History of PoPaN

PoPaN evolved from the IWAP meetings. IWAP was the only conference that focused on infectious diseases in Arctic and northern wildlife as well as on zoonotic infections and diseases that occur in people living in the northern regions.

The first four IWAP workshops were attended by over a hundred participants from nine circumpolar lands. The workshops have led to the establishment of networks that have resulted in numerous international collaborative research projects and have contributed considerably to our knowledge regarding the impact of parasites in northern ecosystems as well as zoonotic diseases such as trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis.

The first Workshop on Arctic Parasitology was arranged in 2000, in Canada. The aims were to bring together researchers from different backgrounds (veterinary surgeons, biologists, parasitologists, molecular biologists) along with wildlife managers and other stakeholder groups, including indigenous human populations, from the circumpolar regions to discuss the current understanding of, and any future needs, related to parasitic infections in the Arctic and in northern wildlife. The second meeting was held in 2003 in Finland, and in 2006, it was held once again in Canada.

The most recent meeting was held in 2010 in Svalbard, Norway where the decision was made to change the name to reflect inclusion of both the northern and southern Polar Regions.