Environmental Field Studies

About this programme

Stockholms University’s vessel, R/V Electra af Askö. A state-of-the-art research platform designed to explore the world below the surface. Photo: Anna-Karin Landin In this course, you will get a chance to familiarize yourself with the composition and structure of different environmental compartments such as soil, inland waters, coastal systems and the lower atmosphere. You will learn to plan and execute environmental sampling campaigns from designing the study, collecting samples using a range of approaches, to performing field measurements with state-of-the-art techniques. Past students have visited the Stockholm archipelago with research vessel Electra to learn shore- and ship-based marine field methods, the Erken Laboratory to learn biological field sampling in lakes, field sites around Stockholm to compare soil profiles, the parameters that shape them and the environmental implications, and the ICOS station Norunda for an introduction to atmospheric and forest ecosystem measurements with e.g. Eddy Covariance, soil flux chambers and a range of meteorological tools. The teaching focuses on field excursions followed by seminars and exercises where biogeochemical concepts and processes are evaluated. Lectures will be given where e.g. the principles of planning and conducting field investigations are discussed. Participation in field excursions and any associated integrated instructions is compulsory. Lectures and field excursions will primarily be led by researchers from Stockholm University.