Arctic explorer and geologist Ernest Leffingwell did groundbreaking research in the far north in the early 1900s, and many of his discoveries still inform scientists and scholars today.

To learn more, join author Janet R. Collins as she gives a presentation on her new book, “On the Arctic Frontier: Ernest Leffingwell’s Polar Expeditions and Legacy” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12 at Eagle Harbor Book Company in downtown Winslow.

Eager to investigate rumors of land north of Alaska, Ernest deKoven Leffingwell and Ejnar Mikkelsen organized the 1906 Anglo American Polar Expedition. Despite extreme conditions, they determined the edge of the continental shelf — a significant geographic discovery.

Leffingwell remained behind, and with substantial assistance from his Inupiat neighbors, the driven young geologist explored, surveyed and documented geography along Alaska’s north coast and what is now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On the North Slope of the Brooks Range, he pioneered research in ground ice (permafrost), observed birds, and collected wildlife specimens.

His story is fascinating and still relevant, the author says, in an age of climate change.

Along with her own passion for the Arctic, Collins, former director of the Huxley Map Library at Western Washington University, has an undergraduate degree in geography and a master’s degree in library science. For Leffingwell’s biography, she consulted his journals and professional reports, family papers and memories, and published and unpublished writings of Alice Barnard, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Ejnar Mikkelsen.

The event is free and open to the public.

Visit www.eagleharborbooks.com for more information.