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Dartmouth Partners With Arctic Residents in Sustainability Work

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Office of Communications

Thayer engineers will work with a hunting and fishing community in northern Greenland.

  • (Video courtesy of Thayer School of Engineering)

Read the full story by Julie Bonette, published by Thayer School of Engineering.

Thayer School of Engineering will partner with Qaanaaq, an Arctic hunting and fishing community in northern Greenland, on the residents' transition to renewable energy and an affordable, sustainable future. The project is expected to produce sustainable technological solutions that will also benefit other communities facing the effects of the climate crisis, including areas in the mid-latitudes.

The people of Qaanaaq asked Professor of Engineering Mary Albert, Thayer '83, to collaborate with them in their transition to affordable, renewable energy. Albert, who will lead the team and knows the citizens from prior work in Greenland, has worked in Greenland for many years, studying snow and climate.

The team expects to travel to Qaanaaq for two weeks in the spring and two weeks in the fall each year for the next four years, starting in April 2020. Previous funding from the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society enabled the team to visit Qaanaaq earlier this year to help identify the area's needs.