“Climate change is changing our world faster than was originally expected and these changes are most prominent in Polar Regions where contaminant movements are rapidly degrading environmental quality.” My research interests in contaminant cycling in extreme environments brought me into Polar Regions (Canadian Arctic) for the first time in 2008 funded by an International Polar Year Project. I was impressed with the landscapes and fauna, but also with the people living in those extreme conditions. That experience impressed on me the rapid changes that the Arctic was facing and the increasing pressure on the Inuit people to adapt. My first expedition to Antarctica was in 2011 and I was able to see these global changes with my own eyes. This inspired me to focus my work on both Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems. Polar Regions were once considered pristine environments, however now the deterioration of environmental quality is commonplace. The increase of tourism in Antarctica, the exploitation of natural resources in the Arctic, and the pressures of global warming will ultimately contribute to increased contamination of Polar Regions in the near future. This will come with serious impacts on both human and ecosystem health. While much research has been undertaken in the Arctic to understand contaminant fate, biogeochemistry and transport, similar studies in the Antarctic are lacking. A comprehensive research program examining the fate and biogeochemistry of pollutants in Antarctica is critical and timely. We must work quickly to try to preserve the pristine and remote status of these ecosystems.