Seals, polar bears and narwhals, oh my!

Seals, polar bears, and double-tusked narwhals, oh my! One of the many exciting things to do in any capital city is go to their museums. Nuuk is no exception! The C4 IGERTs (+ C1 IGERT Lauren, now a Dartmouth postdoc) got to experience part of Greenland’s cultural history by visiting not only the Nuuk Museum and the Art museum, but also an ‘economy’ museum where we watched a few very skilled inuit people constructing their traditional outfits.

The Museum (a.k.a. Nunatta Katersugaasivia http://www.natmus.gl/) was established in the mid-1960’s and was one of the first museums in Greenland. The Museum is made up of multiple buildings and walks through different periods in Greenland’s history from the first settlements to industrialization. The exhibits show what every day life was like through displays of traditional clothing, modes of transportation and even types of food they were eating and hunting.

varieties of traditional Greenlandic outfits

Beyond seeing the detail in the traditional Greenlandic costume, one of the most interesting things for me were the different hunting outfits, hunting boats and how they evolved with new hunting methods and with new animals being caught. The Museum even had a few of the outfits from arctic explorers- one was made entirely out of polar bear!

Polar explorer outfits made of polar bear and other furs

The Museum even has an impressive skull of a Narwhal with two tusks more than 2 meters in length!

Christine and Zak discussing the double-tusked narwhal

Right around the corner from The Museum is Kittat the ‘economy museum’, or workshop, that specializes in making the traditional Greenland costumes. The traditional Greenland outfit is made of different seal skins, intricate beading, crocheted lace and wollen cloth. Kittat is a fully functional shop with the sewing room inside and the skin-drying racks outside. Not only could you watch some of the incredible beadwork and leather stitching taking place, but you could try your hand at sewing some of the leather pieces together- they make it look so easy!

Ruth feels the very soft fur used in the traditional Greenlandic costume

The last museum we had the opportunity to visit was the Art museum, Nuuk Kunstmuseum (http://www.kunstmuseum.gl/). This museum (and over 300 paintings and nearly 500 figures) was given by Svend and Helene Junge Pedersen in 2005 and donated to the citizens of Nuuk. Among all of the fantastic art, Nuuk Kunstmuseum contains the largest collection of paintings by Emanuel A. Petersen (150 pieces).  E. A. Petersen (1894-1948) was an artist from Copenhagen who traveled all around Greenland in the early 1900s painting, drawing and sketching the different landscapes. These paintings are some of the first forms of documenting the landscape (including glacier position!) of this area.

an Emanuel A. Petersen painting of a glacier terminus

We even got a special treat at the last stop on our Nuuk museum tour- when we were talking with the curator, we found out she used to be a member of the Greenlandic government. She was in office when Greenland was granted self-rule (June 21, 2009) which gave Greenland more independence from Denmark. Hearing another first hand experience of that day and all of the new experiences that resulted was incredible!

I think we will all remember Nuuk with fond memories of the culture, museums and especially the people. Thank you Nuuk!

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Ilisimatusarfik

The first time I walked through Ilimmarfik, the building that houses part of Ilisimatusarfik, or the University of Greenland, I immediately felt at home – although the physical environment is very different from the Dartmouth campus (and the views are much more spectacular), the atmosphere in the library and classrooms was just the same.  I also felt at home because of the warm welcome we received from everyone we met; all were eager to meet us, share their knowledge, and strengthen the connection between Dartmouth and Ilisimatusarfik.

Views around Nuuk are slightly different from the Dartmouth campus.

On Wednesday, we walked up to Ilimmarfik for a public talk by Dr. Minik Rosing, a well-known Greenlandic geologist and the chair of the University Board of Directors.  In an overflowing room full of students, professors, and community members, Dr. Rosing presented a talk entitled “Greenland in our hearts and minds:” while the intellectual pursuit of science is what technically brings us to Greenland, it is the connection we carry in our hearts that keeps pulling us back.  Dr. Rosing spoke specifically about an expedition to Northeast Greenland that included both scientists and artists.  Without any specific goals, both groups were able to take in the beauty of the landscape, trying, in Dr. Rosing’s words, “to make a picture of the world that someone else can read.”

