Special Projects

Greenland’s environment has undergone rapid changes in recent years. From melting glaciers to warmer summers, Greenland is one of the places experiencing the most immediate effects of climate change. Dr. Spruce Schoenemann is a professor of geology at the University of Montana. Having spent several months in Greenland in 2012 to conduct research measuring the […]

Greenland hasn’t existed much in the public imagination, especially in the United States. It is a vast, icy, white island on the map over 1,800 miles away from New York City. It’s hard to imagine an entire cultural community inhabiting the harsh Arctic climate, but the island has been a destination for resilient populations for […]

NUUK, Greenland — Greenland has become a political hot spot in the media, which has heavily impacted the number of tourists and journalists that citizens are seeing daily. Being a territory of Denmark, the question shouldn’t be whether the United States will broker a deal to buy the land, but what the people living there […]

WASHINGTON — Alaska United States Senator Lisa Murkowski emphasized Greenland’s role in North American security, but argued President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about potentially acquiring the territory has made cooperation more difficult, in a June 25 interview. Following a June 25 Hudson Institute event, “Navigating Competition in the Central Arctic Ocean” in downtown Washington, D.C., Murkowski […]

Coming from a place with very few natural resources, Greenlanders have been forced to be very resourceful in order to survive. Despite the landscape’s limitations, native Greenlanders have rich food and art cultures. Sophie Marie Korniussen is the owner of Anori Art, a small gift shop in Nuuk. The small shop also employs several generations […]

Have you ever thought about the tiny pieces that make up your smartphone? The batteries used in electric vehicles? How about where the photos on your smartphone live (because yes, the “cloud” is a real place)? Where your personal data goes when you accept the terms and conditions on social media? These things have all […]

NUUK, Greenland — Greenland has been thrust to the forefront of the world’s political stage, which has led to a steep increase in tourism and journalists visiting the country and talking to its people. However, this has caused issues for many who call Greenland home, making some of their local hangouts no longer feel like […]

In the Port of Nuuk, a large, sturdy wooden dock features wooden beams connected to a cliff that borders the port and the water. The wooden dock is home to over 50 large ships, fishing boats and tourism boats. Off the edges of the dock are 20-foot stepladders that go down into the ships. A […]

The fishing industry has been the largest sector of Greenland’s economy for many years, but recent pushes for more financial independence hope to change that. Tourism and the extraction of mineral resources are some of the new business avenues that Greenlanders have been exploring in recent years. Jorgen Hammeken-Holm is the Deputy Minister of Business, […]

For many Americans, Greenland has probably existed in the public imagination in one of two ways: that giant island on the world map or the huge ice sheet that was oxymoronically named as a marketing ploy by a Norse Viking. As Greenland has percolated in American politics and discourse since President Donald Trump claimed the […]

NUUK, Greenland — Greenlandic culture differs heavily from American culture, focusing heavily on being a part of and respecting the space and land around them. Arnakkuluk Kleist attested to this sentiment. Kleist grew up in Greenland, influencing her passion for educating these businesses about the way of life there. She is the co-owner of Pikiala […]

In the depths of the Cold War, as Soviet Union missiles in Cuba locked onto coordinates for United States cities, an operation was underway beneath the Greenland ice sheet in subzero temperatures. The ambitious mission, known as Project Iceworm, drilled through thick ice with plans to build an under-ice railroad to transport nuclear missiles, until […]