From Alberton to the Arctic: P.E.I. student seeing climate change up close

Alberton, P.E.I., is quite a long way from the Arcticbut that hasn't stopped high schooler Emma Lee Lyon.

Lyon, 16, is on a two-week expedition with over 100 other young people, scientists and Inuit elders.

"At your fingertips you have people who can tell you exactly how glaciers are formed," Lyons said. "You can go and sit next to someone completely different everyday and learn something new."

She said she has learned what plants people in the Arctic used to eat during summer, or what they would use as firewood."Everything on the land had a purpose," she said.

She said she has heard Inuit leaders speak on how their culture was taken from them and how the younger generation is trying to bring it back.

The trip is arranged by a foundation in Ottawa called Students on Ice. The program sends young people on these trips to learn about the culture of the Far North, Arctic wildlifeand climate change.

Welcomed into communities

"We started in Ottawa and we flew out to Greenland," Lyon said.

She said while in Greenland the group got on a boat and visited communities in the area to learnabout the culture.

"They would just welcome us right into the communities," she said.

Now, the group is in Nunavut completely surrounded by mountains and icebergs. Whales pass by occasionally.

She said she was told about the program and decided to jointo get a up close look at what it happening to the Arctic in terms of climate change.

"I thought it would be a great opportunity as a young person to go out and see it and be able to bring it back to the community and tell people what I'm seeing," Lyon said.

Being from such a small community "it means so much to me," she said.

18 different countries come together

Lyon is on the trip with people from 18 different countries, so it isn't just Arctic culture she is absorbing.

"It's amazing hearing about all the different culturesabout their traditions," she said.

Lyon said she is learning how other countries have a different curriculum when it comes to teaching climate change.

The one thing she hopes to bring back to the Island is the importance of preserving the Arctic.

"The Arctic is really holding everything together," she said.

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