Roos Bruins Slot is one of our interns this year. She is part of the Durin project and works with our PhD student Kristine Birkeli to help collect carbon flux measurements in the field.

Get to know Roos better! She writes:

"I’m a Dutch Biology student and started my internship with Between the Fjords in Bergen at the beginning of April. To graduate with my Bachelor’s degree, I had to do an internship and write my thesis in 10 weeks. I decided to look for an option abroad, and this is when I came across Between the Fjords. The experience abroad, in a city surrounded by mountains, the shift in natural surroundings, and the hands-on fieldwork opportunity were the things that appealed to me the most, when choosing to do my internship in Norway. After some online meetings, a couple of months before I started, everything was arranged and I was prepared and ready to go.

My first days as an intern I spent reading into the project of Durin, thinking about my thesis subject and attending meetings with the colleagues of Between the Fjords. The international atmosphere led to a mix of cultures and good scientific conversations and experiences. Everyone was enthusiastic about their projects and looked forward to the fieldwork season, and so did I! A week after I arrived in Bergen, my first fieldwork day was planned.

My first day in the field, on Lygra, a small island about one hour drive from Bergen, started with perfect weather. With backpacks filled with field equipment and enough food for the day, we entered Lygra. Kristine, my supervisor and PhD student at the University of Bergen, stood in as a tour guide when I and the other interns walked to the Durin and Drought-net plots. The plan for the day was to collect phenology data, TOMST logger microclimate data, and for my project, measurements of carbon fluxes. Additionally, we had to do some removals of plant species that needed to be excluded from the plot.

While crawling beneath the shelters and with glimpses of the ocean, we collected the data from the plots. After the lunch break, with some Norwegian chocolate and fresh sunscreen on my face,  we continued to the other plots. Around five o’clock, a bit tired but full of heather, beautiful views, and of course data, we drove back to Bergen. Sitting in the car, I pondered, realizing this was merely my first day in the field."

In the pictures below: Mathéo Touriere, Kristine Birkeli, Xander Duisters and Roos Bruins Slot in the field on Lygra. The roof setup is designed to simulate drought, as part of the DroughtNet network.