The McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) was established in 1960 at Expedition Fjord on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian high Arctic. MARS is one of the longest-operating seasonal field research facilities in the high Arctic and has the longest continuous mass balance record for any high Arctic glacier (White Glacier). The station consists of a small research hut, a cook house and 2 temporary structures. It can comfortably accommodate 8-12 persons and provides access to glacier, ice cap and polar desert environments. The overarching aim of research undertaken at MARS is the understanding of physical and biological processes in cold polar desert and glacierized environments. In recent years three themes have dominated most of the research projects, permafrost hydrology, extreme environment biology and astrobiology.