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. In 1986, I participated in a review of polar science in Canada that resulted in the publication of Canada and Polar Science (Roots, E.F., et al., 1987, report to the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa K1A 0H4). . This year, I was able to survey polar researchers in Canadian universities to determine whether, from their point of view, the findings described in Canada and Polar Science had become dated. In doing this, I gained the impression that there have been some changes in this matter of "relevant" northern research. These are some of my impressions; the results of my survey appear in Canada and Polar Science Revisited (Adams, W.P., 1992, Canadian Polar Commission, Suite 1710, 360 Albert Street, Ottawa K1R 7X7). First, insofar as it can be used as a measure of "relevant" science, there appears to have been some increase in social science research in the North and some gain in confidence among social researchers working there. . Another interesting development since 1986 has been the way in which the term "global change" has captured the imaginations of a wide cross-section of the public and researchers. . The increased public acceptance of the "relevance" of global change research appears to be particularly marked among northern residents. Ozone depletion, greenhouse warming, atmospheric and ocean pollution, and the focusing of contaminants at key points in the food chain are all examples of environmental degradation that have particularly serious implications for those who live at high latitudes. . Also, since 1986, devolution of power to the territories has put various aspects of the management of research into the control of northerners. . Although less marked than some of the other changes that I have tried to describe, it is my impression that university researchers are now more interested in "aboriginal science." This is a matter of very special cultural significance in terms of the involvement of native northerners in research. It is a matter about which there is a feeling of urgency in the North, as many feel that the generation that has the distinctive aboriginal view of the universe and that has the local ecological knowledge is passing. In my survey, I heard of a number of cooperative social and environmental projects that involve both Western and aboriginal science. .

There are more than 50 field stations in northern Canada. These are operated by governments, universities and private agencies. Although many have a particular disciplinary bias, such as marine science, meteorology, native studies, archaeology, limnology, glaciology or biology, most are available to all researchers as a base of operations. Approximately half of the stations are in the Northwest Territories, the remainder in the Yukon and northern parts of the provinces. A table is provided indicating seasonal availability, particular research emphases, level of services provided, accommodation available and ownership. There is no user charge at some stations; most levy a daily fee. The highest cost in 1987 was just over $200 (food and accommodation) per day for the station on the Ice Island, then located northwest of Axel Heiberg. The paper also contains mention of 25 circumpolar stations outside Canada and a bibliography.Key words: field stations, Arctic, Subarctic, Canada, circumpolar North ; Mots clés: stations de recherche, Grand Nord canadien, recherche scientifique, stations circumpolaires

. Fritz first came to the Arctic Institute in 1955 . He came as a McGill-Carnegie Arctic Research Scholar to undertake the study of pingos, which form the basis of his doctoral dissertation and of the definitive publications on pingos, which were his first major scientific contributions. . After two very full field expeditions to the Mackenzie Delta and Greenland in connection with the pingo work, Fritz left the Arctic Institute and McGill to accompany the successful Swiss Everest Expedition of 1956. . Fritz climbed to the 8200-m level, taking the opportunity to extend his studies of patterned ground, begun in Greenland, to levels close to 8000 m in the South Col. . In 1959, Fritz returned to Canada as a Research Associate at McGill and as leader of the Jacobson-McGill Arctic Research Expedition to Axel Heiberg Island, which has effectively operated ever since. Fritz himself was in the field in the Arctic Islands for eighteen field seasons during the last two decades. . Although Fritz left Canada in 1970 to become head of the Department of Geography at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, he maintained an expedition office and the title of Honorary Professor at McGill for the remainder of his life. . [During the Seventies, he was extensively involved] in the North Water Project, a study of the relatively ice-free areas between Devon and Ellesmere islands and Greenland, and its surrounding land and ice masses. . In addition to his roles as leader of the Axel Heiberg and North Water projects, he set up glaciological teaching and research programs at McGill and ETH, . [and chaired a number of committees of a number of international organizations across Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the United States.] . We are pleased to report that the Government of the Northwest Territories has officially re-named the ice cap in central Axel Heiberg Island (70 47 N, 91 30 W) as the Müller Ice Cap, in his memory.