The John Rae Society welcomes three Arctic experts to Orkney via Zoom in our second series of on-line talksto share their insights on various aspects of life in the extreme North.

#5 On Wednesday, January 26th polar bear expert, professor and Arctic tour operator Dr Martyn Obbard will share his vast knowledge on Bears of the Eastern Canadian Arctic featuring polar bear survival in the mid nineteenth century and at the present time.

#6 On Wednesday, February 16th travel writer and biographer Sara Wheeler, author of The Magnetic North:Travels in the Arctic will tell the story of her circumpolar journey encompassing all the [Arctic] lands, including a bit of history as well as contemporary encounters and discussion of the hydrocarbon issue in her talk The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic.

#7 On Wednesday, March 9th Canadian globe-trotting, history-hunting storyteller Ken McGoogan author of Fatal Passage, Lady Franklin’s Revenge, and Dead Reckoning:The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage and John Rae expert will talk about the Indigenous Contribution to Arctic exploration – a subject he explores thoroughly in Dead Reckoning.

All the lectures, which all start at 6pm, tickets are £5 for non-members plus £1.13 booking fee and a 20% discount for members of the John Rae Society ( you will all get an email with the discount code in it ).

To become a John Rae Society member join here Membership – John Rae Society