At the end of the week we were invited back to Ilimmarfik for a full day of lectures about Greenlandic culture, history, and language.  For me, the most inspiring part of the day was to hear from two PhD students about their research.  While waiting for the fog to clear so she could head out for fieldwork, Ann Eileen Lennert told us about an impressive interdisciplinary project looking at past use of the fjord system around Nuuk.  By combining archaeology, marine geology, and anthropology, Ann Eileen will investigate how the ice conditions in the fjord system have changed over the past few thousand years.

Axel Jeremiassen, a PhD student in the Department of Cultural and Social History, gave us a detailed account of Greenland’s history from the arrival of the Saqqaq people in 2500 BCE through WWII.  Unlike many indigenous peoples, Greenlanders have had the fortune to have a long history of written language.  Axel’s PhD project takes advantage of this rich history by looking at letters to the editor in the two longest running Greenlandic newspapers, Atuagagdliutit and Avangnamiok, to see the opinions and thoughts of Greenlanders over time.

Axel Jeremiassen teaches us about the early history of Greenland — the Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule cultures.

Our experience at Ilisimatusarfik was both educational and enjoyable.  Many thanks to all for the warm welcome and the willingness to share knowledge with us.  We look forward strengthening our ties with Ilisimatusarfik in the future.

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Nuuk Basic

On Aug 8th we had the pleasure of traveling up the Kobbefjord by boat to visit the Nuuk Basic field station. Nuuk Basic was established in 2007 through funding by the Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation and is run by the Danish Energy Agency. The aim of the field station is to document and study the effects of climate change on aquatic and terrestrial systems.  Although relatively new, the station has already housed many researchers and is generating incredible data.  What’s more, the long term data they have begun collecting will undoubtedly be valuable in the coming years and decades, especially when compared to the data generated by its sister field station, Zackenberg Basic, in Northeast Greenland.

The main building at Nuuk Basic can house four researchers, has a kitchen, toilet, and a laboratory. If the researcher population is higher than four (which it often is), a small tent village is created around the main building. photo source

After a lovely 45 minute boat ride from Nuuk we were greeted by our guide for the day, Maia Olsen.  Maia is a Nuuk native who traveled to Denmark to obtain her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology but has returned to Greenland to spend time in the field.

Maia greets us on the rocks as we arrive by dinghy.

Maia is in charge of collecting data associated with BioBasis, which is one of the four branches of research conducted at Nuuk Basic (the others are ClimateBasis, GeoBasis, and MarineBasis). For BioBasis, Maia is observing phenology of flowering plants, conducting bird surveys, and pan trapping for insects among other duties. I was interested to learn that, like the Colorado habitats where I perform my field work, snowmelt is the main driver of flowering phenology in these habitats.

Maia explains what data she is in charge of collecting as part of BioBasis.

Next we were introduced to Maria, a Danish researcher who is getting some field time in before starting a Master’s program.  Maria is currently in charge of collecting data on soil methane release. The set-up is incredible, and consists of a series of small bridges extending into a wet meadow.  The bridges lead to eight plexiglass boxes.  Once every few minutes, the lids automatically close and take methane measurements using a sensor similar to the IRGA that we learned about from Julia Bradley-Cook. One of the most incredible features of this research is that all of the data are instantly and freely available online (link).

Maria explain how the methane monitoring system works.

After a quick hike we came across three more researchers who are studying how climate change could affect soils and vegetation.  They are using ITEX, the plexiglass structures pictured below, to increase temperatures over several plots within a meadow near the Nuuk Basic field station. We tried sticking our hands in these plots and noticed that the air was considerably warmer in there, so the treatments seems to be working well! The first researcher explained that she is studying how increased temperatures could affect soil CO₂ flux by placing an IRGA over a small patch of bare soil in each plot (learn more about an IRGA from Julia here!). Next, another researcher demonstrated how he collects data on vegetation CO₂ flux using a larger chamber that fits completely over the shrubby plants within the plots. Finally, yet another researcher showed us how he collects air samples to test for VOCs (volatile organic compounds) released by the plants.

Christine tests the air inside the ITEX. Yep! It’s warmer in there!

We get the lowdown on how the Nuuk Basic researchers are investigating how warmer climates could affect soil carbon flux.

We are all impressed the the volatile organic compound (VOC) capturing machine! The VOCs are sucked up into a small metal tube, to be analyzed later in a lab in Denmark.

Nuuk Basic is an incredible facility filled with enthusiastic scientists.  Thanks to Maia and all the other researchers for taking time out of their field seasons to show us around, we are eager to see what conclusions can be drawn from these data! Keep up the good work!

Check out those sweet hats!

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