The day started off with two lectures on the Botany of Svalbard with an introduction to an IPY international tundra project, ITEX, run by Ingibjorg Jonsdottir. This project focuses on climate change and how it might affect the individual responses of plants. This was followed by an excursion to some of her study sights in Endalen. The experiments consisted of open top hexagonal chambers which imitate climate change by increasing the temperature by 1-3 degrees within the chambers. We also looked at the typical plants in the tundra environment.

The last two days have flown by; yet, at the same time I think it will be impossible to describe succinctly the amazing adventures the class has experienced in 48 hours.  Not only have we sat through fascinating lectures and been guided through the Longyearbyen surroundings, but the cultural education one garners when 14 nationalities are brought together is staggering.  Lunch hours are full of worldly tid-bits, and full-out squabbles over the origin of home-town slang.  And of course, one cannot help but be absorbed by historical anecdotes (and perhaps one or two tall tales) of Svalbard and Norway as a whole.

But onto the science!

Monday 19^th June

This is a blog from an expedition to the High Arctic island called Svalbard; the land of eternal ice. It is located at 78°N in the middle of the Barents Sea, and as far as we knew, no one had ever set their feet on this place before. After a rough journey across the sea, we finally spotted some beautiful mountains covered with ice and snow. Surprisingly, there were some natives here who actually appreciated our arrival. We were accommodated in some primitive barracks outside their settlement that we later got to know as Longyearbyen. This is a really weird place! The sun is actually shining 24 hours a day, so we couldn't sleep very much during the time we used to know as the night.

Visit the Polar Information Commons at the Oslo Science Conference! 

The Polar Information Commons (PIC) creates a fast and easy-to-use open data resource accessible through normal search and browse tools.  Using PIC tools, investigators quickly expose their data to the world and share them, thereby contributing to a repository for scientific data and information about the polar regions and participating in an innovative community-based infrastructure.  The PIC goal is to rapidly enhance international and interdisciplinary research, education, planning, and management for the polar regions.

In Oslo, a PIC information area will demonstrate the PIC tools, highlight recent data advances and data services from many polar data centres (and PIC partners), and present an array of fresh and free polar information, from IPY IPO, UNEP, University of the Arctic, and others.  Visit PIC to receive your complimentary copy of the new IPY book Polar Science and Global Climate - An International Resource for Education and Outreach.

For more information about PIC, follow this link to the Polar Information Commons website.