The ten members of the 2023 expedition to Recherchefjord, South Spitsbergen, have all safely returned home and have achieved very good results in the fieldwork projects. The key projects of studying the climate change indicators of pingo formations and the evaluation of new techniques for visible beach plastics surveys, both provided great opportunities for the expedition to both 'do the science' and get a good look around the Recherchefjord area.
In addition, the expedition team visited and remotely recorded the condition of several archaeological sites in the area, there was also a questionnaire based study to inform an evaluation of the dynamics of the team while on the expedition and a project evaluating architectural aspects of Svalbard's communities.
Expedition Leader, Chris Searston, noted "The safe return of everyone is always the first priority for expeditions and with the bonus of the successful completion of the field work, all those involved should be really proud of their achievements. The expedition included members for whom it was their first expedition to the Arctic and their approach to the work and operating safely was excellent".
The data, samples and outputs from the expedition now enter the phase of checking, evaluation and interpretation so that the researchers can report on their findings.
Further details of the expedition and the research work will follow. In addition, would like to say a heartfelt thanks to sponsors, donors and to the families of the expedition members for your support; the expedition would not have been possible without you.
Image by Mike Haynes