Aviaja day

July 5th, 11:24PM

Today Aviaja, a Greenlandic PhD student, came to work with us. She was scheduled to arrive at 9am, but you know how Greenlandic airports are; seeing as her flight was delayed, we had an extra hour to clean up our tables and work on various projects.

Aviaja arrived at ten and began presenting at ten-fifteen. It was amazing how different the atmosphere was for this scientist than for the others; all of the students sat up straighter, took more diligent notes, and asked more questions than usual, especially the Greenlanders. I think it had something to do with the fact that we had only seen Danish and American scientists thus far in our trip- you could definitely see the Greenlanders' eyes brighten as Aviaja translated into their native language (while the Greenlanders can all speak in Danish and English, none of the Danes or Americans can speak Greenlandic). Aviaja is also young, stylish, friendly, and speaks Greenlandic, Danish, and English flawlessly- not to mention incredibly successful. She was brilliant. I know the rest of the JSEP crew would agree with me that hearing her talk today was nothing short of inspiring.

Also, she wore glasses chains. I knew those were coming back.

Aviaja's lecture covered a variety of topics. First she talked about biotechnology: how biology is applied to industry to create useful products like detergent, food products, soap, etc. She also spoke to us about the Ikaite columns in southern Greenland, which are unusual because they contain bacteria that thrive in low temperatures and high pH. Since you can't find these conditions in many other places on the planet, Aviaja says that the Ikaite columns are very important to research. She and her mentor Peter want to apply the low-temp-high-pH bacteria to laundry detergent, which could save huge amounts of energy every year.

Ikaite columns

The last topic Aviaja spoke about was Greenland's very healthy potatoes. In southern Greenland, where the climate isn't so extreme, farmers have been able to grow potatoes and other underground vegetables. What is special about these potatoes is that they grow in fungal-resistant soil, since the climate is still too cold to support fungal life. Given this, the Greenlanders don't have to use pesticides or other chemicals to keep their potatoes alive! I thought this was really awesome but a little worrying. While climate change may make growing vegetables easier in Greenland, it may also change the properties of Greenlandic soil, creating a more suitable environment for fungi and other pests. And again on the flipside- if Greenland can grow its own vegetables, pesticides or not, it might become more independent from Denmark (although Greenland is no longer Danish territory, Denmark still has a great deal of influence here). Climate change is definitely a two-sided coin. I see the need for strong Greenlandic leaders in the next few decades!

When Aviaja was finished we headed up to the salt lake. It was much easier driving there than biking there, as Ronin and I knew very well. (It's a good thing we didn't try to continue on the salt lake path yesterday, because we still would have had a LONG way to go.) The salt lake was very beautiful, of course, with fields of shrubs and flowers surrounding it. There was lots of evidence of wildlife; bones, tracks, and scat was everywhere. Muskox and reindeer come here often to satisfy their sodium fix, Kasper told me- much like horses and salt licks. As for why the lake is salty? I'm still not sure, and neither is Kasper. Skipper says that it's just because the mineral composition in this valley is special; how so, and why, I still do not know. I'm not sure there is an easy explanation.

Salt lake

360-view of Salt lake

After we collected some samples for our water/soil tests (no phosphate in either the soil or water, surprise surprise), Aviaja had a couple of activities prepared for us at the lake. We received four petri dishes (two of them had sugar-rich nutrients, and two of them had protein-rich nutrients), two falcon tubes, and a couple of sterile loops. Michael partnered with me; together we collected soil and water samples in the falcon tubes, then streaked the samples onto the sugar/protein plates using our sterile loops. My plates looked horrible because I didn't adjust my plates to the light and couldn't see where I was streaking, but of course Michael's were immaculate. In the next few days we'll monitor our plates and see which ones grow the most bacteria.

Salt lake

Later at the lake we went on a plant hunt! Each pair was handed a list of plants to find and bring back to Aviaja. Michael and I split up to cover more ground, and I found niviarsiaq- he found almost everything, including niviarsiaq. So much for splitting up.

View from the mountain above Salt lake, where we were dropped off and picked up

360-view from above Salt lake

We took our plant samples with us back to HQ, and once there we listened to Aviaja talk a little bit about every plant on the list. She had chosen them for their value in Greenlandic folk lore and medicine- it was pretty neat to hear all of these seemingly insignificant plants' little quirks and backstories! Here are some of my notes:

Rhododendron

• used for teas and spices; smells nice and used commonly in Greenland

Fir clubmoss

• people who were done living in society and chose to live in nature changed into these plants
• can fly, can talk to animals, and has other mythical powers
• very "hairy", looks like fingers coming out of the ground

Common juniper

• functions as a contraceptive and treatment for diabetes and arthritis
• apparently gives good taste to tuttu- thanks to Kasper for that little gem

Roseroot/King's Crown

• enhances focus and concentration
• stress relieving, has been used in Chinese medicine as well
• can actually be found in pill form in America
• I need to find this and consume it

Niviarsiaq/River Beauty

• the national flower of Greenland

Arctic blueberry

• antioxidant, very healthy

Aviaja closed with a short talk on how important it is for more Greenlanders to invest themselves in science, essentially because the entire island of Greenland is a lab on climate change. There is so much research just waiting to be done, and who better to do it than the Greenlanders themselves! Sam Blair also pointed out that new Greenlandic resources uncovered by glacial melting might be exploited by other countries if the people of Greenland don't take a more active role in the management of their country's environment.

Probably the most moving thing for me to hear was Aviaja's response to someone's question at the end of her presentation, "So how many Greenlandic microbiologists are there?" She smiled a little and responded, "Just one. Me." I sincerely hope that changes as a result of this program, and I think it will. It was obvious that Aviaja's talk had a huge impact on the Greenlandic students.

After Aviaja was finished, we had free time before dinner to work on our projects and whatnot. Makka and I are still stressing over our stupid sea tomato video, but it's coming along. Dinner was great because Samantha and I got ice cream afterwards, and Kasper bought us more hot chocolate mix. At nine we finished Independence Day, and then Samantha and I had a 10:30pm hot chocolate walk to one of our favorite spots by the river.

Tomorrow is Greenlandic cultural day! I'm not sure what to expect, although Rikke asked me not to wake up so early because the G-landers wanted to prepare for dinner in the morning. I have a feeling it's going to be good!