While studying marine ecology in graduate school, I had the opportunity to live in the Norwegian Arctic on the island of Svalbard, located at 78 degrees north. In Svalbard, I was surrounding by the stark beauty of this region every day, and observed some of the Arctic’s most iconic species in their natural habitat, including polar bears, bearded seals (as shown in this image by my friend Vincent Carrier), polar cod and little auks. I also observed one of the lowest sea ice coverage years ever recorded, and saw for my own eyes how quickly the Arctic is warming. From 1979 to 2012, summer sea ice extent decreased 40 percent. Sea-ice dependent mammals like this bearded seal will face great challenges as sea ice continues to decrease in this region.