August 6, 2019

We woke up this morning on the train at six am, because Julie saw a black bear walking next to us. At seven, we went to the dining car and had a delicious breakfast. We arrived in Churchill at about 12:30, met up with Jill and the Churchill Junior Rangers, and drove to the Churchill Northern Study Center (CNSC) where we had a lunch of pizza and soup. After lunch we had a classroom meeting where we did icebreakers to acquaint ourselves with each other and to check everyone’s well being. Then we watched a polar bear safety video. By then it was time for dinner. After an hour of free time to explore the CNSC, we travelled to the Churchill visitors center. There we listened to a presentation by Antonina Kendurin about the Cree presence at York factory, and their move to Churchill and York Landing and the factory closed. After returning to the CNSC, we prepared for tomorrow by getting fitted for hip waders. We are excited to go to our first fen sites tomorrow. 

Sasha and Jacob