For the first time ever, PolarPrat is in English, and in this episode, I’m joined by Giom Bonvin, a PhD student at UNIS studying one of the Arctic’s greatest mysteries: Ghost aurora.
Giom moved to Svalbard during the polar night, having never experienced the landscape in daylight. When the light finally returned, the mountains slowly revealed themselves, and he realised just how different life in the High Arctic would be.
From a seven-hour snowmobile trip after only five minutes of training, to witnessing spectacular pink Arctic light, Giom has quickly embraced the adventure.
We go behind the scenes of aurora research and explore ghost auroras, white Northern Lights, and whether Svalbard really is one of the best places on Earth to study them.
But this episode is also about what happens when you move to the other side of the world. What is it like to be a foreigner in a tiny Arctic community? How do you build a life when you don’t speak the language? And how do you know whether you’ve just bought milk or kefir?
Giom speaks seven languages, is learning Norwegian, and somehow manages to balance a PhD with an impressive amount of adventures. We talk about time management, making the most of your time, and why three years in Svalbard might not feel nearly long enough.
Science, adventure, culture, the Northern Lights, and a little Norwegian lesson along the way.
This is Giom’s Svalbard story.
