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GOING on the trip of a lifetime with your schoolteacher might not sound like fun – but one Lochgilphead schoolboy says it is something he will never forget, for all the right reasons.
David MacFadyen was thrilled to learn that Lochgilphead High was the only school in Scotland invited to go on an Arctic expedition to see first hand the work being done to monitor the impact of climate change.
And S6 pupil David couldn’t believe his luck when he was asked to make the journey with science teacher Helen Mackie.
The school had been encouraged to apply for the Schools On Board programme - run by the University of Manitoba to mark the International Polar Year – by the Scottish Association of Marine Science in Dunstaffnage.
The pair faced a mammoth two-day, 7000-mile journey to reach the arctic and Inuvik, just south of the Beaufort Sea. While there, they visited the local high school and were introduced to the Governor General of Canada.
After three days in Inuvik, where they learnt about the Inuit culture and the effects that climate change is having on their way of life, it was on to the CCGS Amundsen icebreaker.
The plane David and Helen were travelling on landed on the ice alongside the ship, which was stuck fast in the sea ice.
The ship became their home for the next seven nights- an environment where the outside temperature plummeted to -23°C with a wind chill factor of -35°C. The CCGS Amundsen is being used for the Circumpolar Flaw Lead Study, which brings together over 200 scientists from 15 countries to examine the effects of climate change in the Canadian Arctic.
During their time on the ship, David and Helen had the opportunity to work with the scientists, assisting them with their experiments on the ice.
David said: ‘The time we spent on the ship was a fantastic experience. I was able to take a trip on the ship’s helicopter, which gave me the opportunity to view the huge extent of the Arctic ice sheet.’
Before leaving the Arctic and making their way home to Mid Argyll, David and Helen promised the scientists and Inuit people they would try their best to inform their own community of the problems emerging as consequences of climate change.
