Visiting Store Norske

Today, we started the day with sharing our observations, analyses and interpretations of the built environment of Longyearbyen. Most project groups compared Pyramiden and Longyearbyen, stressing differences such as the fact that Pyramiden is a carefully planned city, while Longyearbyen is more a result of the shifting main locations of Store Norske's mining operations. Other differences are the choices of building materials. Students had also interviewed cruise ship tourists about their impressions of the Arctic region.

After lunch, we moved to the harbour area to visit Store Norske, which is the only Norwegian mining company active in Spitsbergen today. Store Norske has been operating since 1916. Malte Jochmans, a senior geologist of the company, warmly welcomed the group and shared his knowledge and insights into Store Norske's present mining activities and its visions of the future. According to Jochman, the company’s main goals are to exploit the coal in a safe and profitable manner and to match the high environmental expectations from governing bodies and public opinion. So far the company projects their production until 2030, but their visions of the future also includes the idea of turning Svalbard into a hub for Arctic Ocean shipping.

We ended the day by studying and analyzing the exhibition at the Svalbard museum, under the guidance of museum director Tora Hultgren. Most course participants spent the evening preparing for presenting their essay projects.

Photo credit: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat

This article is one in a series of blog entries written by University of Illinois students who traveled during summer 2013 to Stockholm, Sweden and Svalbard, Norway to participate in the interdisciplinary course, “Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic,” provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-organized with KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Course participants from both universities learn about issues related to climate change and the Arctic, capped by an excursion to conduct field research near the Arctic Circle. This program is partially supported by the European Union Center through a European Union Center of Excellence grant, and is an initiative of the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE). Student blog entries also appear on the web site of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. 

Visiting Store Norske

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Exploring Longyearbyen

After one of the most terrifying boat rides of our lives, hot showers, and a good night of rest, we finally awoke in the comfort of Spitsbergen’s guesthouse. As we reluctantly left our warm, rock-less beds, we gathered with our groups to explore the town.

Now that we are back in Longyearbyen we started the day by looking at the built environment in some areas. We focused on buildings similar to the ones that we observed in Pyramiden last week. The weather was cloudy but not cold. The little town of Longyearbyen was full of tourists traveling with a cruiser, loaded with about 2 000 people. This gave light to the fact that there are no sidewalks here. The traffic suddenly felt a bit chaotic. So, although Longyearbyen is a great tourist attraction no effort has been laid on this matter until today. The houses are mostly built by wooden material and the buildings are quite new and modern. The settlement area in southeast of Longyearbyen gives a Scandinavian feeling and it also looks modern with its minimalistic style and living colors.

After exploring on our own, we hiked up to one of Store Norske’s abandoned mines on the side of the mountain. Since it was built before 1946, the mine is protected as cultural heritage. Protected sites represent valuable history and the legacy of Longyearbyen’s development as a town. Even though the old mine is no longer in use, the site is maintained with minor repairs to keep the building stable and safe. Tourists are allowed to enter the mine and freely explore the old mechanisms and technology of coal mining. Inside, we saw how workers transported coal from the entrance of the mine through sorting rooms, conveyor belts, carts, and down the mountain on an aerial ropeway.

After touring through three floors of the mine and finally stopping at a “NO ADMITTANCE: DANGER OF SUFFOCATION AND EXPLOSION” sign, we retraced our steps past rusty carts, gaping chasms, and creaky stairs out to the rocky mountainside. Looking down on the winding roads of Longyearbyen, we hiked down and returned to our dormitories ready for real dinners, hot showers, and warm beds.

Linda Qiu, Nathalie Hamsund and Dongwan Kim

Photo credit: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat

This article is one in a series of blog entries written by University of Illinois students who traveled during summer 2013 to Stockholm, Sweden and Svalbard, Norway to participate in the interdisciplinary course, “Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic,” provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-organized with KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Course participants from both universities learn about issues related to climate change and the Arctic, capped by an excursion to conduct field research near the Arctic Circle. This program is partially supported by the European Union Center through a European Union Center of Excellence grant, and is an initiative of the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE). Student blog entries also appear on the web site of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. 

