Day 1 ~ By Veronika Madinova, '26
“Why did you wake up so early?” was the first phrase out of my mum’s mouth as I left my room at 3:30 am. My unspoken answer was “I am about to take a trip to Churchill as a part of NorthSTAR for science research, and I need to be at Kelvin High School before 5am.” So yes, on a Friday morning when everyone else was sleeping in because it was a day off school, I was efficiently packing my bags and was at Kelvin High School by 4:51am. I loaded my box under the bus and my mum got to meet the teachers that would be going to Churchill with me.
The bus was big, so all the students could have two seats and be comfortable. Donna, unbelievably nice person and “Mother-of-All”, provided all bus passengers with breakfast food which included tasty Bannock with butter and jam. We left the school property around 5:10 and were on our way. As we were on the road most people slept, read, or did their own thing. We had a couple of short pit stops that gave everybody the opportunity to stretch their legs.
The longest and nicest stop was at for lunch time at the magnificent Pisew Falls - the largest waterfall in Manitoba. The falls provided a view I had never gotten to experience before. It starts with a snaky path through stripped trees coated in a thick layer of snow. The wind pulses and blows off small amounts of the snow on top of the trees, surrounding the people below in a light snowy breeze, much like something you would see in Disney’s Frozen. At the end of the path, you find a wooden platform that allows for a clear view of the enormous falls and snow covered lands. **
After a buffet-style lunch, also provided by Donna, we still had a few more hours on the bus to go. Mr. Speiser, physics master and group storyteller, led icebreakers which helped everyone to learn each other’s names. Shortly after we arrived in Thompson, we made our way to the train station. The train was big, which allowed some people to have two seats for themselves. We had various options of pizza and other snacks during this portion of the trip. As the train began to move everyone was busy with their own tasks and activities. Personally, I visited the game room where I played Dutch Blitz and tried to assemble a puzzle with some newly-found friends. When we came back to our seats, it was past 9pm, and I went to sleep as soon as I could.
Days 2 - 4 ~ By Mercy Ajibola, '24
At the start of the second day, we were still on the train where we had breakfast, but in just a few hours, we had arrived in Churchill. We all took our luggage to our rooms and made ourselves at home in the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC).
Our time at the CNSC started with a short overview of the rules and procedures, and then it was lunch time. The food was delicious, giving us the energy we needed to explore Cape Merry.
It was very cool to hear about the history of the historical landmark and the people who had once lived in this area of Churchill. We also got a look at the outside of the Town Centre Complex and Miss Piggy (a crashed airplane).
After sightseeing, we went dogsledding.
Even as a non-dog, non-any animal really, I loved dogsledding. The dogs were so hyper and energetic, it made me smile. Being on the dogsled was a unique experience. Obviously, the dogs were going rather slow but it was still very enjoyable, especially with the glow from the sun setting.
After everyone had a turn on the dogsled, we went inside a warming hut and learned about the history of dogsledding, specifically dogsled races in Canada. Before this, I had thought dogsledding was an ancient activity but apparently even in 2019, there were large races being held. It was a very cool discovery for me, and I gained a lot of appreciation for people who could stand the cold, move in a sled rapidly and across difficult terrain.
After that, we went back to the CNSC for dinner and shortly after that, most of us were asleep.
The next day was very relaxed. We ate a scrumptious breakfast and packed a lunch for the day. Then we went out to explore and see the wonders of Churchill.
The first place we went to was the Town Centre Complex. This is a massive building that contains all the basic necessities of a city. The school, hospital, pool, hockey rink, playground structures, and the list goes on. It struck me as such an interesting architectural choice. Churchill happens to be freezing cold all the time, and there is of course the risk of polar bears. So they chose to keep important, often visited places all in one spot, that way, people are travelling outside less. After the complex, most groups went souvenir shopping and lunch was eaten outside.
The evening was spent at Jill’s cabin. Jill is the leader of the Canadian Junior Rangers. We started off around a bonfire, most people making smores and hotdogs. After about an hour, most people went inside where we played multiple rounds of Heads Up! while drinking hot chocolate.
After Jill’s cabin, we were given two options. The first was to go to a farmer’s market/trade show, and the second was to head back to the CNSC for dinner. I chose the latter, but over half of the group went to the trade show and many brought back cool crafts and artwork to show the rest of us.
When everyone had returned, we had dinner and then a lecture from Dr. Jane Waterman about the purpose of this trip - science and polar bears.
Exploring Churchill was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t why NorthSTAR had come on this trip. We came on this trip to gather data on polar bears so we could find out their body condition using non-invasive methods. People often talk about climate change and how the sea ice is melting which is affecting the polar bears. When we gather data and track their health based on size, we get to see directly how severe the impact of climate change is on wildlife.
To gather this data, we need to make sure we are taking the right photos. Dr. Jane Waterman explained what to look for when taking pictures. Side profile photos for body condition and whiskerprinting, ID photos, butt shots, and sex-identifying photos were all very useful for our research.
This year, we were extremely lucky with the number of bears we saw. Within 30 minutes to an hour we had seen our first bear - Allele. As a group, NorthSTAR doesn’t name our bears using human names because we don’t want to assign human characteristics to the bears. Instead, every year we choose a theme to name them by, and this year’s theme was Biology terms.
When a bear is spotted, we all move quickly but silently to take photos of the bear. We work in groups of three. There is the photographer, a person with a range finder who measures how far away the bear is, and there are the people with clipboards and pencils, frantically taking notes.
When I said we got lucky with bears this year, I wasn’t joking. We saw a mama bear with 3 cubs. One of the side effects of climate change is that with less food, there are less polar bear cubs. In recent years, you may find a mama with one cub, maybe two if you’re really lucky. Seeing three cubs was almost thought to be logically impossible. But mama Embryo made it happen.
A day on the tundra buggy is very long so some people, myself included, did take some naps along the way. We also had lunch on the buggies. On the first day, we saw 9 bears and then went back to the CNSC
After dinner, we did a rough sort of all the photos we had taken that day and uploaded them to a google drive.

The next day was spent on the tundra buggies, very similar to day before it. In total, we had seen 17 bears on the trip.
We had our last supper at the CNSC, hopped on the train, and said goodbye to Churchill.
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