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Participation in UNIS course AG-353 Arctic Terrestrial and Marine Climate History 2024

Lay summary

Description of the programme

The course mostly focused on foraminifera records to reconstruct paleoenvironment and paleoceanography around Svalbard. The lectures at the beginning of the course covered the basics of different paleoenvironmental proxies and the lab training in the middle build on this. Here, we mainly learned how to identify foraminifera and set up our own data sets. The course was complemented by field days and a week on a research vessel so that we could apply what we had learned in the classroom ‘in the wild’. In the end, we presented our results from field and lab work with posters and group presentations.

How did you benefit from the programme?

In my studies, I specialise in reconstructing climate. The course was an opportunity for me to gain hands-on experience with marine proxies that I had no previous experience with – and additionally taught me a lot about organising fieldwork in the Arctic.

What were the highlights of the training?

My absolute highlight of the class was the six-day cruise on Helmer Hanssen (a Norwegian research vessel) to the north of Svalbard. We learned how to take gravity cores, how to read landscapes and their post-glacial evolution and how to handle freshly recovered pieces of ocean floor – all surrounded by the breathtaking fjords and glaciers of Svalbard. I hardly slept because I couldn't stop marvelling at the landscape!

Would you recommend the programme to other students?

I would highly recommend the programme! The course was perfectly organised and well thought through and one of the absolute highlights of my entire time as a student. I truly learned to love foraminifera and marine geology and made memories that I will cherish forever.

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