About

The Institute of Arctic Studies is led by Director Melody Brown Burkins with Associate Director Matthew Ayres, and Distinguished Stefansson-Nef Faculty Fellow Ross A. Virginia. A list of additional faculty, staff, and fellow affiliates with IAS can be found here.

We provide undergraduate and graduate students with guidance on educational and research opportunities. Our seminars and public events with Arctic Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, community leaders, and policymakers highlight the importance of Arctic ecosystems, governance, science diplomacy, equity, and inclusion as they inform global affairs, from climate and the environment to security and development.

Since its founding in 1989, the Institute of Arctic Studies has focused on the environmental, cultural, and political dimensions of the North and the critical impact of climate change. The Institute builds on Dartmouth's great tradition of northern studies, which began long ago with the student and legendary 18th century explorer John Ledyard. It continued into the 20th century with Arctic explorer, scholar, and founder of Dartmouth's Northern and Polar Studies Program, Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962). One of his legacies is the Stefansson Special Collection on Polar Exploration, one of the premier library collections in the world on the history of the Arctic and Antarctica. Evelyn Stefansson Nef (1913-2009), a researcher and authority on the Far North, generously endowed the undergraduate Stefansson Fellowship and the Institute of Arctic Studies, assuring its continued strength and growth.

A major National Science Foundation IGERT grant awarded to the Dickey Center in 2008 created a first PhD curriculum in polar environmental change that included polar science, engineering, and the human dimensions of environmental change. This work expanded to encompass research in Greenland, undergraduate and graduate courses, research fellowships, science communication and outreach, and a network of national and international partnerships. Our work with Northern interests, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, is both informed and made stronger by Dartmouth's thriving and inclusive Native American Studies Program, with whom we are honored to share networks, students, and ideas.