Real Ice’s work is inspired primarily by the works of Prof Steven Desch1 and Cecilia Bitz2 

In 2019, a group of volunteers came together to explore how the Arctic sea‑ice restoration concept described in the Desch paper could be advanced as a practical initiative - emerging from The Siku Project. That work became “Real Ice”, and the initial technological concept for ice thickening began to take shape.

In 2022, Real Ice was formalised as a UK company with a mission to understand whether the underlying science could be translated into real‑world, low‑emissions technology for restoring Arctic sea ice. Taking the Bitz paper as our guide, through small-scale field campaigns on sea ice in Nome, Alaska, and over the subsequent two years in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, the team has investigated how engineered ice thickening performs as a potential restoration approach under actual Arctic conditions.

Now in 2026, Real Ice is completing its fourth winter of small‑scale Arctic field trials of the ice‑thickening method. This work has been made possible by the support of leading Arctic and sea‑ice researchers; an exceptional network of local guides and traditional knowledge holders in Cambridge Bay; and collaborating engineers, operators, climate scientists, and academic and research institutions worldwide, including Polar Knowledge Canada and the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cambridge Bay; the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Climate Repair, UN Ocean Decade, Ocean Visions and the UK Government’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).

Prof Ed Blanchard at University of Washington’s 2026 paper3 on the Real Ice field study results from winter 2024/5  further demonstrates the company’s commitment to grounding our research staging in empirical data, traditional knowledge, peer scrutiny, and transparent publication.