PermaIntern and SEDNA launch online seminars: Building an international permafrost education community

The seminars bring together participants in the program and interested stakeholders from across the Arctic to discuss internship outcomes, mentoring practices, and lessons learned. The first seminar was held in summer 2025, with a second session in the fall and more sessions planned in 2026, connecting participants from Canada, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Chile, and beyond.

PermaIntern and SEDNA members were present throughout the seminar series sharing their experiences, advice, and tips for having a successful internship. June’s seminar featured student Médéric Lorry (PermaMeteoCommunity – UNIS) describing his experiences working at the University Centre in Svalbard.

“I felt really well integrated doing meetings with Hanne Christiansen and Knut Tveit, talking about things that I was not really connected to. It was a good way to learn how you really create a project, how you really deal with a project, in terms of money, in terms of the structure in organizations and things like that.” Médéric Lorry

The October seminar featured two of the program’s interns sharing their experiences. Martin Riska described his time at the University of Montreal with Daniel Fortier, and Emmy Ratto, a geography student at Toulouse University Jean Jaurès (France) recounting her placement at Sherbrooke University with Frédéric Bouchard.

"I truly recommend the program for any student who wants to broaden their skill and meet inspiring researchers and discover new scientific horizons." Emmy Ratto.

Thanks to UArctic networks in Canada and in Denmark, travel funding is still available (until March 2026) to support permafrost internships at the national and international level. The SEDNA program can fund travel and accommodation costs (but no salary) for all interested students. Just reach out!

Supported by Memorial University and the University of the Arctic (UArctic) through the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative - Indigenous and Northern Collaborative Research and Education Fund, the SEDNA (Student Education, Development of professional skills and Networking across the Arctic) project brings together multiple permafrost professionals, research centers and groups, as well as governmental agencies and companies with the mission to provide opportunities for real-world experiences of professional work on permafrost. Building on previous work conducted across the Nordic region (PermaIntern 2022-2025), the SEDNA Permafrost Networking Platform integrates partners from Canada, including Northern/Indigenous community members.

Both projects are part of the activities of the UArctic Thematic Network on Permafrost.