Gaining new knowledge I have really enjoyed my stay in Longyearbyen and working at Polar Permaculture. I have gotten to use some of my biological knowledge, mostly through trying to maintain good growth in the plants we were growing and when doing my small-scale water quality experiment on basil plants. I got to use my skills in plant biology, and I got to use and improve my skills in doing research, finding the best and most reliable sources for information, and also using less time on doing so. I have made a report on optimal growing conditions for the plants […]
Ola Kristensen
5 posts
I’ve been thinking a lot of what I could do from home for the remaining period of my internship in Polar Permaculture, and Hege and I finally figured it out. I will be collecting and comparing existing data on optimal growth conditions for the kinds of herbs and salads that will be produced by the company in the future (some of it is already being produced). This will be valuable and critical when the production will be scaled up and professionalized in new facilities in the near future (one to two years). The layout and equipment have to fit the […]
Unfortunately, I had to leave Longyearbyen last Friday the 20th of March. I was supposed to have stayed here for another two months, but we were all asked to leave if we could. Now I´m sitting at home in Kragerø, Norway, looking at the green grass and trees, feeling a bit sad. My work at Polar Permaculture will continue, but I´ll be doing all the work from home, obviously. There is plenty of tasks I can do from my computer, and I think it will be just as meaningful as the work I´ve been doing In Longyearbyen. It won´t be […]
Daily operations The last weeks I ́ve been part of the daily operations at Polar Permaculture. That includes sowing microgreens and basil, tending the plants, some deliveries and other types of miscellaneous work. A few weeks ago I started setting up a new grow room, where I had to remove a small biogas system that no longer was being used and I had to insulate parts of the room. Íll be using the room for test growing different types of plants. At the moment we ́re waiting for a delivery of parts needed to make the grow room fully operational, […]
Me and my background My name is Ola, and I´m from a small town in the south-east of Norway. I study Ecology and Wildlife Management at the University of South-Eastern Norway, USN, in a town called Bø. I´ve been working as a marine engineer onboard different types of ships for quite a few years, but two years ago I decided to do something completely different. I´ve always had an interest in nature, so I decided to start studying natural sciences. My Bachelor program mainly consists of biology, but also other subjects such as geology and climate studies are part of […]