Stantec joins major Arctic research project

Photo courtesy Stantec.

Stantec will support research and development (R&D) organization Battelle on a new 10-year, US$260-million Arctic research support and logistics services (ARSLS) contract for studies in Northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and other Arctic areas.

Funded by the U.S. federal government’s National Science Foundation (NSF), the contract will see Stantec provide infrastructure and logistics support, including engineering, design and planning services, for new and existing facilities in some of the planet’s most remote and challenging locations, weather conditions and terrains.

Stantec is tasked with designing sustainable and resilient research facilities, laboratories and operations centres where Battelle’s academic researchers will conduct their studies of the Arctic’s natural environment and social and cultural systems, so as to understand local changes with downstream effects on the rest of the world and, in turn, the planet’s influence on the Arctic. The facilities’ key features will include efficient startup and shutdown, reconfiguration and reuse, remote monitoring and automation.

Also, building upon its successful business partnerships in Alaska, Stantec will focus on co-ordination and collaboration with Indigenous communities. The firm is currently working to earn Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) certification from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB).

“We have a long history of supporting Indigenous communities and extensive experience designing facilities across the Arctic,” says Chris Brown, a Stantec vice-president (VP) and project manager based in Anchorage, Alaska. “Our team understands the variables that must be considered and we look forward to helping facilitate essential research.”

(Meanwhile, at the other end of the planet, Stantec is collaborating with NSF on the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science (AIMS) project, for which it was selected last year to work alongside Parsons and Leidos.)