By Kristian Moltsen Jakobsen (AU student):

So we finished the Sea ice course here in Nuuk, Greenland. The course consisted of participants from University of Manitoba in Canada and Aarhus University in Denmark. 

The course has been a great mixture of theoretical classes and field courses on the sea ice. In the lectures we learned about forming of sea ice, ice algae, oceanography and CO2 exchanges with the atmosphere. The lectures were held early in the morning and in the evening. During the day we went out on the sea ice with the institute’s boats. We took ice cores to measure brine, temperature and salinity. We also looked at ice- and snow structure. The data was collected in order to make a final report at the end of the course. Being on the sea ice for the first time was, for me, really exciting. Off course everything new is. But it was also a chance to get a better look on the local animals e.g. Arctic fox, little auks, guillemots and white tailed eagles. 

For me it was nice to work with the students from Manitoba. The students from the university of Manitoba were really good people to get to know. They laugh a lot and wasn’t cheap with the rum. What else can you ask for in a young, Arctic, academic study environment. And of course they also had a high professional level. It felt meaningful to work together with people from another academic background than yourself. Not only because of the differences in the educational system. But also because of the different approaches to solving problems. 

It was also really nice to see how well the theoretical knowledge we got correlated with the things we saw in the field. As a biologist that don't happens as often as one would think. 

Link: a windy day in Nuuk video ...

Temperature profile on a fresh sea ice core

Food coloring on seaice, trying to see the skeletal layer and brine channels

Working on site !

Under-ice measurement

Lots of love and rest on the way back to Nuuk !