Expedition Researchers, Educators, Filmmakers, Technologists, Storytellers & Sailing Crew — 2027 Pan-Northern Passage

Company Description

Expedition Audacity Research Foundation is a volunteer-run registered charity and U.S. 501(c)(3) that uses long-range sailing expeditions as a platform for research, education, exploration and storytelling.

A major part of our work is creating real-world field opportunities for emerging researchers through our NGEN Launchpad programme. Researchers aboard generally bring their own projects, often as part of bachelor's, master's or PhD work, while Expedition Audacity also carries projects for universities, NGOs and other research partners.

Our expeditions are deliberately multidisciplinary. A marine biologist may be sharing the vessel with an engineer, filmmaker, educator, acoustic researcher, photographer, technology developer or someone working in a field none of us expected when we left the dock.

At the same time, the vessel may be conducting our own seafloor mapping work, supporting partner research, broadcasting live education through Expedition Luminescence, producing immersive content for T.E.L.E.S.C.O.P.E., testing recent technology at sea and filming our adventure documentary series.

Everyone aboard is also part of the sailing crew. Researchers do not disappear into a lab while somebody else drives the boat. Crew learn seamanship, stand watches, help sail the vessel, assist one another's projects and become part of the everyday work of operating an expedition at sea.

Role Description

We are currently recruiting researchers, educators, filmmakers, photographers, writers, technologists, engineers, storytellers, sailors and other expedition crew for the 2027 Pan-Northern Passage, a seven-month sailing expedition from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Victoria, British Columbia, travelling through Atlantic Canada, Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, the Northwest Passage and Alaska.

The core expedition commitment runs from May 1 to December 1, 2027.

Researchers selected through NGEN will generally bring a project they want to pursue aboard. That may be bachelor's, master's or PhD research, an independent project, technology development or another piece of work that genuinely benefits from extended access to the field. We are particularly interested in work that is difficult to undertake without access to a vessel, remote environments or months of continuous field time.

Educators will help connect the expedition with classrooms and young people through live programming from the field and the educational material we build from each voyage.

Filmmakers, photographers, writers and other storytellers will help document the people, research,



communities and places we encounter. Our documentary work is being developed as an adventure series rather than a conventional science programme, so we are interested in people who can tell compelling human stories as well as document the work happening around them.

Engineers, technologists and technical crew may be developing, testing or operating equipment in real-world conditions at sea, supporting research projects or helping expand the vessel's own capabilities. This can include marine technology, robotics, acoustics, sensors, subsea systems, remote sensing and other tools that benefit from being tested outside a laboratory.

Experienced sailors and practical deck crew are also an important part of the expedition. One of the hardest roles for us to fill is experienced sailing crew who genuinely enjoy teaching people who may have never sailed before.

Whatever your primary role, you will also become part of the vessel's crew. You will stand watches, learn or practise seamanship, help with expedition operations, assist other crew when needed and take part in the ordinary work of keeping a sailing vessel functioning for months at a time.

You do not need to arrive as an experienced sailor unless you are specifically applying for a sailing position. Our sailing crew teach practical seamanship, navigation and watchstanding. You do need to arrive willing to learn, contribute outside your own speciality and live and work closely with a small group of people for an extended period.

This Is a Volunteer Expedition

This is a volunteer expedition position, not salaried employment.

Expedition Audacity itself is volunteer-run, including its leadership.

Accommodation, meals and normal onboard expedition costs are covered while you are aboard. New crew generally arrange and fund their own initial travel to join the vessel.

We want that to be clear before anyone applies.

Who We Are Looking For

We are less interested in filling the vessel with fifteen people who have identical résumés than we are in building a capable crew with different skills, ideas and experience.

That may include bachelor's,



master's or PhD researchers with their own field projects; scientists; engineers; technology developers; educators; filmmakers; photographers; writers; documentary crew; sailors; deck crew; conservation researchers; communicators; and people with practical skills that become extremely useful when something breaks a very long way from the nearest chandlery.

Research interests may include marine biology, oceanography, conservation, acoustics, environmental monitoring, robotics, engineering, remote sensing, subsea technology, climate and Arctic research, anthropology or other fields that can make meaningful use of the expedition.

We are also interested in projects and people we have not thought of yet. If what you do needs access to the field and you think a sailing expedition could make it possible, tell us why.

Most importantly, we are looking for people who are curious, adaptable and capable of being useful to the people around them.

Qualifications matter.

So does being someone the rest of the crew will still be happy to sit down to breakfast with after five months at sea.

Safety & Eligibility

Crew must meet our basic safety and fitness requirements, including the ability to swim 2 km and tread water for 30 minutes unaided.

Because of the expedition route, applicants must also be legally eligible to enter Canada, Greenland and the United States as vessel crew. Expedition Audacity will assist with the appropriate visa and crew-entry process where required, but applicants must still be admissible to the countries along the route.

Shorter Citizen-Science Opportunities

Not everyone can disappear for seven months.

We also offer a very limited number of citizen-science placements, generally lasting from two weeks to one month. These allow people interested in exploration, conservation and field science to participate directly in expedition work without committing to an entire season.

These are not passenger berths or adventure holidays.

Citizen scientists join us as working members of the crew and take part in the expedition happening around them.

Applying

Applications for the 2027 Pan-Northern Passage are open until November 15, 2026. Crew selections will be completed by December 31, 2026.

If you are applying as a researcher, tell us what you want to investigate, test, build or document and why access to an expedition like this would matter to your work.

If you are applying as an educator, filmmaker, photographer, technologist, storyteller, sailor or another type of expedition crew member, tell us what you can bring aboard, what you hope to accomplish or learn, and why spending seven months at sea sounds like a good idea rather than a warning sign.

We do not expect everyone who applies to already know how to sail.

We do expect everyone who comes aboard to become part of the crew.

📌 Expedition Researchers, Educators, Filmmakers, Technologists, Storytellers & Sailing Crew — 2027 Pan-Northern Passage (Nunavut)
🏢 Expedition Audacity Research Foundation
📍 Nunavut