Exploring Longyearbyen

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Polar Bears

Day two began bright and early with a 6:30 AM wake up from our camp guide Oskar. After a filling breakfast of bread, cheese, dried ham, and a surprisingly tasty fruit soup, we packed our sandwich bags and headed North further into Petunia Bay.

We crossed the braided river system just outside of camp with little trouble, and headed up slope a bit for our activity of the day. Today we probed the ground in different places to create a topographic profile of both the surface and the permafrost underneath. We attempted to use our data to gain a general idea of what the active layer above the permafrost, and below the surface looked like. For each area we surveyed, we placed a marker into the permafrost so that we can return to the same sites later on. Hopefully after surveying once more later in the week, we will see a change in the level of the permafrost.

For dinner we ate freeze dried bags of food. On the menu tonight was lamb stew. Everyone also made sure to finish up their personal ration of ten pieces of bread per day.

As people were finishing up their dinner, we heard eagle-eyed Jonathan Tomkin ask for binoculars. Everyone quickly realized that he had spotted the polar bear family. We had been previously coached in proper polar bear situational behavior, so we knew what to do. We gathered in a central group to make ourselves appear larger, with the line of armed people in the front. We were prepared to make lots of loud noises to scare them away if they got too close.

However the bears chose to slowly wander along the water line, approximately 200 meters in front of us. The mother bear only briefly stopped to take a look at us before she decided to pick up the pace with her cubs following close by. As they walked away into the distance, the camp was filled with excitement and picture comparisons began. It was amazing to see such beautiful animals in nature with no glass in between us. At the same time, it is a reminder to us that they are wild animals, and that we must be prepared for the dangers that come with the territory.

Behind the keyboard,

Conor Healy, Allie Wroble and Lovisa Westermark

Photo credit: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat

This article is one in a series of blog entries written by University of Illinois students who traveled during summer 2013 to Stockholm, Sweden and Svalbard, Norway to participate in the interdisciplinary course, “Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic,” provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-organized with KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Course participants from both universities learn about issues related to climate change and the Arctic, capped by an excursion to conduct field research near the Arctic Circle. This program is partially supported by the European Union Center through a European Union Center of Excellence grant, and is an initiative of the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE). Student blog entries also appear on the web site of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. 

Polar Bears

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An Avalanche of Contrasts

Photo: Dag Avango

Today we visited two worlds: the Arctic we have become so familiar with and Pyramiden, the diorama of Soviet life we only just encountered yesterday. It has been an avalanche of contrasts: the coolness of the Arctic against the warmth of the Pyramiden hotel; Norwegian colors and Soviet monotone; the kindness of our Russian guides and the dominating frigidity of Svalbard's dappled peaks.

In Pyramiden, we investigated a power plant, black and rust. We had lunch on the docks, perusing the dead hulks of cranes and thousands of pieces of metal. Farther inland, decrepit mine buildings enticed intrepid explorers, but thoughts of lead paint and asbestos held some of us at bay.

After the exploration, we rendezvoused at the hotel to present our questions to Sasha, an ex-grad student who gave up academia to explore the world. Having hiked China and worked in Antarctica, he made his way to Svalbard to work as a Pyramiden tour guide. He proved exceptionally knowledgable, enlightening us to many aspects of Russian activity on Svalbard. We learned that Pyramiden was considered a miner's dream job and that, although modern Russia is determined to hold the town as a political gesture, any further mining would be uneconomical. Interestingly, tourism has been present ostensibly since the 1950's, according to Sasha. Pyramiden was set up as a model Soviet village of workers, and in that regard, a form of propaganda for the last half century.

Returning back to the base camp with thoughts of a mining life in our minds, the long hike seemed like a trans-national trek. Our camp, once a cold, wet camp with sticky, bland rations seemed to transform into a delightful sanctuary, complete with delicious soups and sandwiches! Such is the wonder of Arctic travel – contrast is illuminated as if by the midnight sun. A sun we are about to see – sleeping bags beckon!

Goodnight from Petunia Bay!

Shanshan Ge, Anton Lindholm, Logan Nagel

This article is one in a series of blog entries written by University of Illinois students who traveled during summer 2013 to Stockholm, Sweden and Svalbard, Norway to participate in the interdisciplinary course, “Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic,” provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-organized with KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Course participants from both universities learn about issues related to climate change and the Arctic, capped by an excursion to conduct field research near the Arctic Circle. This program is partially supported by the European Union Center through a European Union Center of Excellence grant, and is an initiative of the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE). Student blog entries also appear on the web site of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. 

