Hoi, my name is Jorien Vonk. I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Geochemistry group at the Department of Earth Sciences of Utrecht University. I work in Arctic regions where I study the transport and degradation of carbon after its release from thawing permafrost into rivers and the coastal ocean. The last few summers I worked in continental Siberia in the Kolyma river watershed, near the town of Cherskii. But this summer: heading out for something completely different! Together with a great group of colleagues I will board the Swedish icebreaker Oden to travel north of Russia towards the East Siberian Arctic Ocean.
This expedition is officially called SWERUS-C3; the “Swedish-Russian-US Arctic Ocean investigation of Climate-Cryosphere-Carbon (C3) interactions”. We will study the linkages between climate, cryosphere (subsea permafrost and sea ice) and carbon (greenhouse gases). The preparations of SWERUS-C3 started several years ago, but have become increasingly intensive the last months and weeks! Colleagues from Stockholm have been very busy with testing all equipment, packing hundreds of boxes with instruments and consumables, and adjusting and optimizing the ship for our expedition.
The route will be split up in two “legs”. I will take part in Leg 1, together with 40 other scientists, that will depart on July 6 from Tromsø (Norway) and will arrive around August 20 in Barrow (Alaska, US). In Barrow we will rotate the scientific crew and then the ships heads back towards Sweden. Örjan Gustafsson and Martin Jakobsson from Stockholm University are leading Leg 1 and Leg 2, respectively.
During the expedition I will try to keep you updated with our adventures, both regarding science but also about life onboard. You can also follow official SWERUS reports on Twitter (@SWERUS3) and Facebook. The official website for the expedition can be found at http://swerus-c3.geo.su.se/index.php/78-swerus/71-swerus-c3-program.
The route will be split up in two “legs”. I will take part in Leg 1, together with 40 other scientists, that will depart on July 6 from Tromsø (Norway) and will arrive around August 20 in Barrow (Alaska, US). In Barrow we will rotate the scientific crew and then the ships heads back towards Sweden. Örjan Gustafsson and Martin Jakobsson from Stockholm University are leading Leg 1 and Leg 2, respectively.
During the expedition I will try to keep you updated with our adventures, both regarding science but also about life onboard. You can also follow official SWERUS reports on Twitter (@SWERUS3) and Facebook. The official website for the expedition can be found at http://swerus-c3.geo.su.se/index.php/78-swerus/71-swerus-c3-program.