The Changing Arctic Environment: The Arctic Messenger

David P. Stone received a degree in zoology from the University of Aberdeen in 1973. In 1977, he earned a PhD in oceanography from the University of British Columbia. Initially, he worked as an oceanographic scientist in the Canadian Arctic. From 1980 to 2004, he was involved in the management of research for the Northern Affairs Programme of the Canadian Government, becoming Director of Northern Science and Contaminant Research. During this time, he became involved in the development of circumpolar cooperation under the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy that subsequently became the Arctic Council. In 1991 they established the Arctic Monitoring Assessment Programme (AMAP), where he served as Canada's delegate on the governing working group until 2004 and as its chair between 1993 and 1997. From 1990 to 1994, David co-chaired the task force on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the UNECE LRTAP Convention and helped develop a legally binding protocol under the convention. He also served on the Canadian delegation that negotiated a parallel protocol on heavy metals, including mercury. He was involved with negotiating the Stockholm Convention on POPs and, after retirement, he was retained by the convention secretariat to assist in the development of a process to measure, through global monitoring, whether environmental levels of POPs are falling as a result of the new international controls. In 1997, he was instrumental in developing a virtual University of the Arctic based on existing circumpolar institutions. The Arctic Council formally announced the creation of the university in September 1998. David received Deputy Minister awards from the Northern Affairs Programme and from Environment Canada, and he also received an award from Jean Chrétien, the then Prime Minister of Canada. These awards were in recognition of his work on developing and managing Arctic contaminants research and on using the results to achieve negotiation of global agreements.