Author Archives: Mandy Kong

Drawings and written reflections from the Tromsøya Speidergruppe

How can collecting snow help us understand the journey of water? During the 2026 campaign, many scouts of Tromsøya speidergruppe became ISOSCAN’ers and contributed to data collection in the project. On 23 September, ISOSCAN returned to the group to share preliminary results and explore the scouts’ experiences of taking part in the project. Around 20 scouts joined the evening, including some who were new to ISOSCAN.

Eva Duedahl from the University of Southern Denmark visited the scouts, with fellow project researcher Costijn Zwart from the University of Bergen joining online. Together, we shared the ISOSCAN film, discussed the preliminary results and invited the scouts to reflect through drawing and writing.

Seeing the locations of their own samples on the map prompted excitement: the scouts recognised places and shared stories of their sampling trips, including a family visit to an ice cave. Continue reading →

Harald Sodemann at the ISOSCAN stand at VilVite

Forskningsdagene is an annual outreach event where research and the public get in touch about science. This year, University of Bergen arranged for the first time the ‘Researcher’s night’ at VilVite on 25 September. Aiming for young adults, mostly students, the evening arrangement featured a podium discussing about AI and other current societal topics, a show with fancy experiments and explosions, and stands from different research and innovation activities around Bergen.

The ISOSCAN project contributed with a stand, showcasing our overall approach and outreach materials, including the recently released ISOSCAN movie. This is part of ‘giving back’ to the citizen scientists who collected snow for the project last winter. There were quite a few engaged and curious young adults at the stand, some of them even noticed the sample kits that were distributed among others in Realfagbygget.

As a takeaway from participating in the Researcher’s night, it became obvious that it is easy to get into a conversation with the public about a topic as remote as streamflow prediction improvements due to stable isotopes in snow though the materials and stories developed within the ISOSCAN project.

Text and photo: Harald Sodemann / UiB

Eirik Mikal Samuelsen (Norwegian Meteorological Institute) presenting on “Predictions in a field of uncertainty: Making sense of weather forecasts.”

On 21 September, ISOSCAN and UiT – The Arctic University of Norway invited the public to the event “Forecasting Together: Understanding the Movements of Water” at Amtmandens Eftf. in Tromsø. Held in English and Norwegian as part of Forskningsdagene, the event shared results from citizen science campaigns in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Tromsø played a central role in engaging local residents and tourists participating in winter activities.

Costijn Zwart from the University of Bergen introduced the science behind ISOSCAN. He explained how stable water isotopes can be used as tracers in hydrological modelling and how contributions from citizen scientists have improved our ability to model and forecast water systems.

The event also explored how citizen participation, hydrological modelling, and forecasting can be better connected to people’s everyday needs and decisions. Eirik Mikal Samuelsen from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute shared insights into forecast uncertainty and effective communication. He also discussed his experience of presenting weather forecasts informally through his popular Facebook weather blog in the Tromsø area.

Finally, participants took part in interactive activities to help co-design approaches to weather and water forecasting and examine how forecasts influence behaviour and decision-making.

Text and photo: Kristof Tomej / University of Southern Denmark