#OnAssignment

SVALBARD

OCTOBER 2024

For my research into William Scoresby, Jr.’s scientific development and experiments, I traveled to Svalbard as one of 30 artists, writers, and academics participating in The Arctic Circle Artist Residency.

For three weeks, we lived and worked aboard the sailing bark Antigua, cruising the coast of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet, the two largest islands in the archipelago.

I observed the cryoscapes that Scoresby described in An Account of the Arctic Regions (1802) and compared his accounts with the scenes today.

Yours truly with a beached berg in front of the Fjortende Julibreen (Fourteenth of July Glacier).
Icebergs calved from the Gimlebreen glacier in Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. .
A polar bear’s paw print in the snow—and my hand, wearing two pairs of gloves, for comparison!
Ship Antigua is anchored in the water in front of a glacier in bluish afternoon light in Svalbard
Our ship, the sailing bark Antigua, in front of the glacier in Kongsfjorden.
A beautiful berg catches the afternoon sun in Kongsfjorden’s calm waters.

My experience in Svalbard, which Scoresby had made his scientific laboratory, gave me unprecedented insight into his world.

Stay tuned for the full story in my forthcoming biography of Scoresby and the invention of Arctic science.