Statsraad Lehmkuhl is heading north toward Greenland. On board is a group of students led by Kerim Nisancioglu, who in many ways feels he is “on his way home.”
Professor Kerim Nisancioglu from the University of Bergen is leading a group of nearly 40 students on the voyage from the Azores to Greenland. The students come from many different countries, mostly Portugal, but also Norway, Greenland, and the United States.
– The students have very diverse backgrounds. Some work with data, some study the Greenland ice sheet, some focus on offshore wind, and many work on ecosystems and marine life, Kerim explains. Along the way, we will collect samples and spend as much time together as possible to learn from one another and eventually share the data and the insights we gain.
Long experience
Kerim is a professor of climate dynamics, with a background in oceanography and glaciology, and he has worked in the Arctic, especially Greenland, for many years.
– I study how the ice is affected by climate change, how quickly it melts, and how much this contributes to sea-level rise, he says. Every year, Kerim spends one to two months in Greenland conducting research in the fjords and along the coast, working closely with local communities.
– We already know a lot about what is happening there, how climate change impacts the ice, the ecosystem, and the wildlife. But it is also important to connect these changes to what is happening offshore, beyond Greenland’s coastline, so we hope to observe and measure, and in that way contribute to the research being done in the Arctic.
Scientific and personal goals
The expedition has several goals, both scientific and personal.
– What I think we will gain from the trip is strong friendships between researchers from different countries. These students are the new generation of climate scientists and oceanographers from many cultures and places around the world, and the fact that they can work together across disciplines and national borders is a very important part of what we will get out of this course.
Gathering so many students together on a ship for several weeks is not without its challenges. It is demanding to be on a vessel that is constantly moving; there is always someone who gets seasick, and there is not much privacy. But Kerim is not worried.
– The students are very good at taking care of one another, he says. They gain an experience of a lifetime, and at the same time it is intense. We do a lot of work, conduct research, learn new techniques, and learn from each other. Even though the students also have some tough moments, we give them time to relax and talk about other things.
Kerim is glad that the trip to Greenland takes three weeks. It gives everyone on board time to find a rhythm and feel comfortable.
– Experience shows that it takes at least four or five days. And after that, most people are doing quite well.
Calibrating old measurements
One of the goals of this leg of the One Ocean Expedition is to connect historical and modern science.
– We are going to repeat some of the observations that were made 150 years ago, back when people knew very little about the deep ocean. Back then, sailors collected measurements from ships like this, lowering hemp ropes down to 5,000 meters to record ocean temperatures.
Measurements from that time show that today, the deep ocean is about 0.4 degrees warmer than it was 150 years ago.
– But those measurements were made with a method that needs to be calibrated, and that is something we are trying to address now, using modern instruments, but old hemp ropes, and working from a sailing ship.
Grateful for the research coordinators
During the One Ocean Expedition, there are research coordinators on board at all times. They serve as the link between the ship and the scientists, and they are responsible when measurements are taken.
– And they contribute to teaching, which is fantastic when we arrive with students, says Kerim. They also give us access to the measurements the onboard systems constantly collect, which we can build on and contribute to, something that is very valuable.
– It works
Kerim is looking forward to getting to know the students better.
– Some I already know from online, we have had lectures for two months. But it is something completely different to be together now, he says. The social aspect, getting to know each other, understanding where people come from, learning about their cultures, learning about their work, sharing the knowledge we have. Sitting here on the ship, sometimes in the sun, but maybe also up in the mast in wind and rain, it works, and we get to know one another.
For Kerim, Greenland is a “second home,” but traveling there on a sailing ship is something special.
– It is one of the absolutely most amazing parts of being involved in this, to sail into Greenland. Very few people ever experience approaching the coast and seeing the fjords, the mountains, the ice, the icebergs, and the wildlife. I have been there many times, but to arrive with a sailing vessel along the coast this way, it will be absolutely, absolutely indescribable.
