Several members of the Norwegian Parliament attended a local government conference in Tromsø this weekend. They took the opportunity to visit CAGE .
Text and photo: Maja Sojtaric
The local government conference of the Norwegian Conservative Party, brought many of the party’s elected representatives to Tromsø this weekend. A number of members of Norwegian Parliament were in attendance, and took the opportunity to also visit CAGE, where they were welcomed by director Jürgen Mienert, Thursday 4. September.
The representatives were given a short presentation of the centre of excellence. They were particularly interested in the development of infrastructure that allows research on the Arctic seabed and water column.
They were shown around the 3D seismic lab at CAGE. A high resolution 3D seismic technology is a pioneering enterprise, developed over many years by the milieu around CAGE and marine geophysics at Department of Geology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
Associate professor Giuliana Panieri took the opportunity to tell about methods developed by CAGE to reconstruct the climate of the past using microfossils.
Professor II JoLynn Carroll spoke about the link between CAGE and businesses, something that the representatives were particularly interested in. She pointed out that the production of knowledge is as important for businesses and environment in the north, as development of technology.
Professor Mienert stressed that the centre’s primary mission is basic research on impact of methane on environment and climate in the Arctic. This requires use of high – quality infrastructure in hard to reach areas from Barents Sea to Arctic Ocean. He urged the representatives from the Parliament to continue to invest and engage in Arctic research.
PhD student Emmelie Åström informed the representatives about Nordic cooperation.
Researcher Andreia Plaza Faverola gave, toghether with PhD students Aleksei Portnov and Kate Waghorn, a brief demonstration of how CAGE interprets 3D seismic data to find methane emissions in the Arctic.
The representatives noted it as positive that there is a high number of female and international scholars at CAGE. There are over 20 nationalities represented at the centre.
— It was a very nice visit, they asked a lot of interesting and relevant questions and we would like to welcome them again, said centre director Jürgen Mienert .