Realizing goals We are still here – no worries, not in Pyramiden! Me and Pekka stayed here for an additional 17 days to conduct field research related to our earlier work. I am happy to say that so far, we have implemented few new things we learned during the […]

Still here

After being introduced to traits based ecology earlier this year, I wanted to gain a better understanding of how plant functional traits links to larger ecosystem processes, such as carbon exchange between atmosphere, plants and soil. This is the reason why I participated in the carbon flux group. I learned […]

Lovely Arctic

i. What were your goals for the course in Svalbard? To what extent did you realize these goals? Please give specific examples if possible. My goals for the course in Svalbard were to learn how to collect functional trait related data and to build a more thorough understanding of how […]

Winter in the Summer

Now that I am back in Iceland and have had some time to reflect on my stay in Svalbard during the PFTC4 course, I realised how incredibly valuable this experience was to me. Going into this course I had high expectations and was set on improving my knowledge in trait […]

Once again, the Arctic does not disappoint!

My goals for the Svalbard trip was mostly linked to my master’s degree and the research I am doing there, but also to networking with other scientists. For my master’s work I did pick up a few tricks that I will be implementing into my master’s work. One example is […]

PFTC Svalbard 2018 part 2

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Hola¡ Staying more than two weeks in Svalbard has been one of the best experiences of my life, in fact, I’m still dreaming of Longyearbyen. The objectives I had for the course were, first, to improve my understanding of the ecology with a focus on functional traits, as I commented […]

Two weeks at the end of the world, literal¡

Alaska Malamute Neighbors, prepping for a run in Longyearbyen
What were your goals for the course in Svalbard? My goals were to (a) learn new skills, (b) see a new environment, (c) meet people of similar interests and, (d) develop collaborations. To what extent did you realize these goals? (a) Learn new skills: Yes. I learned how to calculate […]

Arctic Reflections, Trait Train Svalbard 2018

After being back south (never thought I’d refer to mainland Norway as being south) for almost a week it is time to reflect on the two-week adventure that was Plant Functional Trait Course 4. It has truly been a unique experience to do field work and learn about different approaches […]

Arctic input

Svalbard is an incredible place to be. And extremely fun and superchallenging to work, when you are plant ecologist. “There is no vegetation!”, supposedly said Brian to Vigdis when he arrived. And yes, we decided to study plant functional traits there! Vegetation in the arctic is adapted to unique harsh […]

Back from eternal light of the polar day

Hei! After two weeks on Svalbard, I’m still digesting everything that I learned and experienced. I had a fantastic time such that it was really difficult to say goodbye to everyone (and our cozy dinners). It was wonderful to be around other plant oriented people and learn not only about […]

Arctic takeaways

Before arriving at the North Pole my main expectations about the PFTC4 were to expand my theoretical and analytical knowledge in functional plant ecology,and to experience the Arctic by conducting fieldwork activities. Those goals were indeed achieved along the course. Firstly, by attending interesting lectures, specially Aud’s talk about data […]

Experiencing the North Pole

What were your goals for the course in Svalbard? To what extent did you realize these goals? Please give specific examples if possible. My goals for this course in Svalbard were as following: a) obtaining an overview of trait studies by summarizing all the assigned reading papers and the lectures […]

Unforgettable time in Arctic #TraitTrain #Svalbard2018

What a course! I came to Svalbard hoping to learn about plant traits, conduct research with my team, and experience the high Arctic for the first time. The course managed to exceed my expectations on all fronts. Through the lectures, I began to understand how studying plant traits enables a […]

A two-week-long day in Svalbard

What were your goals for the course in Svalbard? To what extent did you realize these goals? Please give specific examples if possible. My main goal was to learn how to work with plant functional traits in general. I have never done that before, therefore everything from background theory, to […]

Back in tropical Sweden

PFTC-4 is over and here is a round-up of all I’ve experienced and learnt over these two wonderful weeks! What were your goals for the course in Svalbard? To what extent did you realize these goals? Please give specific examples if possible. The highlight of my experience in Svalbard has […]

What a phenomenal two weeks

Hi! My name is Eleanor Thomson. I’m a PhD student at the University of Oxford. My PhD is on ecological remote sensing – specifically attempting to map leaf traits using drones and satellites. So far, I’ve only worked in tropical environments, so Svalbard will be an exciting change! What are […]

Excited for experience in the Arctic!

What is your background? Where are you from? What do you study? What are you most interested in, scientifically? Hey! My name is Shuli Chen. I am a Ph. D student in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology at University of Arizona. A year ago, I just finished my master degree in […]

Shuli’s PFTC4 first blog post

Hi all, my name’s Adam. My background is in computer science, converted to the plant sciences and ecology through an interest in the history of our planet. I’m more or less bred from Arizona but born in Texas. America. I got into computers from a love of graphics and interactive […]

#PFTC4 blog post 1

I’m an ecologist with a background in forest ecology, watershed management, and arid-land botany. I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona completing a BS in ecology and evolutionary biology and just finishing an MS in watershed management and ecohydrology at the University of Arizona. My master studies have focused […]

Plant Function Traits Couse IV Svalbard Blog Post I

My background My name is Pekka Niittynen. I’m a biogeographer and a PhD candidate from University of Helsinki. Arctic-alpine flora (broadly speaking, including mosses and lichens too) is my passion and has been the research subject for my early scientific career. To be more specific, I study how the cold-adapted […]

Training my traits in Svalbard

  Background & interests As an arctic plant enthusiast by heart and a physical geographer by training, my focus is on soil moisture and vegetation relationships. Soil moisture is one of the key environmental variables for all terrestrial vegetation, which makes it a hot topic due to the on-going changes in […]

