The Institute of Arctic Studies

Director: Melody B. Burkins, PhD

Founded in 1989, the Institute of Arctic Studies (IAS) at the Dickey Center is Dartmouth's crossroads for multidisciplinary Arctic Scholarship and global policy dialogs that center inclusion, justice, equity, and Indigenous Knowledge in solutions to Arctic and global challenges. We connect Dartmouth faculty from the College and professional schools with colleagues throughout the circumpolar north and maintain longstanding and valuable partnerships with the University of the Arctic (UArctic), the Stefansson Institute in Iceland, the U.S. Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL), Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ leadership, Canada Fulbright and the U.S. State Department Fulbright Arctic Initiative, the University of Greenland, the U.S. National Academies Polar Research Board, and many more.

The Institute’s annual programmatic offerings include ongoing education, research, and policy-engaged scholarship opportunities for students hoping to advance work with our partners in scholarship and practice in Canada, Greenland, the Nordic countries, and the polar region of the south, Antarctica. We also connect Dartmouth communities to UArctic, a network of over 200 Arctic-engaged institutions around the world, where we currently support engagement and leadership in UArctic “thematic networks” ranging from insect ecology to science diplomacy, climate, and gender studies. Since 2008, we have also hosted the UArctic Institute for Arctic Policy, a forum for connecting scientists, policymakers and Indigenous leaders on issues of climate, health, security, and development. Recognized as a trusted and inclusive convenor of Arctic education, research, and policy-engaged dialog, we also host and cosponsor a diversity of seminars, conferences, and workshops highlighting the importance of the Arctic region, and Arctic Peoples, in world affairs.