Stefansson Memorial Lecture 2019

The 2019 Vilhjálmur Stefansson Memorial Lecture was held in Reykjavík on 10 October. This year the attended the lecture formed part of the Arctic Circle Assembly programme. The lecture, titled  „An Arctic without End: Visions for our Planet in an Age of the Anthropocene“ was presented by Dr. Michael Bravo of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University. Introductory speeches were also made by Dr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, chairman of the Arctic Circle and  former President of Iceland, and Dr. Níels Einarsson, director of the Stefansson Arctic Institute. Dr. Lauren E. Culler from the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College was also present.

The Stefansson Arctic Institute and the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College, supported by the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Endowment, sponsor the annual lecture.

The lecture is a commemoration of the explorer and anthropologist Vilhjálmur Stefansson - his life, work and vision for the Arctic. This time the lecture was a contribution to the Icelandic Chairmanship of the Arctic Council 2019-2021 and ARCPATH, the ongoing NordForsk Nordic Centre of Excellence in Arctic Research project. Dr. Michael Bravo is Head of Circumpolar History and Public Policy Research at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. He is author of the acclaimed North Pole: Nature and Culture (2019), described by New Scientist as a “rich and insightful” book and by the Literary Review of Canada as “an exhaustively researched history of that northward obsession”. His work has frequently featured in programmes on BBC Radio 3, the BBC World Service, and CBC. His other books include Narrating the Arctic (2002) and Arctic Geopolitics and Autonomy (2011).

The photo shows Dr. Bravo and Dr. Einarsson with previous Stefansson Memorial lecturers who attended the 2019 event: From left: Dr. Oran Young, Dr. Leslie King, Dr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Dr. Níels Einarsson, Dr. Michael Bravo, Dr. Astrid Ogilvie and Dr. Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir.