Student report from UArctic Congress 2026: Alfred Champigny
Alfred Champigny, PhD student from the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), received a travel grant to join the UArctic Congress 2026. In this report, Alfred shares experiences from participating in the event.
I would like to thank UArctic for the travel grant that enabled me to attend the conference and present my PhD research; attending this event would simply not have been possible without this financial support. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the Faroe Islands as well as the organizers who put together such a successful event.
I am a PhD student from the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Institut des sciences de la mer (ISMER). My project focuses on the morphological and molecular characterization of dinoflagellates (unicellular plankton) in the Canadian Arctic. These organisms form a critical link in the food web, especially in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where they are highly abundant and diverse, but remain understudied. By documenting their distribution, morphology, evolution, and genetic diversity, my work aims to provide a clearer picture of dinoflagellate dynamics in the region. Ultimately, this research allows for a better understanding of food webs and the actual biodiversity of this group. Furthermore, by creating reference sequences, my findings help to better estimate the distribution of these species across all oceanographic basins using metabarcoding.
As this was the first international conference of my PhD, my main goal was to position my research within the broader landscape of current Arctic studies and explore how my data connects to wider regional environmental challenges. I presented my results during the "Biodiversity: current insights and knowledge gaps" session. This session proved to be particularly engaging, as all the presentations complemented each other perfectly. The feedback I received was very constructive, offering new analytical angles for my research. Moreover, the follow-up discussions initiated right after my talk paved the way for potential future collaborations with international colleagues. In addition, several plenary sessions and presentations provided valuable insights that directly enriched my perspective on current methodologies in marine biology.
Beyond my specific field, the true impact of this grant for me lies in the multidisciplinary exposure it provided. The discussions allowed me to engage with cross-cutting issues, such as the preservation of Arctic languages and the ecological threats stemming from new economic activities, particularly the risks associated with the opening of commercial shipping routes due to ice melt. This broader perspective highlights how our scientific disciplines benefit from integrating the human and economic realities of the region. Developing a deeper understanding of the lifestyle and challenges faced by Arctic communities provided valuable socio-ecological context for the field research I conduct.
The travel grant was funded by YoungArctic. Financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the YoungArctic project is a collaboration between High North Center (at Nord University), UArctic, and International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA).