Svalbard reindeer graze on seaweed in tough winters
25 April 2019
A new study reveals that the Svalbard reindeer turn to alternative food sources in tough winters, when the tundra get glazed over by ice. New research shows that the reindeer find alternative food along the shoreline, in form of kelp and seaweed.
Here are our excellent teaching practitioners
8 April 2019
Pernille Bronken Eidesen (UNIS) and Christian Jørgensen (UiB) both receive the status of excellent teaching practitioners. Eidesen says it is a great honour to become an excellent teacher, and she feels a collegial responsibility.
Cold, but not cold enough!
22 March 2019
The frost smoke has been hovering above Adventfjorden the past few weeks, but still the fjord is without an ice cover. So what is the sea temperature now?
Algae – the foundation of life
15 March 2019
Due to all the ongoing and predicted climate changes it is obvious that primary productivity in the Arctic is going to change – but still, there is very little reliable information available on the subject. PhD candidate Ane Cecilie Kvernvik has studied single-celled sea ice algae in Svalbard.
Summer/autumn courses 2019 open for application
25 January 2019
Apply now for our summer semester courses! The application deadline is 15 February 2019.
Funding for new high-arctic, interdisciplinary field laboratory
15 January 2019
UNIS associate professor in Arctic biology Pernille B. Eidesen has gotten funding of NOK 1.35 million from the Olav Thon Foundation to develop a high-arctic, interdisciplinary field laboratory for research and teaching.
Stories from Rijpfjorden 5: On the way in (and out) of Rijpfjorden
5 November 2018
When Captain Albertsen from Tromsø slowly sailed into Rijpfjorden on 3 September 1945 to pick up the last of armed German soldiers in Europe, he had no idea of what was expecting him. Perhaps the fjord was full of fissured and half-melted drift ice as he headed south to the inner part of Rijpfjorden. That was the sight I met the first time I was in Rijpfjorden in September 2004. At that time I did not know how important Rijpfjorden would turn out to be for me, both as a researcher and as an individual.
Stories from Rijpfjorden 4: On mine kibbles, sea ice and food chains
2 November 2018
Sea ice and snow reflect and absorb effectively up to 99% of all light, which in turn helps regulate the start and length of the algal bloom in the ocean below. This usually results in short and intense blooms when the sea ice melts. Arctic species show adaptations to such a production regime, usually because they are able to eat and put on a lot of weight in the short periods where there is food access, and then live on stored fat in meager times. But what’s that got to do with the kibble used for coal transportation in Longyearbyen in the past?
Stories from Rijpfjorden 3: Monster!
30 October 2018
Fortunately, it is no bigger than 5–6 cm; otherwise it would have been a really scary sight. It is found mostly throughout the whole Arctic, and is a species we count as an indicator of cold water masses. And for all the smaller organisms, such as Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus glacialis, it is a ferocious monster!