During their 2025 summer field campaign members of the GreenFjord programme continued data collection on land and aboard RV Forel, the sailing boat refitted for scientific missions. As the scientific programme approaches its conclusion, the last week of this summer campaign was dedicated to outreach, with a Science Week to share results with the residents from the Kujalleq region.
In Narsaq, RV Forel opened its doors, welcoming almost the entire local school – a joyful surprise for the crew. In the days prior, the boat hosted local participants, giving them hands-on experience of life aboard a scientific sailing vessel. During one-day journeys exploring fjords, participants exchanged knowledge, shared local practices, and carried out sampling – for example searching for seals, observing drone test flights, and collecting water samples.
Throughout the week, a variety of other activities took place. Swiss alphorn music echoed in the Timersortafik gym, followed by a lively football match between the GreenFjord team and local youth. The Outdoor Science Fair brought science to life across the town, with posters, stands, and interactive activities. With the help of locals, the GreenFjord team organised a kaffemik, which included a screening of a film produced by students from the Narsaq school with the Human Cluster last April, poster presentations, and shared cakes and whale. Workshops at the Narsaq’s school offered students the opportunity to explore tangible results of the GreenFjord project, deepening their knowledge of Greenland’s soil composition, atmosphere, ocean biodiversity and the melting of the ice cap.
The final events in Qaqortoq on 5 September included presentations for high-school students and a stakeholder workshop. The latter sparked lively discussions about how science can facilitate sustainable and culturally acceptable regional development, linking agricultural issues, tourism development, and mining. The day ended with a cultural exchange, featuring Inuit singing and alphorn playing.
We warmly thank all the locals who joined, supported and enriched this Science Week, as well as all those who have been part of the GreenFjord journey from the start!
Swiss Polar Class is a free educational program available to teachers, students, and anyone interested in discovering the polar regions. It is aimed at students aged 8 to 12 and older. Based on the scientific activities of the Swiss Polar Institute, the program develops learning materials on topics related to the Arctic and Antarctic. Explore content adapted to the Swiss curricula (in French and German) and dive into the fascinating world of the polar regions.
In collaboration with the GreenFjord team, Swiss Polar Class developed a learning module consiting of videos, podcasts, learning exercises, and much more which is now available online: https://polar-class.ch/de/greenfjord/
Dr Dominik Gräff and colleagues from the GreenFjord team just published an article in the leading scientific magazine Nature. The article describes coupled iceberg calving and underwater glacier melting processes within a fjord ecosystem in southwestern Greenland. The researchers employed a novel technology of distributed fibre on the seabed at the glacier calving front that allows sensing along a space-time continuum. They describe their work as
“a leap forward in how we observe ice-ocean interactions —placing the fibre-optic sensor right where the future of Greenland’s ice is being decided”.
Publication:
Dominik Gräff et al. Calving-driven fjord dynamics resolved by seafloor fibre sensing. Nature. 13 August 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09347-7
More information:
Illustration photo: The research vessel Adolf Jensen lays a fibre optic cable in the fjord. To the left is the 80-meter-high vertical ice front of the glacier. (Image: Dominik Gräff, University of Washington)
Watch this amazing put together by GreenFjord member Maxi Castrillejo from UniL. The video shows the 2024 field work of the GreenFjord Ocen cluster on board the Greenlandic research vessel Sanna.
Congratulations to Rachel Barbara Häubi and Aurélie Coulon who today received the multimedia award of the Swiss Academy for their reportage on Greenland including on the GreenFjord project!
Thank you to them for their fantastic work!
