The interdisciplinary Summer School on "INTEGRATING BIOGEOSCIENCES IN STUDIES OF ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS (IGLOO)" for PhD students of the Doctoral School of Natural Sciences has just finished. The school was held around central Spitsbergen and featured fieldwork, laboratory work and lectures.
The PhD students worked bravely from morning hours until late at night, as the polar day phenomenon allowed. They were not scared of the vagaries of Arctic weather, such as strong winds and cold interspersed with waves of unexpected heat.
During the school, the participants collected hundreds of soil samples and freshwater sediments, dozens of vascular plant specimens, sampled ice cores and conducted some of the measurements related to the monitoring of the Arctic environment planned at AMU.
They also attended lectures given by specialists working at the University Centre in Svalbard and vascular plant identification classes. In addition, they observed terrestrial and marine mammals and examined the impact of glaciers on the functioning of marine and terrestrial ecosystems and landscape formation.
The school allowed doctoral students to familiarise themselves with the challenges of outdoor work and demonstrated how sensitive the Arctic is to ongoing climate change and the role this area plays on our planet.
The school was organised by Professor Krzysztof Zawierucha, who conducted the fieldwork together with Dr Łukasz Grewling.
The project was financed under ID-UB: 066/20/UAM/0001 and 066/20/UAM/0006.
Photo credit: Łukasz Grewling, Małgorzata Niśkiewicz
