ALPENA – Maritime archaeologist Stephanie Gandulla will be traveling to colder climates July as she joins the Sedna Epic Expedition for a three-week expedition to Nunavut to record climate change observations.

The team of 10 women will serve as educational and life role models for Inuit and Inuvialuit women and girls, encouraging communities to combat the issues climate change will bring. Gandulla is fundraising for her travel expenses to the Arctic, and said she is excited and honored to have this opportunity.

Gandulla joins expedition leader, geoscientist and journalist Susan Eaton, along with other women scientists, explorers, biologists, and doctors to snorkel the Arctic seas and bring global attention to issues such as disappearing sea ice. The team will use mobile aquariums, underwater robots and snorkel safaris to encourage Inuit people living in Pond Inlet and Iqaluit within Nunavut, a sparsely populated territory of northern Canada. Nunavut is mostly tundra, mountains and remote villages only reached by plane or boat.

“I’m really proud and excited to be representing Alpena, Mich., and the Great Lakes as a part of this expedition,” Gandulla said. “I look forward to highlighting Alpena and the Great Lakes. People don’t realize how special a place the Great Lakes are and how important the Great Lakes are to our world oceans.”

Some of the challenges team members will face in the Arctic include unpredictable seas, hypothermia, ice conditions, icebergs, jellyfish, walrus, polar bears, orcas, beluga whales and Greenland sharks, which can grow up to six meters long.

“We will be snorkeling 3,000 kilometers to bring awareness to disappearing seal life and ice in the Arctic,” Gandulla said. “The Arctic is showing the most vivid signs of climate change. The team is working to engage Inuit communities through cross-cultural dialogue, and also show the world what climate change is already doing in the Arctic.”

Using an aquarium and outreach program, the team will collect species within the snorkel zone and put them into aquariums for students to see and learn about, furthering student understanding of what lies under the water surface in the frigid waters of the Northwest Passage.

“Essentially, we’re bringing the ocean to eye level for these students,” Gandulla said. “This will engage local communities and encourage them to see what’s in the water. A lot of them don’t get to experience the ocean life and this is a way to connect them to parts of their environment.”

Team members work with community members to learn what they have experienced with disappearing sea ice and climate changes in one of the most affected parts of the world. The team will share that knowledge through media coverage, outreach and live updates on its social media pages.

Sedna Epic is partnered with large global entities, helping to bring the changes in the Arctic to the world by being “Ambassa-divers” to research the effects of climate change not only on the environment, but on the people who depend on it.

“I am going to be leading the remotely operated vehicle outreach and planning programs to bring to the Inuit students, similar to the programs we do here in Alpena and the surrounding areas,” Gandulla said. “Programs like ROV in a bag and piloting programs will help the students learn additional science, technology, engineering and math principles.”

While in Nunavut, team members will visit archaeological sites, experience history and may come across new sites in their studies. Gandulla has been working with the Dennos Museum in Traverse City to learn more about Inuit art, since the museum houses the largest collection of Inuit art in the United States. This will aid Gandulla in the art history of the area where she will travel.

“I hope to bring some expertise on the study of microplastics in the water to the students and talk about what has been going on here in Alpena to study microplastics,” Gandulla said. “I’m really looking forward to connecting our communities. I’m hoping to have a local ROV team build an ROV I can take to the Arctic, and have students there pilot it. I’m excited about bringing back programs for the community and talking not only with young women about the experience, but with the whole community to get it involved in a cross-cultural exchange.”

Gandulla is fundraising for the trip, which will take place the end of July through the beginning of August. She has a Go Fund Me page, and is working to raise the $18,000 it will take to get her to the Arctic. She also is working on grants for the expedition and partners, who will get exposure on a world-wide scale from the expedition.

“Team Sedna has some amazing networks for media partners and exposure for the expedition,” Gandulla said. “The exposure reaches around the world and that’s really exciting and a neat incentive for partners.”

She will be hosting several fundraisers around Alpena with various partners up until her trip in July.

“Each member fundraises for travel expenses to the Arctic,” Gandulla said. “As as team, we also work on getting grants and partnerships for the expenses for the rest of the expedition. This is a team of amazing people and advisers, and I can’t wait to talk about Alpena and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary everywhere I go on this expedition.”

To help Gandulla get to the Arctic, people can donate to her Go Fund Me account at www.gofundme.com/stephanieandsedna.

Nicole Grulke can be reached via email at ngrulke@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687. Follow Nicole on Twitter @ng_alpenanews.