AMP’D Blog Guest Post: Margaret Cramm

As a Svalbard “first-timer”, I am awed by the crisp air, bright fresh show, and mountains that seem to rise out the ocean on Svalbard. It is a beautiful place. Our stay in Longyearbyen was a nice transition into the field. There are two ways to get to our research base in Ny-Ålesund – a 15 minute flight or a 12 to 16 hour boat ride. Our team opted for the boat ride.

At 4 am we boarded the MS Farm captained by Stig Henningsen to travel from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund. Our route took us through the sound of Forlandsundet separating Prins Karls Forland and the west side of Spitsbergen. The views from the boat were amazing! Even though the wind was biting cold as we stood on deck to enjoy the view, we were warmed by the sun in a clear blue sky. Our boat broke through shallow sea ice as we travelled northward. We travelled through pancake ice, a type of sea ice that looks like pancakes floating on the surface of the water – this is a phenomenon I did not know existed until now!

After around 16 hours on the boat we arrived in Ny-Ålesund, the research town that will host us during the rest of our stay in Svalbard. Ny-Ålesund hosts permanent research institutes from several different countries. We are being hosted by the Norwegian Polar Institute. Our research site is ~3 km northwest of the town and there we plan to drill permafrost samples for microbiological analyses. Wish us luck!

Twitter: @microbeMAC