Testimonial | Field School in Greenland — Alexandra Bélanger

From April 15 to May 29, Alexandra Bélanger is participating in the "Permafrost in Arctic Societies" field school in Sisimiut, Greenland. The Master’s student in Earth Sciences at Université Laval shares her experience here:

This interdisciplinary field school brings together about twenty graduate students from several countries. The course aims to deepen our understanding of permafrost thaw and its impacts on Arctic communities, through a combination of field and laboratory work, lectures, and exchanges with local stakeholders.

After a week of introductory sessions at the DTU Arctic campus, we spent four days in Kangerlussuaq for a field immersion. Activities included DGPS surveying, drilling, and drone surveys around the airport runway, as well as assessing the impacts of permafrost thaw on local infrastructure. We also had the opportunity to access the ice sheet, travelling through landscapes shaped by glacial retreat and the development of periglacial features that reflect the ongoing environmental changes. 

This enriching field experience is made possible through the North2North program and allows me to learn within an international cohort studying northern environments. 

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Crédit photo en couverture : Zhao Yijia