Podcast Summary: Short Wave – "Doing Science at the Edge of the Earth"

Date: October 8, 2025
Hosts: Emily Kwong & Regina Barber (NPR)
Featured Guests: Alejandra Barunda (NPR’s Climate Desk), Brian Buma (Ecologist), Jeff Kirby (Ecologist), AKA Simonsson (Indigenous Greenlandic Archaeologist)

Episode Overview

In this captivating episode of Short Wave, Emily Kwong and guest reporter Alejandra Barunda recount a daring scientific expedition to Inuit Kerkatat (also known as Coffee Club Island) — the northernmost landmass on Earth, at the very top of Greenland. The team’s goal: to identify the northernmost living plant, using boots-on-the-ground fieldwork to fill critical gaps in our understanding of climate change’s impact on the remote Arctic. Mixing wonder, humor, and scientific rigor, they explore what life persists at “the edge of the terrestrial world”—and what it tells us about a rapidly changing planet.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Go to the Edge? (00:17–03:15)

• Purpose of the Trip:
  The expedition was motivated by the need to document plant life in the extreme north where few surveys exist, and to establish a baseline for future ecological change.

  • Brian Buma: “There's just something fascinating about the edge of things, like the last thing.” (00:32)
  • Jeff Kirby: “We still have really fundamental gaps in understanding how things work. Satellite images and fancy tech doesn’t solve all the problems that boots on the ground can.” (01:56)

• The Quest:
  The group traveled to Inuit Kerkatat/Coffee Club Island to answer: “What’s the northernmost plant living up there right now?”

  • The island is remote, largely undocumented, and named comically by Danes who loved coffee.

• Significance:
  Determining the northernmost plant would create a scientific record for future measurement amid the uncertainty of how accelerating Arctic warming is transforming the region.

2. Assembling the Team & The Journey North (04:42–07:08)

• Expedition Roster:

  • Brian Buma (expedition lead, ecologist)
  • Nat (geophotographer)
  • Jeff Kirby (ecologist)
  • AKA Simonsson (Greenlandic archaeologist)
  • Alejandra Barunda (NPR reporter, former climate scientist)

• Challenges in Transit:

  • Initial scramble in Iceland to recover lost gear, including crucial supplies like food and a boat.
  • “We run around frantically trying to find a ton of gear that had somehow gotten lost in transit—like, you know, our food. Oops.” (05:42, Alejandra Barunda)
  • Hopped north in tiny planes over a stunning but desolate landscape.

3. The Hike to the Island: Climate Change on the Ground (07:08–08:45)

• Unexpected Difficulties:
  • The hike was far tougher than anticipated: “I will say that it was basically the hardest eight miles I've ever hiked. And that was mostly thanks to climate change.” (06:48, Alejandra Barunda)
  • Thawing permafrost and unusually warm temperatures (near 60°F) turned the ground spongy and created unexpected rivers, complicating the trek with heavy packs.
  • What used to be firm, frozen ground had become a boggy morass, a direct observation of warming’s impact.

4. Arrival and First Impressions of Coffee Club Island (08:45–09:11)

• First Sighting:

  • The island comprised “two big mounds of gravel” topped by cairns from previous adventurers.
  • AKA Simonsson jokes about its resemblance: “She started laughing and pointed out, yeah, the island looks similar as breasts… Inuit people would have had a good name for it.” (08:32, Alejandra Barunda)

• Final Approach:

  • Inflated a portable raft and snowshoed through sea ice to reach the island.
  • Moments of camaraderie and exhaustion as the group finally lands on the fabled ground.

5. The Scientific Search: Pop Quiz—What’s the Northernmost Plant? (09:11–11:45)

• First Finds:

  • Immediately, Brian Buma spots: “I see a puppy. There’s at least one.” (09:33, Brian Buma)
    • Translation: an “electric” yellow Arctic poppy flower, initially thought to be the northernmost plant.

• Not Quite the Winner:

  • Further longitudinal sweeps and field notebook geometry lead to the realization:
    • “It was actually next to a moss, which is just a little bit… Actually the moss is still winter.” (10:21, Brian Buma)
  • It turns out the true winner is a patch of unnamed moss even further north.

• Tangible Moment:

  • The team’s celebration includes a freezing swim, dubbing themselves the “Kappakluban Swim Club.” During this, Alejandra accidentally discovers another even more northern patch of moss with her bare feet.
    • Alejandra Barunda: “And then when I stepped out, I actually uncovered with my bare feet another tiny patch of moss. And so that actually ended up being the winner—the northernmost plant on Earth.” (11:30)

6. What Does It All Mean? (12:00–14:01)

• Surprising Diversity:
  More plant life than expected. Climate change appears to be enabling greater plant survival, even this far north.

• Unexpected Wildlife:

  • An unafraid stoat (“tube sock-sized weasel”) named Randall, who tries to eat the microphone:
    • “We actually also ran into this little stoat… That’s him trying to eat the microphone.” (12:18, Alejandra Barunda)

• Scientific Legacy:

  • The core achievement: establishing a baseline record.
    • “The main goal of this trip was really just to put a line in the sand, you know, to witness and to catalog what's up there now… So that when scientists go back in 20 or 50 or 100 years, they'll know what else has changed.” (13:09, Alejandra Barunda)

• On Exploration for its Own Sake:
  Both Alejandra and Brian reflect on humanity’s drive to seek out the unknown:

  • Brian Buma: “Just basic curiosity, I think. What's over the next hill up until there's no more hills. And so there's a question of what's that last hill? That right there is the last hill.” (13:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Satellite images and fancy tech doesn’t solve all the problems that boots on the ground can.” — Jeff Kirby (01:56)
• “There's just something fascinating about the edge of things, like the last thing.” — Brian Buma (00:32)
• “It is a gorgeous little poppy. Again, gorgeous being in the eye of the beholder…Actually the moss is still winter.” — Brian Buma (10:21)
• “If you hadn’t done that, you wouldn’t have known.” — Emily Kwong, on discovering the moss after the swim (11:48)
• “You were out there for the sake of science, but is there value in just going for the sake of exploration, just to know?” — Emily Kwong (13:24)
• “Just basic curiosity, I think. What's over the next hill up until there's no more hills. And so there's a question of what's that last hill? That right there is the last hill.” — Brian Buma (13:48)
• “Thank you so much for taking us there, us Short Wave listeners.” — Emily Kwong (14:06)

Key Timestamps

• 00:32 — Brian Buma on the fascination with "the edge"
• 01:56 — Jeff Kirby on “boots on the ground” fieldwork
• 05:42 — Barunda on logistical mayhem in Iceland
• 06:48 — The brutal hike, made harder by thawing permafrost
• 08:32 — AKA Simonsson’s lighthearted view of the island’s "appearance"
• 09:33 — Brian Buma sights the first Arctic poppy
• 10:21 — Moss, not poppy, is the northernmost plant
• 11:30 — Alejandra’s accidental moss discovery during the Arctic swim
• 12:18 — The fearless stoat, Randall
• 13:09 — The purpose: a scientific baseline for the Arctic’s future
• 13:48 — Brian Buma’s reflection on human curiosity

Tone & Takeaways

The episode blends scientific seriousness with humor, awe, and personal reflection. The team's sense of discovery, the raw physicality of Arctic science, and occasional comic relief (from the “D&D”–style team-up to the “Kappakluban Swim Club” plunge) make this an engaging listen.

Final Message:
The edge of the world is not just a geographic boundary but an open question—a place where human curiosity, rigorous science, and the realities of climate change meet. The findings here are seeds for decades of future Arctic research. And sometimes, a swim in the Arctic Ocean is exactly what science requires.