Found myself in Svalbard

My name is Håvard Kristiansen. I am a PhD-student at the University of Oslo, and I am from Oslo. Three years ago, I got a master’s degree in nuclear chemistry from the University of Oslo. After that, I worked for a year for the city public waste management, dealing with […]

Heading to Svalbard

My name is Silje, and I just recently graduated from the University of Bergen with a MSc in Biology. I was born and partially raised in Sweden, but lived most of my life in Bergen, Norway. I did my BSc at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and for both […]

They talk about global warming

Having grown up in a Portuguese-Canadian-Irish household, and living in a few countries along the way has instilled in me a deep concern for the global impacts of climate change on our ecosystems. Through my academic work I am determined to better understand their severity and scope. During the last […]

Nordgående

There are few professions where workers interact with “skeptics” or “deniers.” Singers do not hear from “song-skeptics” and bakers do not interact with “donut-deniers,” yet the same is not true for unfortunate climate scientists. Climate scientists overwhelmingly believe that global climate change is caused by human activity1, yet many American […]

The Highs and Lows of American Climate Change Perception

  Hello everyone! I am Alexander Sæle Vågenes from a tiny town outside Bergen, Norway. I am currently doing my master’s at the university of Bergen where I will be looking at CO2 flux in heathlands. My academic life or student life if you will, started with a year of […]

PFTC Svalbard 2018

Hola, My name is Lucely Vilca Bustamante, I’m from Peru, specifically from Cusco (very close to Machu Picchu). I studied Biology at Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, I am still a bachelor. I am studying the first months of a Master’s degree called Ecology and Environmental Management in […]

Hola from Peru

I am Matiss Castorena. I am doing my PhD at the University of Arizona in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I was born in Mexico City, and I did my undergrad and master’s in Mexico’s National University (UNAM). My background is plant functional ecology, mainly around plant allometry, biomechanics, hydraulics, and […]

The privilege to visit the High Artic as a plant ...

My background is both from the natural sciences and the humanities. When I studied the humanities several years ago, I felt the environmental issues were absent (it has become better now, but a bit too late for me). In these times, it felt wrong to continue studying a discipline that […]

No roads lead to Svalbard

Hi, my name is Siri, and I’m currently a PhD student at the University of Bergen, Norway. My PhD project tries to answer how the cultural landscape – and more precisely the Atlantic heathlands – are coping with a more unstable weather regime. These heathlands are found along the European […]

Nice weather is in fact extreme weather in Norway!

Hei, I’m Molly. I’m currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department studying palaeobotany under Dr. Selena Smith. I worked in plant science research labs at both University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Berkeley, after receiving a B.S. in Ecology and […]

Will work for access to drones

A. What is your background? Where are you from? What do you study? What are you most interested in, scientifically? This is YAOQI LI, a Ph.D. student from the Peking University (PKU) in Beijing, China, and currently on exchange at the University of Arizona (UofA) in Tucson, AZ, USA as […]

From hot Summer to frozen Winter (Tucson->Svalbard)

My name is Karolína and I come from Czech Republic, Czekkia. For those who are not sure where it is situated, it is “the heart of Europe”, small country with no sea between Poland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia. In Prague, the capital, I study masters in Botany on Charles University […]

TrainTrait4: Polar adventure on the way

I am a PhD student in the Landscape Ecology group of Stockholm University, but originally I come from Germany. My background is mostly in landscape planning and applied nature conservation in the south-western part of Germany. After a few years working in this field, I got more and more interested […]

only a few more days…

PFTC4 Blog Post 1 from Polly Bass A. What is your background? Where are you from? What do you study? What are you most interested in, scientifically? My background is in plant geography and geomorphology. I study alpine plants, substrate preferences among plants, and island biogeography in its application to […]

Plant Functional Trait Train Course 4!

Growing up in Iceland most definitely shaped the passion that I have for ecology and environmental conservation. Although growing up in the small city of Reykjavík, as a child I was always fascinated by the country side and the great wilderness that our country offers. Choosing the field of biology […]

Back to the Arctic

Hi! I am from Philadelphia, USA and currently completing an MPhil in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford. Previously, I did my undergraduate studies in environmental engineering at Princeton University, where my research focus was on the environmental trade-offs to agricultural expansion in Zambia. My interests lie at the intersection […]

Looking forward to Svalbard

  I am a PhD candidate in Ecology and Evolution at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Currently, I am working as a PhD visiting researcher at the Ecosystems Lab, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. The main goal of my thesis is to evaluate […]

Towards the North Pole

Jeg har nå jobbet over 140 timer på Hjelmsøya, og er så heldig som får jobbe her i 2 uker til! Praksisverten har vært utrolig flink til å la meg være en del av alle oppgavene her på øya, så jeg føler jeg har fått mange opplevelser og erfaringer fra […]

Tusen takk NINA!

Heisann! Jeg har nå jobbet i overkant av 100 timer her på Hjelmsøya, og stortrivdes her. Det er et utrolig fugleliv, og hver dag bringer nye utfordringer. Spesielt da det er mye håndtering av både voksne og juvenile fugler. Lundefuglpullus til venstre, og alkepullus til høyre. Denne perioden har bestått […]

Min sommerforelskelse: pullus i alle varianter

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Da har jeg jobbet i omtrent 50 timer her på Hjelmsøya for NINA. Hjelmsøya har siden 1300-tallet vært et fiskevær og har en rik historie, men er i dag ubebodd (hvis man ser vekk ifra de 6 ukene i året hvor det drives forskning på øyen). Så langt har jeg […]

Hjelmsøya så langt!