The Norwegian Polar Institute in Svalbard

On several occasions during 1996 and 1997 I was employed by The Norwegian Polar Institute in Svalbard, NPIS. Among these were two periods as a field assistant and a period working on a database.

References of 19.12.97

Åge Utnes has done field work for The Norwegian Polar Institute in Svalbard in the periods 22-26. May and 11-24. October 1997, approximately 20 days of work.

The work has covered:

• Catching of Ivory and Glaucous Gulls with nets at Adventpynten. On this occasion he has gained experience in the use of elastic nets as a method of catching birds alive, taking blood samples, ringing and taxonomy
• Collecting of Glaucous Gulls' eggs on the islets along the coast of the Nordenskiöld plain to obtain data for environmental pollution analysis
• Taxonomy of sea birds in the Isfiord in October
• Killing off Fulmar, Ptarmigan and Brünnich's Guillemot providing bait in "living-traps" for foxes
• Arctic fox studies including handling of living foxes, marking, taxonomy, and the use of radio-telemetry in the study of foxes' movements

During the above mentioned field work Åge has gained experience in the use of inflatable tenders, marine aluminium boats, and snow scooters. The field work was done during periods of partly severe conditions both at sea and on shore. Åge has carried out assisting tasks and independent work in an orderly and satisfactory way.

J.E. H., Managing director, and G. B., Research technician

Comments

Field work for NPS is among the highlights of my life. See my photo pages for further comments!

References of 03.05.96

Åge Utnes worked as a scientific assistant in the period 19. February to 31. March. He has worked on the material for our annual database in English, the Research in Svalbard, RiS'96.

Software in use was Oracle database and Microsoft's Word and Excel for Windows. His tasks required ability to keep an overview as well as attention to logical consequences in the details. The work has been carried through to our fullest satisfaction.

B. F., Managing director

Comments

The publication RiS'96 was used to inform the international scientific community about on-going projects in Svalbard the current year. Working on RiS'96 suited the perfectionist in me: poking about to see if text and databases were accurate. English, Norwegian and German were used as I contacted the scientists to confirm information provided in their papers.