Project Homepage

Lake Imandra [zoom]

The Kola Peninsula is one of the most populated and polluted regions in the Arctic. The AAAS Program on Europe and Central Asia, the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont, and the Kola Science Center in Apatity, Russia are proposing to conduct a multi-year US-Russian research effort to increase understanding of the role of human dynamics on ecosystem functions and explore development strategies to enhance ecosystem health, ecological sustainability and economic diversity. The project will focus on the Imandra Lake watershed, initially, and then examine the Kola and Tuloma River watersheds. All of these watersheds cut through the heart of the industrially developed ecosystems of the Kola Peninsula and account for the release of major pollutants into the Barents and White Seas and the Arctic Ocean.

This research effort will utilize participatory modelling exercises and other collaborative projects in the Kola Peninsula to meet its goals. Please refer to the menu on the left to learn more about the Kola Peninsula and our activities.

This project is graciously funded by a grant from the Office of Polar Programs at the US National Science Foundation.