CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Loeka Jongejans

Loeka Jongejans is a science communicator. During her PhD at the Alfred Wegener Institute, she worked on Arctic permafrost sediments and the impact of permafrost thaw on stored carbon. Now, as a Postdoctoral research at the Ruhr-University Bochum, she does science communication and works on geographic topics such as light pollution and aerospace. E-Mail: loeka.jongejans@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Friday the 13th – an unlucky day for sea ice?

and September 13, 2024
Thin, small sea ice floats on the dark waters.
Image credit Andrew Elvidge (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

On this September 13th, coinciding to be a “Friday 13th”, we wanted to scan the cryo-history for expeditions started, sunken ships that day, and mountain myths. And we did find that. But as autumn approaches in the Northern hemisphere, the spookiest story of all was this one: the unlucky timing of the Arctic sea ice in September. TGIF – but not for sea ice Although the median min ...[Read More]

Did you know there is light pollution even in the Arctic?

July 7, 2023
Did you know there is light pollution even in the Arctic?
Light pollution exists even in the Arctic from, for example, cruise ships, cargo ships and research vessels. [Credit: Michael O. Snyder]

Light emissions are increasing worldwide and much of the world is light polluted due to excessive and inefficient light use. This has negative consequences for many organisms, such as birds, insects, fish, plants and humans. Even in the high Arctic, which is remote and sparsely populated, and experiences the polar night for a large part of the year, there are artificial light sources which disturb ...[Read More]

Image of the week – Birds in the Arctic

January 20, 2023
Image of the week – Birds in the Arctic
Northern Gannet in flight in the Lofoten, Norway. Photo credit: L. Jongejans

I am a hobby ornithologist and love watching birds. It is fun and relaxing to search the trees or fields for feathered friends. One has to be aware of their surroundings, which can make birding even meditative. Here, I will tell you more about Arctic breeding birds, their population declines and I present to you three birds of the many I saw on my very first trips to the Arctic. Arctic breeding bi ...[Read More]

Wake up every one – permafrost microbes feasting – greenhouse gases go

November 25, 2022
Wake up every one – permafrost microbes feasting – greenhouse gases go

I really like to combine science and art. This puts science in a larger perspective and can help understand it in different ways. And perhaps more importantly, it evokes emotion. I wrote haikus and created stencils for every chapter of my PhD thesis. I created these artworks to illustrate the dimensions of the permafrost region and the consequences of global warming on permafrost. Let me show you ...[Read More]

You left us too early: a eulogy to permafrost

March 4, 2022
You left us too early: a eulogy to permafrost
Cotton grass grows in wet landscapes in many tundra landscapes. Photo credit: Loeka Jongejans

Most problems faced in research are complex and require creativity and critical thinking. Thus, we need to be creative in science! Or maybe, science itself is creative and there is no such thing as non-creative science. Anyhow, in today’s world, where TED-talks, science slams and elevator pitches, not to mention tweets, are ubiquitous, it is important that scientific expression takes on a form tha ...[Read More]