Association of Polar Early Career Scientists

 

I have to admit that living in the land of the midnight sun has been great. Last week the sun finally dipped below the horizon again, which makes it easier to sleep, but also tells us to enjoy the nice weather as long as well can because it will be getting dark again.

After returning from beautiful Svalbard for the IPY Polar Field School, I felt inspired to do some exploring around Tromsø and Northern Norway. I have been lucky that a few APECS folks have been stopping through Tromsø on their way to Svalbard for research expeditions, so together we have been able to do some exploring during this fabulous summer. Fellow APECS member Susanne and I embarked on a bus journey through the Lyngen Alps, spending some time at the beautiful small village of Lyngseidet before continuing to Skjervøy where we boarded the coastal steamer and headed back to Tromsø. The steamer is operated by Hurtigruten - a large Norwegian cruise company that has tours in Greenland, Svalbard, Iceland, Antarctica, Norway and more, visit www.hurtigruten.no for more information. The 4-hour cruise home to Tromsø was through some of the most beautiful coastal landscapes I have ever seen.

Here in Tromsø, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Alexey, the APECS Marine Geosciences Coordinator, by the University fountain where we tried to avoid getting attacked by seagulls protecting their young. With APECS member Anja, who is here working for a few months in the Geology Department, I finally took the cable car up to Mount Storsteinen, the most beautiful look out point around! On our walk back, we stopped at the Arctic Cathedral for a midnight concert, before exploring some of the local nightlife. For more of the great things to see and do around Tromsø in the summer, visit www.vistittromso.no.

My next adventure will take me on the Students on Ice Arctic 2009 Expedition. We will be exploring the Canadian Arctic from a ship and stopping at Kuujjuaq, Hantzch Island, Kekerten Island and many other fabulous places on the way to Iqaluit. I won't have email for 3 weeks during this trip, so I hope I will make it Wink. You can follow our voyage as well as learn more about Students on Ice at www.studentsonice.org.

Contact APECS

APECS International Directorate
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Huginbakken 14
9019 Tromsø
Norway
Email: info(at)apecs.is

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