ELMA - For most college students, summer vacation is all about relaxing and earning some cash for the upcoming school year.

Todd Buckley of rural Elma worked 12-hour days for free. And the 22-year-old loved it.

Buckley, a senior animal ecology and resource management student at Iowa State University, spent three months conducting wildlife research in the Arctic Circle. He returned just before classes began Aug. 27. Buckley was the only American to participate in a ongoing joint project by the United States and Canada to monitor the habits of snow geese, Ross' geese and other animals.

While unpaid internships aren't anything new to many college students, at least they live comfortably. The Queen Maud Gulf Bird Sanctuary in Canada's Nunavut Province isn't big on creature comforts. About 200 miles from the closest town, students live in plywood huts with limited access to electricity. Taking a periodic shower was a luxury.

It's about as isolated as you can get. To an aspiring wildlife biologist like Buckley, it was heaven on earth.

"It was an experience of a lifetime. How many people do you know get to do that?" Buckley said.

Growing up on a grain and livestock farm, Buckley is used to work-filled hot summers. He got to work all right, but the "heat" didn't come until later.

Buckley flew to Canada in late May. The plane carrying him, co-workers and supplies landed on ice-covered Karrak Lake. In early June, a snow storm forced the 13 researchers in camp, the maximum at any one time, to stay indoors a couple days.

"It stayed below freezing the first two weeks there. That was a big shock since I was just getting used to temperatures in the 60s and 70s," Buckley said.

But by mid-June temperatures warmed up to what he left in Northeast Iowa, Walking 15 miles a day, gathering information about geese nesting habits, counting eggs and banding animals to track movement, was much more tolerable.

Buckley said the work is vital. It helps determine species population and health, along with determining hunting seasons and bag limits. For example, he said snow geese are overpopulated and hunting was expanded as a result.

"They'll breed way above the Arctic Circle and winter in Arkansas and Texas. I think it's so interesting how they travel so much," Buckley said.

It didn't surprise Kathy Buckley that her son jumped at the chance to live on the Canadian tundra for three months. He's always been an adventurer, animal lover and outdoorsman going back to when he was a little kid spending time with his grandpa.

While it was hard not speaking with Todd during the trip - the camp was so isolated and primitive, even e-mail was out - she encouraged him to go. Snail mail drops occurred once a month.

"I said you just have to go for it," Kathy said. "My dad would take him fishing when he was really young and tell him stories. He just loved anything outdoors.

"As Todd got older, he developed other interests like deer, turkey, goose and pheasant hunting," she continued. "He has a determination like you would never believe. He won't sit in an office, his job will be anything outdoors."

That's exactly what Todd wants to do. He hopes to parlay the experience into a career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, he is contemplating graduate school first.

The trip was one adventure after another, Todd said. Almost daily, he would see caribou, Arctic fox or musk ox feeding. Occasionally an Arctic wolf or wolverine would show up.

A close call with a 500- to 700-pound grizzly bear made him a little nervous. Buckley and a partner encountered the animal while doing research.

"I saw the bear 70 yards away from us digging. I didn't want to surprise him so I started making noise. Usually they will walk off, but he picked up his head and started walking toward us," Buckley said, noting the beast got within 50 yards.

"I fired a Bear Banger in the air (sounds like a big fire cracker) and he left," he added. "It was close enough."

Buckley was one of six researchers who stayed all summer. The majority were from Canada, though others came from England, Germany and Columbia.

The experience helped Buckley mature and appreciate the little things in life, he said. Spending time talking with co-workers instead of getting lost on the Internet and television was a pleasure he learned to love.

"I really got to know them," Buckley said. "It was a trip of a lifetime. It was work, but a job you have fun at the same time."

Contact Matthew Wilde at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.