Digitally Preserving Herschel Island–Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park Project Team (University of Calgary and Government of Yukon)

2026 Governors Awards

The Digitally Preserving Herschel Island–Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park Project Team has been awarded a National Trust Governors Award for documenting the heritage landscape of Herschel Island–Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park. 

Herschel Island–Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park lies 5 kilometres off the north coast of Yukon in the Tariuq (Beaufort Sea), protecting both natural and cultural heritage. As a living park, it is home to Inuvialuit, who have been on the land for thousands of years. In the late 1800s, American whalers established a station at Kuvluraq, where several historic structures remain. Inuvialuit families use the area for traditional activities and researchers come from around the world to study the island’s changing wildlife, geomorphology, and climate.  

As climate change alters the landscape, the project aims to provide precise measurements to aid ongoing restoration and monitoring work. Several historic Inuvialuit and Euro-North American structures are still standing, now threatened by rising sea levels, increased shoreline erosion, and increasingly violent storms caused by the disappearance of sea ice.   

Over several years, researchers across several University of Calgary departments have utilized drone photography and LiDAR scanning to capture extremely detailed digital records of historic landforms and structures on the island. 

The National Trust Board of Governors chose to highlight this project as an exceptional example of how technology can be used to support heritage conservation in remote areas, particularly as climate change disproportionately threatens northern heritage.