These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science

The two are spending nine months on Svalbard to collect data for climate scientists

Hilde Fålun Strøm (left) and Sunniva Sorby (right) are extreme citizen scientists,
spending nine months with their dog, Ettra, in a remote cabin in the Arctic to
collect climate data for researchers around the globe.

HEARTS IN THE ICE

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By Maria Temming

MARCH 30, 2020 AT 8:00 AM

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).