Recent evidence obtained through orbital radar sounding indicates the presence of subglacial lakes ~800 meters below Mars’ southern ice cap. Such subsurface saline water bodies may support active microbial ecosystems. Considerable evidence has also been found in the last decade to support the existence of large cold, salty oceans under the ice covers of the icy moons, Europa and Enceladus. The main goal of this project is to characterize a unique terrestrial analogue environment of these icy worlds: the recently discovered hypersaline lake complex under the Devon Ice Cap of Nunavut, Canada. The Devon Island subglacial lakes consist of 3 lakes lying beneath 560-740m of ice; modelling indicates temperatures of -12ºC and high salinities of ~ 15% salt. Due to their hypersaline nature, the Devon subglacial lake complex is a particularly tantalizing analogue for brine bodies inferred to exist on Europa, Enceladus, and Mars, and make it a compelling site to address fundamental questions about how life persists at terrestrial extremes of darkness, temperature, salinity, and pressure. Our 3-year CSA FAST application is the first step to access the Devon Island lakes directly by testing and optimizing an ice drilling system, collecting ice samples overlying the lakes for microbiological analyses and optimizing 2 biosignature detection prototypes, and to further constrain geomorphological parameters of the system.We are requesting 1 trip (1 - 7 days) per summer from 2022 to 2024 between the months of May and July for Brady O’Connor (PhD Student), Dr. Lyle Whyte (Professor), Dr. Kris Zacny (Honeybee Robotics) and Leo Stolov (Honeybee Robotics) to the Devon Island ice cap. The field site for all 3 years will be directly above the subglacial lakes, northwest of the centre of the ice cap and approximately 120 km from the nearest community (Grise Fjord). During the field trips in 2023/24, 1 or 2 additional team members from the University of Alberta may also accompany us. For July 2022, we will be staying at the PCSP Resolute Bay facility and will take 1 or 2 half-day trips by helicopter to the top of the Devon Ice Cap above the subglacial lakes. There will be no field camp on top of the ice cap, and we will be on the surface for ~ 4-5 hours. The 2022 trip is primarily for local reconnaissance of the Devon Island surface on top of the subglacial lakes to determine optimal sites for future drilling and sample collection for field seasons in 2023 and 2024. In addition to site reconnaissance, using a Kovacs manual ice corer, we will collect near surface ice samples (1 – 2 m) for analyses of the microbial communities inhabiting the ice back at my lab at McGill University in Montreal. This will include culturing of microbes inhabiting the surface ice and genomics analyses to better understand the diversity and metabolic potential of the microbial communities. We will test whether the ice-inhabiting microbes are active or in a dormant state. The samples will also be tested using the prototype MICRO Life Detection Platform, which can characterize microbial communities and will demonstrate the platforms usefulness as a biosignature detection platform for future planetary missions.The 2023 and 2024 field seasons will include longer stays atop the ice cap. In 2023/24 we will camp at the site for 4 to 5 days to a maximum of 7 days during the month of May. To accommodate the supplies required for these longer trips, a twin otter aircraft will be used to transport our team to and from the site. The need for a longer stay and camp at the site is to operate the SLUSH melt probe. In 2023/24 we will attempt to melt down between 50 and 100 meters which will require a few days to achieve given the slow speed of the melt probe and the challenging conditions atop the ice cap. In parallel, we will also collect deeper ice cores using the Kovacs corer, this time to a maximum depth of 20 meters and will be transported back to McGill University for microbiological analyses the same as described above. During the 2023/24 field seasons, team members from the U. of Alberta will perform non-invasive remote sensing work to further constrain the geomorphology of the subglacial lakes and the surrounding environment.The camp in 2023/24 will require 4-6 people for ~5-7 days. The camp will include up to 5 tents (2 - 3 for sleeping, 1 for technical work and cooking, and 1 for a bathroom and storing materials), 3 power generators and 3 propane tanks. All grey water and human waste will be sealed in containers and disposed of back at PCSP Resolute Bay. Food and all other waste material will be contained in sealed bags and disposed of at PCSP Resolute Bay. The field site will be left as it was found with minimal lasting impact to the ice cap surface.