The political conflict between the United States and Denmark over Greenland is now reaching Arctic science, with Greenland’s university and its natural resources institute declining new U.S. collaborations. Danish ice-core research also remains dependent on American military aircraft.
DR reported on August 22 that the crisis is spreading through the research environment. Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard, a postdoc at the Danish Institute for International Studies, describes the field as being in a precarious situation.
Danish ice-core drilling on the Greenland ice sheet has long relied on close cooperation with the United States. Ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft from the U.S. military are needed to reach sites such as the Danish-led EastGRIP station.
Mortensgaard visited EastGRIP during her doctoral work on climate research and Arctic security policy. According to her, the aircraft illustrate the close link between climate science and security, and they create concrete dependencies that are visible under the Trump administration.
She outlines two possible outcomes. One is that President Donald Trump shuts down the support to appear tough on what he views as woke science. The other is that the flights continue because they demonstrate an American presence in Greenland.
The consequences of the rhetoric toward Greenland and Denmark have already reached institutions in Nuuk. Grønlands Naturinstitut, Pinngortitaleriffik, announced over the summer that it will not enter new projects with the United States. As reported by KNR, Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland, has also stopped starting new U.S. cooperation.
KNR notes that existing partnerships from before the dispute continue at both institutions. Videnskab.dk adds that the university has had the policy since last year and will review it if conditions become stable again. Per the university, the decision was its own and not an instruction from government departments or intelligence services.
Euronews covered the natural resources institute’s decision in July 2026, framing it as an effort to protect its scientists. DR has also reported that institute staff should generally not travel to the United States for conferences, meetings or research.
According to Mortensgaard, similar caution exists in Canada, where some researchers have cut ties with American colleagues over fears that their data could be misused. In May, Politiken reported that Danish marine biologist Peter Teglberg Madsen turned down cooperation with the U.S. agency NOAA in 2025.
Calls for closer European and Canadian cooperation
In a commentary for Chatham House, Sharon Hudson-Dean of the Center for European Policy Analysis calls the decision to end support for an annual Arctic environmental report damaging for the United States and Arctic science. She writes that control over data collection and analysis should rank high for many nations.
Mortensgaard says many climate researchers would welcome more autonomy over data collection, for example through satellites. She notes that Russia and the United States both fund large volumes of research on courses far from Danish and Greenlandic positions.
