I am thrilled to be vising the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center, working closely with the dedicated team, led by Dr Rebecca Pincus. Every day is a learning experience, whether it be about Arctic strategies, US constitutional law or the finer workings of American government. The experts at the Polar Institute either have all the answers or know where I can look. I am spending three months here as part of my exchange under the Fulbright Arctic Initiative IV (FAI IV).  

FAI IV involves twenty scholars from seven Arctic States, multiple academic disciplines, and professional life. The diverse group of twenty scholar participants – including five from Indigenous backgrounds – explores public policy research questions and offers innovative solutions to guide policy makers at the local, national, and international levels. It is sponsored by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Icelandic Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, as well as the Danish and Canadian governments, and would not be possible without the strong support from the Fulbright Commission and the various national Fulbright offices. 

We first met all together in person in Tromsø, Norway, before taking a tour of Finnmark, meeting with Sámi and settler experts and leaders at the Fram Centre, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, UiT Campus Alta, Sámi University College, the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry, the Sámi Parliament (Norway), and the Sámi Centre for Mental Health. We also visited the Alta museum, on the site of over 6000 petroglyphs (Sami rock art) that dates back up to 7000 years, nearly 6000 years before Iceland was inhabited. We continue to meet regularly online with some planned in-person meetings when opportunities arise to develop our research, discuss the trajectories of our projects, and learn from experts around the Arctic.  

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Rachael Lorna Johnstone 

There are three working groups and my own is concentrating on critical minerals in the Arctic at a time when issues around supply and demand are a top national and international priority for many Arctic countries. We are exploring how different conceptions of time influence how different groups perceive mining and minerals – from geological time, through Indigenous understandings of time, durations of mining projects, permitting timescales, and perceptions of urgency within the language of criticality.  

My individual research project focuses more specifically on energy policy in Iceland. My home country harnesses more energy per capita than any other and the vast majority is generated in geothermal or hydropower stations. This abundance of energy does not, however, eliminate disagreements regarding the sourcing of new or expanded energy plants nor the distribution of energy between competing groups of users. Today, the lion’s share of energy is harnessed for industrial uses and there are plans to increase energy supply to attract new investments.   

I am taking every opportunity to soak up American history and culture, having visited so far eight of the superb Smithsonian Institutes and the zoo, the National Archives, the Botanic Gardens, the Supreme Court, the National Cathedral, and the Presbyterian Church on New York Avenue – where I am told that former pastor George Docherty is a distant relative of mine. I volunteer at an “ID Ministry” organized by Foundry Methodist Church at which we help people obtain or replace documents, such as birth certificates, state IDs, and social security cards. I hope to visit the other museums, the Capitol, listen to at least one Supreme Court hearing, and attend some American sporting events, including DC Spirit soccer team, during my stay. 

I have also travelled to New York City and Kingston, RI, where I gave talks respectively on the law report as a kind of archive, and on Greenland’s legal history. During my trip, I visited the Stonewall monument and museum, the MoMA, the Whitney Gallery in New York – and of course the iconic Tiffany’s flagship store on 5^th Avenue! 

It is a privilege to be hosted at the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center, at the heart of US law and policy at Federal Triangle. Like my home university’s polar law masters program, it is a rare center of research that focuses on both Arctic and Antarctic from a human sciences perspective.  

Image Credit

Rachael Lorna Johnstone