The 2019 Polaris team arrived at the field site today, after piling into two planes and flying across the tundra. I remembered the start to our journey last year, seeing the land for the first time, and all the questions I had pulsing through my brain.

Today, in the plane among first year participants, I found myself answering many of these questions and pointing out patterns across the landscape. The planes landed, throwing the water below them to their sides, and we all scampered up the lakeshore, our packs and gear in tow.

Once settled, we headed out to explore the area in immediate proximity to camp. Again, I reminisced on last year, this time on my first journey out of camp and first exposure to tundra ecosystems. I had never seen these plants before or walked on such spongey ground. Today, I found myself not only naming the plants, but also explaining the role they play in the ecosystem and for several of them, even their ethnobotanical use.

I spent this past year immersed in my research on this region and my growing obsession with the Arctic. Through my work with this program, my senior project and thesis, and a job as an arctic research assistant, I have developed a wider breadth of knowledge.

Today, having the opportunity to pass on some of this knowledge, for the first time I really felt how much I have learned. I feel a strong sense of growth, going in a year from the curiosity of pure ignorance to leading a pack across the tundra, letting my curiosity, now combined with a well of knowledge, be my guide.

— Rhys MacArthur is a student at Hampshire College and member of The Polaris Project classes of 2018 and 2019