We arrived at 3 am in Longyearbyen this morning. It was difficult to tell if it was day or night. It’s always light at this time of the year. We are here to teach a plant functional trait course, the same we did in China and Peru. It’s the first time for me to be in the arctic, and it is exciting, a bit grey, cold and windy.

Today, we first went to UNIS (the university in Longyearbyen) to organize a few practical detail for the course next week. And then we had a look at the ITEX site in Endalen. There is not much vegetation, but if you look closer there is a diverse plant community growing in these challenging conditions. I’m looking forward to see more places and look more closely at the plants, vegetation and traits.