0 projects

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Automated analysis of wildlife camera monitoring, RiS ID: 11829

During the first part of my thesis, I will be creating a methodology for automated analysis of camera monitoring data of the nests of geese and terns using artificial intelligence. In order to test if this program works, I will need to obtain enough new camera data of nests on Svalbard and put th...

Awarded: NOK 51,904

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Svalbard stories: A qualitative fieldstudy on emplacement under new environmental regulations in the High North

Svalbard is undergoing rapid environmental changes alongside with a developing tourist industry and strict environmental regulations underway, by which residents in Longyearbyen must adjust into. Through anthropological fieldwork and in-depth interviews, this master project will investigate the n...

Awarded: NOK 15,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Impact of added nutrients on the onset of plant senescence, RiS-ID 11865.

The aim of my master’s project is to study how increased nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorous) affect the phenological development of deciduous plants in autumn (specifically: senescence, ie leaf colour change) in High Arctic tundra. Furthermore, it aims to improve methodology for use of...

Awarded: NOK 63,016

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Valley sea breeze in Adventdalen, RIS ID 11839

Renewable energy research is a developing field in the Arctic and especially at UNIS. The environmental and meteorological conditions are different from lower latitudes. In my PhD, I investigate meteorological phenomena which are relevant to renewable energy. One aspect of this are local wind cir...

Awarded: NOK 58,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The Svalbard-political field: power and interests in Norwegian Svalbard politics. Field study 2022.

The research question of this thesis is: Which interests prevail in Norwegian Svalbard politics, and in what ways do they prevail? The thesis aims to 1) describe how Svalbard politics is made and map its key actors, thus contributing to increased knowledge production and better understanding of S...

Awarded: NOK 26,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Ice-Free Arctic Ocean: Dead end or new opportunities for Calanus finmarchicus (DENOC), RiS ID 11850

The Arctic Ocean is changing to a warmer and ice-free state, which may lead to substantial changes in biodiversity and ecosystem structures. An Atlantification of the zooplankton community is ongoing, but at which rate is poorly known at present stage. The aim of this project is to 1) determine t...

Awarded: NOK 74,041

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Thaw consolidation of permafrost soils in high-Arctic environments; RiS ID: 11815

The stability of permafrost soils is highly affected by the prevailing thermal regime. With warming ground temperatures and deepening of the active layer, thaw consolidation and associated ground subsidence are likely to occur. This is also expected for the surroundings of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. ...

Awarded: NOK 76,222

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Spatial and temporal shifts in Arctic fjord biodiversity caused by climate changes. RiS ID 11834

This PhD thesis aims to research how the shifts in the cryosphere caused by climate change are affecting fish abundance and distribution. This project will complement the work that took place in 2021, in which we had an extensive field campaign in Billefjorden, where we used innovative and sustai...

Awarded: NOK 95,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Stress-coping strategies in a changing world: how do ground-nesting birds adapt to unpredictive predation threat?

In the Arctic, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) rely on sea ice to hunt seals. However, sea ice is decreasing due to climate warming, and bears are changing their foraging behavior, increasing egg consumption. This shift in diet can put ground-nesting bird species, such as common eiders (Somateria m...

Awarded: NOK 94,286

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Assessing the timing of paleo fluid circulation within the Longyearbyen CO2 Lab: a comparison between field, laboratory, and core data.

The main aim of this project is to constrain the spatio-temporal paleo fluid circulation within the Agardhfjellet Fm., along part of the Billefjorden fault zone, and associated to the early Cretaceous magmatic intrusions of the Diabasodden suit, assessing the long-term permeability behavior of th...

Awarded: NOK 59,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The effects of warming climate on parasite-reindeer dynamics in the Arctic.

An ecosystem is shaped by species that interact with each other (herbivory, predation, and parasitism), but species dynamics can be influenced by abiotic conditions as for example increasing temperature due to climate change. However, how climate change affects parasites and consequently their ho...

Awarded: NOK 40,177

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

PERSISTENT, BIOACCUMULATING AND TOXIC COMPOUNDS (PBTS) IN SNOW SAMPLES FROM THE SURROUNDINGS OF LONGYEARBYEN, SVALBARD. (SOL)

This master project will study the contribution of different sources for pollutants in snow in the area surrounding Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Local sources of interests to study are the coal power plant, snow mobile activity, airport, boat and car traffic. Additionally, long-range atmospheric trans...

Awarded: NOK 21,416

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Estimation of snow depth and snow water equivalent based on GNSS-IR method

Global Navigation Satellite System interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR) is a method that can enable the determination of many characteristics of the environment that surrounds the measuring antenna. It is based on the characteristics of the reflected radio waves, which vary depending on the ty...

Awarded: NOK 64,124

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

From Svalbard to Mars: subsurface investigation of periglacial landforms with the WISDOM/EXOMARS GPR, RiS ID 11854

On June 2023 the ESA (European Space Agency) rover of the ExoMars mission will land on Mars. The missions’ goal is to search for the existence of past life on Mars. Its payload is equipped with WISDOM (Water Ice Subsurface Deposits Observation on Mars), a shallow Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) ...

Awarded: NOK 87,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Nutrient availability through decomposing plant litter (litterbag). Ris ID 11863

Arctic breeding barnacle geese affect the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients by providing an accelerated pathway of decomposition through digestion and the return of plant matter in the form of faecal pellets and so affecting the transfer of nutrients to their forage species. As such, geese chan...

