These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science
Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby are taking citizen science to the extreme. In August, the two women moved into a tiny hunting cabin on the high-Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The hut, dubbed Bamsebu, is the only shelter for 140 kilometers. Polar bears prowl the area. It’s not unusual for the winter chill to reach around –30° Celsius. The conditions are so harsh that few polar scientists themselves collect field data from the area during winter. That’s where Fålun Strøm and Sorby come in — gathering observations about wildlife and the environment that could help scientists’ understand how rapid warming is changing Arctic ecosystems (SN: 12/11/19). Both Fålun Strøm and Sorby were inspired to support climate research with this nine-month Arctic sojourn after seeing how climate change was affecting polar regions. For example, Fålun Strøm, who has lived for 23 years in Svalbard, has watched the land get greener while glaciers have retreated and average temperatures risen. Both women, who call themselves...