Anthropology and ethnography: new disciplines in natural and scientific studies of the Sámi in 19th-century Sweden – a case study. My research focuses on how Sámi were represented in text and images in four natural scientists’ travel and scientific journals and letter correspondence during the nineteenth century. The scientists are Göran Wahlenberg (1780-1851), Lars Levi Læstadius (1800-1861), Sven Lovén (1809-1895) and Axel Hamberg (1863-1933). They were all based in Sweden, but did field studies and field research trips in the north of Finland, the north of Norway, the north of Sweden and Spitsbergen. They studied, mapped and categorized stones, rocks, ice, plants, and flowers, animals such as birds, reindeers and sea mammals. They also studied the...

Transmission Location: At sea, 21 miles south of Punuk Island (sample station NEC2), south of St. Lawrence Island. Lat/Long: 62deg 42 min N/168 deg 38 min W (grid 62.70). Time: 0834. Temperature: 1.0 dgF, Wind: 24 mph from NW. Wind Chill: −22 dgF. Scattered clouds, 30% cover. Sunrise: 9:07 AM, Sunset: 9:22 PM. Ice: New ice, small floes, 1-2ft, high ridges. Note: large group of ~30 walrus on large floe ice edge, in and out of water. Ship’s log by Tom Litwin, scientist profiles by Tom Walker. Flying into Gambell, the Bering sea and Russian Siberian coast beyond. Photo Credit: Tom Litwin This ...

Photo Credit - AGAP team There were many times in the last two months where it seemed that the Antarctic Continent would win, keeping hidden the extensive landscape of subglacial lakes and mountains beneath the several kilometers of ice on Dome A. All the advance planning and negotiating with program leaders and logistics groups for enough days in the field to run the airborne geophysics were of little importance once we arrived on Antarctica. At this point we were negotiating with the continent herself, and we learned she can drive a hard bargain! The group at AGAP S camp had anticipated...

The fourth International Polar Year has led to the creation of a number of new projects and initiatives, many of which will continue after the IPY officially comes to an end in March 2009. One of these initiatives, the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), which sprang from the IPY Youth Steering Committee, (IPY project n° 168), has grown in size and stature in three short years. Since APECS founders Dr. Jenny Baeseman and Hugh Lantuit decided in 2006 to create an organisation aimed at helping...

At the end of 2007, teacher Turtle Haste's eighth-grade class at James Monroe Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico reported on a project to measure sun shadows all over the world, including at several Antarctic stations. to better understand how the Earth and the Sun interact, and how the seasons progress. The project is going strong, and there is now a call for everyone to join in. There is a new project page up, and also a Google Map that shows recent measurements: ...

Having been able to survive in the harsh Arctic climate for millennia, indigenous Northern communities have extensive intimate knowledge about the Arctic ecosystems in which they live. Increasingly, researchers are taking advantage of this wealth of knowledge to help them study the ecosystems of the Far North and how climate change is affecting them. One programme to monitor ice cover being run by the Nunavik Research Centre (NRC), the research arm of Québec's ...

Continuing his coverage of the 25th Chinese Antarctic Expedition, science journalist Jean de Pomereu reports on the departure of the Dome Argus (Dome A) traverse team from the Chinese Zhongshang Station in the Antarctic on the International Polar Foundation's SciencePoles website. On 18 December following an official departure ceremony, a team of 28 men left Zhongshang to start the 1,220 km traverse into the interior of Antarctica to Dome A, the highest point on the East Antarc...

Since the last International Polar Year, circumstances in the eight Arctic nations have changed considerably. Interactions with southern countries have increased, affecting the social dynamic of indigenous communications. This has impacted the diet and nutrition of indigenous communities. Traditionally, many indigenous communities relied on the land for food—coastal communities ate marine mammals whereas inland communities hunted for animals such as reindeer or caribou. This diet was supplemented with other mammals, birds, fish, or plants. Today, store-bought items like white bread, pork chops, and beef ar...

Google has just announced that they have begun making the entire 10-million photo archive of LIFE magazine available on their servers. To access the images just do an image search for a topic, adding "source:life" to your search query. Searching for "antarctica source:life" or "arctic source:life" serves up some stunning photography, most of it never published before. Here is just a small sampler:...

My research focuses on how Sámi were represented in text and images in four natural scientists' travel and scientific journals and letter correspondence during the nineteenth century. The scientists are Göran Wahlenberg (1780-1851), Lars Levi Læstadius (1800-1861), Sven Lovén (1809-1895) and Axel Hamberg (1863-1933). They were all based in Sweden, but did field studies and field research trips in the north of Finland, the north of Norway, the north of Sweden and Spitsbergen. Altar-piece from 1958 made by Bror Hjorth in the church of Jukkasjärvi, in the municipality of Kiruna in the north of Sweden. Lars Levi Læstadiu...