An Avalanche of Contrasts

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Pyramiden



Pyramiden. Photo: Dag Avango

After a nice sunny night, we woke up to another rain filled morning. Today our plan was to hike to Pyramiden, an old Russian mining settlement, named after the central mountains pyramid shape. The main goal in going to Pyramiden was to understand how the settlement functioned and how it impacted the Arctic environment.

The five kilometer hike to the settlement was cold and uncomfortable due to the constant rain and poor visibility. On our way, we had to to climb over large boulders and trek through thick mud. In the mud we even came across footprints from the same mother polar bear and cubs we had seen a few days prior.


After two hours of hiking we finally saw the fog covered settlement in the valley below. Walking through Pyramiden we saw several public buildings including the old cultural center, swimming pool, and kindergarten. Because the mining in Pyramiden was halted in 1998 all of these buildings were abandoned and mostly uninhabited. However, as of recently, Russia has begun to renovate this once thriving mining town. One of the most striking features of the settlement was the delapadated buildings which created the feeling of a ghost town. Many of these buildings had been built in the late 1970s–early 1980s and left as they were.

By the time we headed back to our camp, the sun had found its way out amidst the fog, revealing the majestic Nordenskiöld glacier across the bay. Tomorrow we plan to revisit Pyramiden to see more of the mysterious city and interview the local population on their experience with the mining town.

This article is one in a series of blog entries written by University of Illinois students who traveled during summer 2013 to Stockholm, Sweden and Svalbard, Norway to participate in the interdisciplinary course, “Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic,” provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-organized with KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Course participants from both universities learn about issues related to climate change and the Arctic, capped by an excursion to conduct field research near the Arctic Circle. This program is partially supported by the European Union Center through a European Union Center of Excellence grant, and is an initiative of the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE). Student blog entries also appear on the web site of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.

Pyramiden

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Rolling Mist

Today is officially the halfway point of our trip and we were greeted  by the rolling mist waking up. It blanketed the landscape and shrouded the mountains and glaciers that we had grown accustomed to admiring, it was accompanied by a fine drizzle. Not to be stopped we layered up and headed out to hunt for the Svalbard flora. We hiked northeastward following the coast up a few kilometers from our camp. Once at the site we started down at the beach, first hunting for tracks from our polar bear friends, though they had been covered by the restless tide. We did thou see an arctic turn tern bird nesting which  prompted our discussion on the essential aquatic ecology. Even the mighty polar bears rely heavily on the oceanic food web and its plankton base. It is easy to see how any change in the arctic ocean Arctic Ocean, such as climate change, can have a large effect on the enviorment environment out here, because it is so interconnected.

Then we proceeded to collect our biological data for the day's excursion. We set up one square meter area to record the local flora in various areas, starting at the beach and moving up into the mountains. We recorded the flora in each of these locations and found these resilient white and purple flowers, the mountain avens and purple saxifrage, scattered all throughout our areas. We also observed a lot of interesting moss and grasses. After a quick glimpse of the Ferdiandbreen glacier the fog pushed us back to camp.

Chilled we set up our tent heaters and enjoyed a warm and cozy evening singing in the Scandinavian style with "authentic" Svalbard songs and our home universities universities' Alma Maters. Happily just as we were going to bed, the sky cleared and the sun came back out, hopefully we will have a beautiful day tomorrow here at 78 degrees, 40 minutes north.

"Warm regards",
Scott V.H, Tricia M, and Andreas G

Photo credit: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat

This article is one in a series of blog entries written by University of Illinois students who traveled during summer 2013 to Stockholm, Sweden and Svalbard, Norway to participate in the interdisciplinary course, “Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic,” provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-organized with KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Course participants from both universities learn about issues related to climate change and the Arctic, capped by an excursion to conduct field research near the Arctic Circle. This program is partially supported by the European Union Center through a European Union Center of Excellence grant, and is an initiative of the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE). Student blog entries also appear on the web site of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.

Rolling Mist

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