Svalbard is a globally crucial hub for science, serving as a natural laboratory for Arctic and global research. Its unique high-latitude location, accessible infrastructure and position at the heart of Arctic climate change make it an indispensable site for studying atmospheric science, earth observation and global food security.

In this podcast Mark has a conversation with Marine Scientist Dr Laura Hobbs whilst their expedition boat the SH Vega is moored in Longyearbyen. Laura is a lecturer in Arctic Marine Science at The Scottish Association for Marine Science, and mostly focuses on understanding zooplankton distribution and behaviour as a function of the environment in which they live, with a particular focus on light. Laura explains what she has been doing up on Svalbard on this particular journey, describes her work at the International research base at Ny Alesund and has some sage advice for aspiring marine biologists.

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Tales from High Latitudes is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio

Sound effects used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Stein Ø. Nilsen, XC379429. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/379429.

Lars Edenius, XC790006. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/790006.