As we are starting into our annual blog summer break, we reflect on what summer can mean for polar researchers (including some fieldwork saudades). As an Arctic or Alpine cryo-scientist, chances are that you are somewhere in between vacation, fieldwork or trying to work through data while everyone else is free. If you, like us, did not have your vacation yet or do not have any fieldwork coming up this summer (or it’s been a while because you do your fieldwork on the Southern hemisphere), let’s dive into some great fieldwork content we already covered on this blog and dream a little of the icy world out there that we love. We will cover some fieldwork experiences by you, as well as some good polar reads, in case you are on the lucky side of having some relaxing summer vacation ahead!
Fieldwork stories, reflections and advice
If you have been on fieldwork, may it be on a research vessel, on Arctic permafrost, on Alpine glaciers or up in the Himalayas, you will likely have a lot to reflect on, and might miss nature’s beauty. For that, we set up a little collection of blogs around the topic. With a special focus on diversifying fieldwork experiences!
- Our recent WomenInCryo post covered the often unequal experiences women face during fieldwork, that often and historically is designed more for the male experience.
- For more on diversifying (all) fieldwork, dive into this post.
- We also found some helpful fieldwork advice (e.g. for first-timers).
- Last year, we covered four Arctic fieldwork stories (here), of which one in more detail about Greenland Ice Sheet microbial communities.
- Northern Hemisphere summer is not only about Arctic, but also Alpine and Himalaya fieldwork, such as this experience.
- And while those of you doing their fieldwork in Antarctica already have some months passed on their fresh memories or are preparing an upcoming season, you might get inspired by the creative hobbies during Antarctic fieldwork season.
Maria’s first time spent in the Arctic was on board the German Polarstern. Find me grinning 100% underneath the orange helmet, when my first plankton samples were hauled from the Fram Strait! (Photo credit: Maria Scheel).
Summer reads from the cold world – with a female author focus
Now, not everyone might have the privilege to be or soon be going on fieldwork, but still might want to dream away into our icy realms. For this, and because there is nothing better than a good book in a hammock or beach towel, we want to inspire you to take a break and grab a book.
- Take a stroll through our recent review on “The Quickening” by Elizabeth Rush, which is about Antarctic fieldwork, the future of us and our planet.
- Or how about a blog post on “Reading Greenland ice like a book” (we see you, our fellow nerds <3)
- We luckily found surprisingly many female-authored books from and about the Arctic.
- Read about a Ada Blackjack’s true story of a Inuit women surviving the Arctic alone for six months,
- the popular “A Woman in the Polar Night” by Christiane Ritter,
- and Gretel Ehrlich’s anthropological viewpoint on Greenland in This Cold Heaven
- Also for Antarctica, here are some stories told by women, including Felicity Aston‘s Alone in Antarctica, and Lynne Cox‘ Story of swimming through Antarctic waters (yes, swimming!)
See you soon again and enjoy your summer!
We hope, today’s summer closing blog made you dream of your favourite location and/or book a trip to the closest potentially alpine glacier! 😉
We will hold our summer break throughout August and will be back with new posts on Friday 30 August!
Teaser on upcoming posts:
- 30 August: Active subglacial lakes beneath Antarctica
- 13 September: “Failure papers” – should we publish things that do not work out?
We wish you an amazing, inspiring and relaxing summer break and look forward to seeing you back in the fall!
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to us, if you also would like to share your icy stories on our blog, edit a post yourself or join our lovely EGU Cryo Team in another way (find our contact details on the top right of this page)!
Further reading:
- Check out last year’s summer break post for more summer inspiration.
- Dive into some additional posts on the topic of “summer”:
