Center for Polar Studies

The Center for Polar Studies promotes and supports polar research and scholarship at Augustana College and in the broader academic community.

Established in 2009, the center promotes outreach and education on a wide range of topics including polar ecosystems, polar earth history, climate change, glaciology, geopolitics, natural resources, indigenous peoples, arctic wildlife, and more. The center supports polar research, guest speakers, and educational coursework. Funding opportunities may include:

• Supporting faculty and student research
• Developing and publishing scholarly work
• Presenting research at conferences
• Creating laboratory research assistantships for students
• Supporting research travel and field work
• Sponsoring summer fellowships for students
• Supporting study abroad courses in polar regions

Polar Center Advisory Board

Jennifer Burnham, Augustana College, director

Kurt Burnham, president and CEO, High Arctic Institute

Anders Carlson, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Edith Taylor, emeritus, University of Kansas

James Collinson, Ohio State University, emeritus

Nathan Smith, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; University of Southern California

William Hammer, Augustana College, emeritus

Center activities

Director Jennifer Burnham's doctoral research focused on the distribution of organic carbon in the soils of northwest Greenland, and the implications of carbon cycling in the Arctic on global climate change.

Her current research is centered around the biogeography of seabird colonies on remote islands in northwest Greenland and the impacts that global climate change and anthropogenic pollution (primarily mercury) may have on them. She also utilizes GIS (geographic information systems) to analyze the migratory pathways of arctic-breeding birds fitted with geolocators (light loggers) to document previously unknown winter ranges.

In 2008, a joint research project between Augustana College and the High Arctic Institute was initiated. This project is designed to bring Augustana students to northwest Greenland to assist with joint research projects. In some years students will collect their own data to be used in their senior research projects. Students have been involved in non-fieldwork research projects as well, including GIS analysis of geolocator data. 

The High Arctic Institute (HAI) is a non-profit conservation and research organization that focuses on the study and conservation of birds in Greenland. Founded in 2007 by board member Kurt Burnham the HAI is continuing research on peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon populations in Greenland that was initially begun in 1972.

The HAI has expanded the work to also include monitoring populations of seabirds, waterfowl, and other bird species in northwest Greenland. Current research focuses on the likely effects of climate change on these species and their response, including changes in nesting chronology, breeding ranges, and density.

Events and lectures

In 2025 the Augustana Center for Polar Studies sponsored a two-week study abroad course called Geography of the Arctic. Fourteen students participated in a semester-long course on campus in the spring taught by Dr. Jennifer Burnham, Professor of Geography. They then travelled to northern Sweden for two weeks, joined by Dr. Mark Safstrom, Associate Professor of Scandinavian Studies. Highlights of the trip included travel to Kiruna, Abisko National Park, Laponia UNESCO World Heritage region, Jokkmokk, and Luleå. Themes of the course covered resource extraction, green energy/technology, tourism, Sami indigenous culture, climate change, geopolitics, military defense, urban infrastructure, and more.