Researchers collecting bugs in the Canadian Arctic this summer have confirmed wasps are breeding on Baffin Island, which they say may be further evidence of climate change.

'They were able to confirm a lot of nests and that they are breeding.' —Donna Giberson, UPEI

Students and faculty from the University of Prince Edward Island joined teams from the University of Toronto and McGill University of Montreal in several northern locations, including Lake Hazen, Nunavut, Goose Bay, N.L., and Baffin Island.

They spent the summer collecting bugs, with plans to compare the results with a similar study conducted 50 years ago.

"We would get up and go in the field, set up our traps, or pick up the bugs we had in our traps," UPEI student Christine Rousel told CBC News on Wednesday.

"We worked really long days, but I think it was really worth it because we collected awesome stuff."

The UPEI team will spend the next months sorting through and identifying the thousands of specimens they collected. Rousel was one of two students who made the trip, along with biology professor Donna Giberson.

Giberson said confirming the presence of wasps may be just the first suggestion of climate change the study will find.

"Certainly, there's been a lot of reports of wasps on Baffin Island that didn't use to be there, and they were able to confirm a lot of nests and that they are breeding," she said.

"That's probably the first evidence that we have of things moving in and, hopefully, when we look at our samples we'll find a lot more, but that's our first."

Giberson said it will probably take the winter to sort and identify all the bugs they found. She plans to collect more bugs in the Arctic next summer.