Thursday Lectures: Thoughtful Talks for Curious Minds: What’s Happening in the Arctic - and Why Should We Care?   

Although it may seem as though the Arctic has just entered the collective consciousness with renewed American interest in Greenland, the region has long been of importance for climate scientists, military planners, and naturally individuals living in the Arctic region itself. This presentation will provide an overview of the region’s importance, stretching from Alaska, to Europe, to Russia – showing how changes in European geopolitics and security have direct implications for the future of the region.

Dr. Gabriella Gricius is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the Norwegian Military Academy and a Fellow with the North American and Arctic Defense and Security Network (NAADSN). She is also a Senior Fellow at the Arctic Institute. She is currently working on a project covering Nordic security community formation and hybrid threats in the European Arctic region.

Often conceived of by outsiders as primordial and timeless, the Arctic in fact moves through history like any other region on earth. This presentation will examine key themes in Arctic history—both human and environmental—tracing change and continuity over four broad time periods: indigenous, colonial, industrial, and contemporary.

Dr. John McCannon is a historian of Russia and the polar regions. He was educated at Yale University (BA) and the University of Chicago (MA/PhD). He taught history for 30 years, most recently at the University of Saskatchewan and Southern New Hampshire University. His publications include Red Arctic (1998); A History of the Arctic (2012); and Nicholas Roerich: The Artist Who Would Be King (2022). He currently works as a guide and lecturer for Viking Cruises.

The North American Arctic — spanning Alaska, Northern Canada, and Greenland — is often portrayed through simplified narratives: a frozen wilderness, a geopolitical battleground, or a region of untapped opportunity. The realities are far more complex. This talk explores common myths, examining how climate change, Indigenous leadership, geopolitics, science, and economic pressures are reshaping the region. Drawing on current events and policy experience, the presentation offers a more grounded understanding of a rapidly changing Arctic.

Dr. Jennifer Spence is Director of Harvard’s Arctic Initiative at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. A specialist in Arctic governance and public policy, her work focuses on sustainable development, international cooperation, and the challenges facing Northern communities. She previously served as Executive Secretary of the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group and has held senior roles with the Government of Canada.

Environmental changes are occurring rapidly throughout the Arctic region, including melting sea ice and glaciers, rising temperatures, loss of snow cover and absorption of solar heat, thawing permafrost and the release of greenhouse gases, and increases in severity of wildfires, precipitation, and storms. These changes and their interactions are disrupting the function of ecosystems as well as the livelihoods and cultures of resident populations. Additionally, the changes are now having impacts outside the Arctic and are altering global weather patterns and amplifying global warming.

Professor George Kling is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. A limnologist (the study of lakes) and Arctic researcher, he primarily studies ecosystem ecology and how water, nutrients, and greenhouse gases are transferred between land, surface waters, and the atmosphere. Professor Kling is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has received numerous awards for his research on the impact of climate change on aquatic ecosystems from the Arctic to the tropics.

What are Russia’s policy objectives in Arctic security, governance and international cooperation? How does Moscow perceive the current situation of ‘low engagement’ with the West in the Arctic, the volatility around President Trump’s rhetoric on Greenland, and the Russia-China relationship in the region?

Pavel Devyatkin, a non-resident fellow of both the Quincy Institute in Washington, D.C. and The Arctic Institute, has published Arctic militarization, nuclear weapons and arms control, great power competition and regional cooperation. His writing has been published by the U.S. Department of Defense, Strategic Analysis, Polar Journal, Italian Institute for International Political Studies, and other outlets. He provides consultations to academic institutions, diplomats and businesses on Arctic affairs. A graduate of the London School of Economics and University College London, Pavel is an American of Russian ancestry.