This blog was originally posted on the Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic Blog on July 6, 2014.
by Sam Morrow and Lauren Krone
So sad to say this is our last blog, it has been an incredible trip! It seems like we just moved into our dorms at KTH, and now we are spending our last day in the Arctic! This past month has just disappeared.
As our final day in the course, this was our last opportunity to discuss what our final papers will cover. Today we focused on the topics we found interesting from the course from both an environmental aspect and a social aspect. We chose to look at how mining and the moving of Kiruna affect the environment and reindeer husbandry. Moreover, we will also look at how those consequences affect the Sami reindeer herders. We are extremely excited to use what we have learned in lectures and our experiences from the trip to help us write our papers. Since we were able to study many different perspectives on the move, we are able to tackle the paper from many different angles.
Each group was split up for the morning to give us time to organize our thoughts and resources into a clean presentation of our papers. After lunch we re-grouped and had a chance to listen to the other groups presentations. We were very impressed with the diversity other groups picked! They ranged from the reintroduction of wolves to the affect mining may have on the albedo of glaciers! During each group’s presentation everyone else took notes and had the opportunity to ask questions. It was interesting to hear feedback from our peers on our proposals and to be able to aid the others in their quest for success! We had a short break before having individual meetings with the professors about our topics!
During the break a few of us went to a store where crafts and items made by Sami people were sold. Lauren bought some cozy slippers and Sam bought a beautiful silver ring! It was a good way to take some of the culture home with us. Later the entire group went out for a last dinner together :( it was delicious and such a pleasant way to wrap up our trip. I think we speak for all the students by saying how amazing of an experience this entire course has been! We have learned so much about society and the environment in a changing Arctic. We are truly grateful for our professors and everyone who has helped us learn about the changing Arctic. The Arctic is a vastly dynamic place, both from a natural science and a social science perspective. It has been an eye-opening experience and one none of us will ever forget.
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