Course Syllabus

Draft syllabus

Semester & Location:	Summer 2026 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Arctic Studies, Environmental Science, Biology
Pre-requisites	At least one course in Environmental science at a University level
Course Title:	Climate Change in Action: Arctic Ecosystems
Faculty Member:	Astrid M. A. Schmidt, Ph.D.
Time & Place:	Copenhagen and Greenland.

Co-requisites:              Kalaallit Nunaat: Greenland’s History, Culture and People

Course Description

This course offers an immersive exploration of the impacts of climate change on Arctic ecosystems in Greenland. Focusing on the region’s rapidly warming environment—where temperatures rise at more than three times the global average—students will investigate the resulting responses across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems from Nuuk to Sisimiut to the Ilulissat Icefjord.

Combining ecological fieldwork with lab-based research, the course provides students with hands-on experience in Arctic landscapes while fostering critical scientific inquiry. Through traditional field-based methods and collaborations with scientists, indigenous knowledge holders, local fishers, and hunters, students will explore how climate change disrupts ecological balance, affects biodiversity, and threatens both local livelihoods and cultural traditions.

This course goes beyond conventional academic structures by integrating local knowledge, institutions, and lived experiences. The syllabus is a dynamic and evolving framework, shaped collaboratively by faculty, students, and community members. It centers local voices and decolonizes learning spaces by inviting local experts as core contributors to both academic and experiential components of the course.

Through in-depth discussions with natural resource managers, scientists, and community stakeholders, students will engage with the complexities of sustainable ecosystem management in the Arctic. Topics include the cascading effects of climate change by focusing on key species,  nutrient and pollution transfer between marine and terrestrial systems, as well as the broader implications for environmental policy, cultural continuity, and global climate action.

The course will be divided into themes on:

• Marine Ecosystems – Food webs and nutrient transfer
• Terrestrial Ecosystems – vegetation types and response to CC
• Freshwater Ecosystems – food webs, indicator species and nutrient transfer
• Evolution and adaptations in Arctic species
• Braiding knowledge systems – indigenous and scientific
• Connections – linking species interactions and dynamics

 

Ultimately, this course challenges students to reconceptualize learning by situating knowledge within the lived realities of Arctic communities, creating an educational space where science, culture, and local experience converge to address one of the most urgent issues of our time.

 

Faculty

Astrid M. A. Schmidt

Ph.D in Climate change & Ecosystems of the Arctic from University of Copenhagen (Niels Bohr Institute/Natural History Museum of Denmark). M.Sc in population genetics and conservation of biodiversity focusing on African elephants.

Current research interests are within citizen science on biodiversity and climate change in the Arctic.  Work experience has involved science outreach, science education focusing on co-creation of knowledge and community engagement e.g. with children and locals. With DIS since 2015.

 

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, you will be able to draw on scientific, local and indigenous knowledge on the impacts of climate change in Greenland to discuss, analyze and present cases on how these are relevant for not only the local but also a global society. You will obtain a holistic understanding of Arctic environments, the organisms that inhabit them, and the human communities that depend on them. You will hold hands-on experience in ecological research, data analysis, and environmental stewardship while engaging critically with questions of sustainability, cultural continuity, and global-local dynamics.

Key learning objectives will be

• Arctic living conditions and organisms: Understand the unique environmental conditions of the Arctic and the physiological and behavioral adaptations of key species.
• Ecosystem responses to climate change: Assess how Arctic ecosystems respond to climate change, focusing on the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors across marine, terrestrial, and freshwater systems.
• Field research skills: Demonstrate the ability to design and conduct ecological fieldwork, including data collection and environmental sampling in diverse Arctic environments.
• Scientific experimental design and teamwork: Design experiments addressing complex environmental issues as part of a team that simulate and test the effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems.
• Global-local interconnectedness: Understand how globalization affects local Arctic systems and how sustainable solutions must balance global pressures with local knowledge and needs.
• Empowering change through Environmental stewardship and Indigenous knowledge: Elevate Indigenous perspectives on environmental management, sustainability, and resilience in the face of climate change.
• Collaborative fieldwork and knowledge exchange: Engage in respectful, community-based learning, sharing knowledge and building relationships with local experts and residents.
• Communication of findings: Present scientific findings clearly and effectively to diverse audiences through visual, written or art-based communication.

 

Approach to teaching

This class will be taught partly in Copenhagen, partly in Nuuk, Sisimiut and Ilulissat in Greenland. While I will be giving short lectures, a high level of collaboration and ownership of your own learning is expected. Only some of the classtime will take place in a regular classroom and there will be guest lecturers, and field studies where we will be meeting with local experts, knowledge holders, managers, NGO’s, scientists etc  

 

Readings

Arctic Ecology. D.N Thomas,  2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd  

Tundra-Taiga Biology, R.M.M. Crawford, 2014 Oxford   

   

Relevant primary scientific literature  

 

Examples:

Schiøtt, S., Jensen, M. R., Sigsgaard, E. E., Møller, P. R., de Paula Avila, M., Thomsen, P. F., & Rysgaard, S. (2023). Environmental DNA metabarcoding reveals seasonal and spatial variation in the vertebrate fauna of Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 706, 91-108. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14250

 

Schiøtt, S., Tejsner, P. & Rysgaard, S. Inuit and Local Knowledge on the Marine Ecosystem in Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland. Hum Ecol 50, 167–181 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00277-2

 

Community-based monitoring in the Arctic. Danielsen, F., Johnson, N., Lee, O., Fidel, M., Iversen, L., Poulsen, M.K…. Enghoff, M. University of Alaska Press. 116pp.

 

Review and mapping of Indigenous knowledge concepts in the Arctic. In Routledge Handbook on Arctic Indigenous Peoples: Ch. 14.

 

Parnuna Petrina Egede Dahl & Anne Merrild Hansen (2019). Does Indigenous Knowledge occur in and influence impact assessment reports? Exploring Ilisimatusarfik Grønlands Universitet University of Greenland Manutooq 1 | 3905 Nuussuaq | P.O. box 1061 | 3900 Nuuk www.uni.gl | mail@uni.gl | phone +299 38 56 00 consultation remarks in three cases of mining projects in Greenland. In Arctic Review on Law and Politics, 10(165), pp. 165-189. https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v10.1344

 

Herman-Mercer, Nicole & Andre, Alestine & Buschman, Victoria & Blaskey, Dylan & Brooks, Cassandra & Cheng, Yifan & Combs, Evelynn & Cozzetto, Karen & Fitka, Serena & Koch, Joshua & Lawlor, Aine & Moses, Elizabeth & Murray, Emily & Mutter, Edda & Newman, A. & Prince, Charles & Salmon, Patricia & Tlen, Jenessa & Toohey, Ryan & Musselman, Keith. (2023). The Arctic Rivers Project: Using an Equitable Co‐Production Framework for Integrating Meaningful Community Engagement and Science to Understand Climate Impacts. Community Science. 2. 10.1029/2022CSJ000024.  

  

Relevant Reports from:  

AMAP Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme  

Examples: Arctic Climate Change Update 2024: Key Trends and Impacts Summary for Policymakers  

  

CAFF reports and action plans on bridging indigenous knowledge and biodiversity management  

Examples: Connecting SIKU Indigenous biodiversity observations to CAFF global reporting,   

 

 …..

Expectations of the students

It is expected that all students actively participate in the learning: do the reading for each class; prepare notes and questions for the instructor, other students, and the people we will meet; actively and responsibly participate in the project groups.

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code