In recent years the circumpolar region has emerged as the key to understanding global climate change. The plight of the polar bear, resource extraction debates, indigenous self-determination, and com- peting definitions of sovereignty among Arctic na- tion-states have brought the northernmost part of the planet to the forefront of public consideration. Yet little is reported about the social world of en- vironmental scientists in the Arctic. What happens at the isolated sites where experts seek to answer the most pressing questions facing the future of humanity? Portraying the social lives of scientists at Res- olute in Nunavut and their interactions with logis- tical staff and Inuit, Richard Powell demonstrates that the scientific community is structured along power differentials in response to gender, class, and race. To explain these social dynamics the author examines the history and vision of the Government of Canada’s Polar Continental Shelf Program and John Diefenbaker’s “Northern Vision,” combining ethnography with wider dis- courses on nationalism, identity, and the postwar evolution of scientific sovereignty in the high Arctic. By revealing an expanded understanding of the scientific life as it relates to politics, history, and cultures, Studying Arctic Fields articulates a new theory of field research. Advocating for a greater appreciation of sci- ence in the remote parts of the world, Studying Arctic Fields is an innovative approach to anthro- pology, environmental inquiry, and geography, and a landmark statement on Arctic science as a social practice. Richard C. Powell is university lecturer in the Scott Polar Research Institute and Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge. 2 3 M Q U P F A L L 2 0 1 7 A R C T I C S T U D I E S · G E O G R A P H Y Studying Arctic Fields Cultures, Practices, and Environmental Sciences richard c. powell A study of social and cultural life at a scientific research station in the Arctic. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S November 2017 978-0-7735-5113-8 $34.95A CDN, $34.95A US, £29.99 paper 978-0-7735-5112-1 $110.00S CDN, $110.00S US, £95.00 cloth 6 x 9 280pp 27 photos, 4 maps eBook available