Scotty Creek Research Station

The Scotty Creek Research Station (SCRS) is 50 km south of Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada. Periodic snow field measurements at Scotty Creek began in 1994. In 1996, the Water Survey of Canada installed a stream gauging station at the Scotty Creek outlet, and in 1999 the first stations were installed in the basin headwaters for year-round data collection.

The “Old Camp” was replaced by the First Lake Camp (2007-2012) and then by the Goose Lake Camp (2012-present). Since 2003, the Scotty Creek station has operated each year between mid-March and early September, and based on person-days, it is one of the busiest research stations in Canada’s North.

It offers a unique opportunity for high-quality training and community engagement involving world-class expertise and state-of-art research infrastructure. The camp has experienced the effects of permafrost thaw first-hand over the years. In 2017, the infrastructure of the Goose Lake camp was upgraded to include a new power system and new high quality laboratory space.

Permafrost Thaw

As permafrost thaw accelerates, the corridors northerners navigate across the land are changing, with peat plateaus turning to wetlands and rivers having less predictable flow regimes. Infrastructure such as buildings and roads are at risk as the structural integrity provided by previously frozen soils is compromised, and greenhouse gas emissions may also increase where saturated organic rich soils were previously frozen.

Learn more about our SCRS permafrost thaw projects.

Take a Tour

Take a virtual tour of the Scotty Creek Research Station.