Avalanche accident in Longyearbyen
22 December 2015
Longyearbyen was hit by an avalanche in the morning of Saturday 19 December 2015. Two people lost their lives, and a number of people lost their homes or have been evacuated from their homes.
New web site
15 December 2015
After a long period of development and tweaking, we are happy to welcome you to the new and improved UNIS web! The site is now responsive, i.e. adjusting to the platform you are visiting from, and the content has been revised and reorganized.
Unravelling hidden designer of Arctic vegetation
11 December 2015
Sunil Mundra has investigated fungal richness and community structure, and their drivers at different spatial and temporal scales in the High Arctic region (Svalbard), using next generation sequencing methods. Sunil Mundra will defend his PhD thesis on 16 December at UNIS.
Plants stand still, while their fungal partners come and go
7 December 2015
Many plants and fungi cooperate; a plant pays fungi with sugar to function as an extension of its root system. The Arctic environment has extreme seasonality, but little is known about how climatic changes in the Arctic affect the diversity and composition of root-associated fungi. New research show that even if plants are rooted to the spot, their fungal partners change in response to climatic and environmental variation over time.
Funding for new Arctic Safety Centre
25 November 2015
UNIS will receive NOK 7 million over the next three years to establish a new centre for Arctic Safety in Longyearbyen. –This is a huge recognition of the UNIS safety management developed over the years, says director of HSE and safety Fred Skancke Hansen.
Memorandum of Understanding between UNIS and Chulalongkorn University
19 November 2015
UNIS has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. The aim of the agreement is to enhance cooperation in research and education between the two parties.
Bjorny and the red dust
12 November 2015
How can a scientific report about PCB in Svalbard be shared in an effective way to the public? By making a children’s book of course! Introducing “Bjorny and the red dust”, based on a report that UNIS contributed to. The book release will be at Svalbard Museum 14 November at 14:00.
Looking deeper into the seafloor of Isfjorden, Svalbard
3 November 2015
PhD candidate Srikumar Roy has investigated the seabed fluid flow, seepage processes and features in Isfjorden, the largest fjord system of Svalbard. His research has helped to understand the geological controls on various fluid migration pathways and processes existing in the Norwegian Arctic fjords. Roy will defend his PhD thesis at UNIS on 6 November 2015.
Solving the mystery of surging glaciers
12 October 2015
PhD candidate Heïdi Sevestre has investigated the global distribution of surge-type glaciers and uncovered differences in geometry between normal and surge-type glaciers. Her research has helped solve one of the biggest enigmas in glaciology. Sevestre will defend her PhD thesis at UNIS on 13 October 2015.