Travelling across West Greenland is probably one the most unique experiences I had the chance to live. Sharing seven weeks of fieldwork in a couple of lines is not an easy task but let’s start with the beginning – the reunion with Brandon, my field mate and friend from the […]
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Today, 11 December 2024, the thermometer on the Zulmart Glacier at 4900 metres above sea level read -30°C. Monitoring the meteorological conditions at nine weather stations scattered across the Central Asian Pamirs and Tien Shan from the warmth of my office in Switzerland, I was transported in my dreams to […]
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The day began early with a knock on the door of a shepherd’s hut. A groggy shepherd appeared, surprised to find visitors at this hour with an unusual question: could we rent two horses for the day? The negotiations were straightforward, and minutes later, I was in a saddle for […]
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The Institut Nordique du Québec (INQ), the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) and the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) are launching the CASCADES expedition. The call is now open until 2 June 2025 and welcomes proposals from research groups in Switzerland and France, and from the Canadian Transforming Climate Action programme, with fieldwork to be carried out in summer and autumn 2026.
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In summer 2025, FOREL will be operating along the western coast of Greenland and welcomes Swiss-led scientific projects to work on board during the months of July and August. SPI is pleased to offer interested scientists employed at a Swiss public research institution the opportunity to join this Swiss-operated research platform in the Arctic during this timeframe.
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On Wednesday 5 March 2025 in Bern, in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and the University of Bern, the Swiss Polar Institute had the pleasure to present the European-funded project Beyond EPICA: Oldest Ice, a long-term study of ice cores from the heart […]
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Our journey to the North Pole began in Tromsø, Norway, where we boarded the research vessel Polarstern on August 9, 2024. As I stood in line, I struck up a conversation with the person next to me, only to realize he would be my cabin mate for the next two […]
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Tomorrow is a day I have been looking forward to for a while: Raphi and I will going to the Gornergletscher to conduct a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey with our AIRETH system. AIRETH is a helicopter-borne GPR platform that we re-designed in the frame of an SPI Technogrant funded by […]
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The flight into Greenland leaves a strong impression. Everyone in the small red plane is leaning towards the windows to stare at the expanse of white below. For a moment you think it must be clouds stretching to the horizon, but then you see the small details, a mountain peak, […]
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