enabling visualisation of biophilia for the well-being of users and energy. Overall, the project develops immersive design methodologies to favor North-South exchanges that should also engage more effectively partners involved with distant communities of the Arctic.