Alex Payne

Thesis title: Boundaries of Difference Through Time: Climate Change as a Driver of Historic Othering in the Nordic Circumpolar.

Biography

Background

Alex is a PhD researcher focusing on the role of climate change as a driver of inter-ethnic conflict in the Arctic (Greenland and Sápmi). His research project is part of the Northern Scholars PhD Scheme, a scholarship programme funded by the University of the Arctic (UArctic) network.

Prior to this, Alex studied his MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge - Trinity Hall, researching developments in the literary depictions of Indigenous Americans, particularly between The Vinland Sagas and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha. His interdisciplinary focus on the shifting nature of Norse-Sámi and Norse-Kalaallit relations earned him distinction in his Tripos II examinations. 

He is supervised by both the Department of Scandinavian Studies and the School of Geosciences.

Beyond his studies, Alex has: represented Trinity Hall as an LGBTQ+ Officer, project managed the annual Trinity Hall Post-graduate garden party, volunteered for the Museum of  Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Cambridge), worked as an International Secretary whilst on exchange at the University of Uppsala, and is a co-organiser of the LLC Commons Seminar series.

Qualifications

MPhil - Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, The University of Cambridge, Trinity Hall.

MA (Hons) - Scandinavian Studies, The University of Edinburgh.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Anglo-Swedish Society - Member.

Scottish Society for Northern Studies - Member.

Undergraduate teaching

Medieval Worlds: A Journey through the Middle Ages - course tutor.

Postgraduate teaching

Polar Oceans: Science and Policy  - course tutor.

Research summary

  • Environmental Humanities; Arctic and Indigenous Studies.
  • Climatology; Arctic Region, Historic and Current.
  • Ecocriticism; Medieval Scandinavia, Greenland (Kalaallit and Danish). 
  • Post-Colonialism; Arctic Governance and Indigenous Rights.

Alex's research focuses on correlating climate data against historic inter-ethnic conflict within the Nordic Circumpolar (Greenland and Sápmi). Traditionally understood through discrete lenses - political, cultural, environmental - this interdisciplinary research seeks to use climate data as a point of comparison for the observed shifts in inter-ethnic relations between circumpolar groups in the Nordic region. This will involve a comparative analysis of the changing depiction of the environment and "ethnic other" within the literatures and oral histories of Scandinavia and Greenland against the backdrop of the climatic shift of the Medieval Warm Period into the Little Ice Age (c.900 - 1400). The intention of this is to understand better the role of climate change in driving interethnic conflict and the creation of boundaries of identity going forward.

Current research interests

Environmental Humanities with a focus on Arctic and Indigenous Studies, Colonialism and Post-Colonialism in the Arctic, Medieval Greenland, Indigenous Rights, Arctic Governance and Sovereignty, Ecocriticism in the Sagas of the Icelanders and Inuit Folktales, The Vinland Sagas.

Past research interests

19th-century American literary and visual discourses on Indigeneity and identity: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Thomas Cole etc. Funerary practice in the Nordic Bronze Age.

Current project grants

Northern Scholars Scheme PhD Scholarship in a project relating to ‘Cultural responses to climate change past, present, and future in the Nordic and Baltic world’. (2024-2027) - Funding provided by the University of the Arctic.

Past project grants

Arctic Science Summit Week 2024, ECR Grant - £300 (2024)
LLC Conference Grant - £410 (2024)
Scottish Society for Northern Studies, ECR Research Grant - £285 (2024)
LLC Student Engagement Fund, Seminar Series Funding - £500 (2024)

Conference details

Arctic Science Summit Week- March 21st-29th - Rapporteur for  all Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks ROADS working group sessions, and following working sessions:

"Toward equitable Arctic Observing Systems – tracking human well-being and advancing environmental observations through societal and intersectional lenses."

"Guiding Observing Network and Data System Development with Societal Impact Approaches: A Dialog Toward Establishing an Arctic Community of Practice."

"Supporting coordination and engagement of Indigenous-led and community-based monitoring programs in the Arctic."

"Guiding Observing Network and Data System Development with Societal Impact Approaches: A Dialog Toward Establishing an Arctic Community of Practice. [part 2]"

Geosciences 30th Gradschool Conference- February 2nd 2024 - Presented overall summary of MPhil research and part of ongoing PhD project entitled "Environment as a Means of Othering in the Vinland.

The Arctic Ocean System, Arctic ship-based training: organised by British Antarctic Survey and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.

Alex was selected for a highly competitive oceanographic training programme aboard the R/V Skagerak summer 2025. The programme, run as part of British Antarctic Survey's KANG-GLAC project, involved at-sea training and sampling of fjord systems in remote Eastern Greenland. This provided him with a wide suite of oceanographic a biological research skills and experience, such as:

  • Aiding lead engineer in mooring assembly, logging deployment of equipment, and demonstration of the logistics and health and safety involved in recovery and deployment.
  • Assisting the lead biologist in sampling from multinet, specifically in collecting copepod samples.
  • Operating a CTD with SeasaveV7 software mounted onto a Seabird SBE 32 Carousel Water Sampler.
  • Collecting oxygen, salinity, POC and PIC samples from Seabird mounted Niskins.
  • Performing solo POC and PIC water filtrations. 
  • Logging marine mammal observations.
  • Insight into the political and logistical realities of Arctic oceanographic research. 
  • Observation of engineer operated remote sensing techniques in field, including multi-beam (Kongsberg EM 2040 multibeam echosounder) and floats (PROVOR CTS5 USEA).

In addition to the above, the programme featured a full series of lectures and seminars providing insights into the cutting edge of Polar research techniques and theory from representatives of British Antarctic Survey, The Scottish Association for Marine Science, The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, and The University of Gothenburg.

Articles:

Payne, A, 'Naming Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland.' The Geographer, Winter 2025 (Edinburgh: The Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 2025)

Field reports:

 Inall et al., SK2514 Kang-Glac#2 Cruise Report, 2025  

This article was published on