Awarded: NOK 53,652

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Billefjorden Group Sediments on Bjørnøya and Hornsund, RiS ID 11764

This project is the backbone of my PhD topic for which I investigate the tectonic and climatic forcing on Upper Paleozoic rift basin sequences on Bjørnøya and Hornsund. The main goal for the fieldwork is to visit exposed outcrops, acquire sedimentary descriptions, logs, collect samples and to acq...

Awarded: NOK 87,669

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Fungal diversity in soil affected by cadaver decomposition in the Arctic tundra of Svalbard

Cadavers of large mammals can function as biodiversity hotspots and facilitate many interactions between many species. Little is known, however, about carrion ecology in the Arctic, and how such cadavers impact the fungal community in the Arctic is not known. Using both an experimental and observ...

Awarded: NOK 40,545

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Obtaining important permafrost information from central Longyeardalen valley for developing a full-scale sedimentological model-RiS ID 11876

This project aims to drill and sample a borehole in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, in order to create a sedimentological model for the sedimentary infilling of the Longyeardalen valley. Five boreholes were drilled in Longyeardalen in the fall of 2021 as part of the project “Developing a permafrost and m...

Awarded: NOK 79,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Coastal Erosion modelling in Hiorthhamn, Longyearbyen (Svalbard)

The field work activities will be located in the shoreline of Hiorthhamn, to the northeast shore of Adventfjord, 3 km far from Longyearbyen. This area retains the archaeological remains of coal-mining activities dating from 1902. One of the objects of cultural heritage in Hiorthhamn is Taubanesta...

Awarded: NOK 33,313

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Mercury Levels in Svalbard Reindeer's Tissue and Faeces in Relation to Diet and Season

Mercury (Hg) is toxic and a concern for the terrestrial Artic environment due to potential release of Hg from the thawing permafrost. For this master thesis the levels of Hg in summer and winter faeces sample form Svalbard reindeers (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) will be compared to investigat...

Awarded: NOK 15,335

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Predicting plant trait plasticity in response to warming across a changing tundra biome in the high Arctic, RiS ID: 11498

Predicting how plant communities will respond to environmental change has been described as the ‘holy grail’ of ecology. Understanding which factors determine whether a species responds positively or negatively to a particular environmental change allows us to anticipate future shifts in communit...

Awarded: NOK 72,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Subglacial mercury cycling and associated export from Jan Mayen to the North Atlantic, RiS ID 11817

The MerJM project looks to establish baseline concentration and temporal behavior of the toxic element mercury (Hg) in natural streams emerging from glaciers overlying an active volcano on Jan Mayen. The importance of natural sources of Hg in regional mercury cycling in the North Atlantic will be...

Awarded: NOK 72,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

HAPPINESS IN TIMES OF CHANGE: "FRILUFTSLIV" AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN SVALBARD

The project «Happiness in times of change: 'Friluftsliv' and climate change in Svalbard» is a collaboration between social anthropologists Tomas Salem (University of Bergen) and Alexandra Meyer (University of Vienna). Through ethnographic research we will examine how climate change in Svalbard is...

Awarded: NOK 30,489

Project Period: 2022-2024

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Svalbard coastal zone pollution with microplastics from local and distant sources

This project is devoted to sampling microplastic in the coastal waters of Svalbard using the same technology that is used in the ongoing projects “Model-based mapping of marine litter and microplastic in the Barents Sea (MAMBA)“ funded by Klima- og miljødepartementet KLD and NFR/SSF project "Harm...

Awarded: NOK 93,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Climatic shifts derived from lacustrine sediment cores, Richardvatnet, nw Spitsbergen. RIS ID 11652

The overarching aim is to contextualise glacier activity across a transect of the Svalbard Archipelago to reconstruct and infer the past climatic and atmosphere-ocean interaction during the Late Quaternary, thus enabling the determination of temperature and precipitation gradients across the arch...

Awarded: NOK 80,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Cenozoic magmatic-hydrothermal activity in northern Spitsbergen, with implications for offshore hydrothermal mineral systems (RiS-11825)

The geologic evolution of the High Arctic during the Cenozoic is critical for our understanding of continental breakup mechanisms and opening of marine ‘gateways’. These processes control exchange of deep-water between the world’s oceans and therefore influence climate patterns. Opening of the Fr...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Resource partitioning by Arctic scavengers in Svalbard

Dead organic matter from animals represents a central ecological resource in many food webs globally and promotes biodiversity, landscape heterogeneity, and ecosystem stability. Little knowledge currently exists about the ecological significance of carcasses in terrestrial ecosystems, particularl...

Awarded: NOK 49,877

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

STUDY OF METALS IN ARCTIC MARINE SEDIMENTS (MArS) RiS ID: 11837

The glacial fjord Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen, Svalbard Islands) is particularly suitable for studying the effects of the global anthropogenic activity on the Arctic ecosystem. In particular, the town of Ny-Ålesund is one of the world’s northernmost human settlements.The aim of the project is to st...

Awarded: NOK 28,694

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Understanding the physiological costs of behavioural plasticity in response to climate change in Arctic Seabirds, RIS ID 11820

The extent to which individuals demonstrate flexibility in behaviour (i.e phenotypic plasticity) is likely to be a key determinant of a species ability to adapt to climate change. However, altering behaviours to match new environments comes at a cost to individuals when they divert resources away...

Awarded: NOK 81,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Glacial and Permafrost Interactions: The Origins of Ice in Svalbard (RiS ID:11836

GAPOI seeks to close the knowledge gap between glacial & permafrost interaction within Svalbard’s glacial moraine landscapes, with particular attention to the uncertainty & potential of permafrost aggradation due to anthropogenically forced warming climate in the Arctic. Glacier forefields are ho...

Awarded: NOK 53,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Svalbard