Waterloo Engineering alumnus Stephanie Holko (BASc ’04, chemical engineering) experienced the trip of a lifetime on an all-women research expedition that took her to explore Norway's Arctic fjords.
The Sea Women Expeditions' mission is to scout, record and document a warming Arctic, as well as to provide opportunities for Indigenous women, non-Indigenous women and gender diverse people to gain leadership skills and field experience.
Sea Woman Expeditions have been endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development for their research contributions. On this particular trip, the team collected data on environmental DNA and orca behaviour to inform further studies on how climate change is affecting Arctic habitats. This included taking regular samples from the water column at different times and depths to test what species are present in certain environments and recording video footage of the orcas interacting with their environment.
The expedition took place during the winter herring run in Norway’s Arctic fjords some 350 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Holko describes herself as a strong swimmer, but she wanted to be as prepared as possible for the unknown Norwegian Sea. Leading up to the trip, Holko spent a summer swimming the cold black lakes of Muskoka, Canada and familiarising herself with wetsuits and dive gear.
“Our expedition of 34 women, non-binary and two-spirited people from 10 different countries included ocean explorers, scientists, engineers, artists, photographers, videographers, writers, lawyers, historians, traditional knowledge holders, educators, students and scuba diving professionals between the ages of 20 and 70 years old. It was a powerful mix – we all learnt a lot from each other.”
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