IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Finn Heukamp joint the winterschool on “Atmosphere-Ocean-Sea Ice Interaction Processes” in Svalbard

The winterschool on Svalbard in May 2022 was designed to give a broad overview on various topics regarding the interactions of the Arctic Ocean, atmosphere and especially the sea ice. As the winter school took place on Svalbard, it was also a great opportunity for me as a modeller to perceive the Arctic environment and get to know the region I am working on in reality. In addition to 6-8 lectures each day we did an evening boat tour on the Fjord to the edge of the sea ice and a nearby glacier and a guided walking tour through Longyearbyen one afternoon. At the day of arrival, we had some drinks outside but could not withstand the icy wind for long. As every Ph.D. student brought a poster on their recent work we had some nice and interesting poster sessions.

Processes covered by the lectures were ranging from Arctic-wide, large-scale ocean and atmosphere circulation changes to millimetre-scale processes in the formation of sea ice. The lectures covered different aspects of my work, especially the larger-scale processes as the interaction of the Atlantic Water flow through the Arctic and its impact on local sea ice formation, which was very interesting to hear as I am working on exactly that interface. As I have a strong university background in tropical oceanography, this winter school provided a great overview on specific Arctic Ocean processes that I had a lack of knowledge before. Further, perceiving the Arctic environment, all the ice and the polar day was very fascinating and was a nice distraction from my daily model work on these regions.

In general, the winter school was a big success in all of its facets. We had a highly motivated team of lectures giving interesting presentations on their specific working fields. Moreover, the group of roughly 30 Ph.D. students was really nice and we had a good time learning, networking and being in the Arctic.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.