The last few weeks have been a bit crazy at Project HQ. Believe it or not, it looks like we are actually going to Greenland this summer! There was a time when we thought it might not happen, at least for this year, but the funding has come through from many many different sponsors, and we can’t thank them enough. The most recent of these has been from the Comer Family Foundation, and the trustees have agreed to inject the last bit funding that we need to go and collect those all-important samples.
Preparations are now being finalised for the expedition to take place at the end of July to the middle of August. It is an exciting time, but there really is a lot to think about. One of our team members has changed; Prof. Christoph Spötl of the University of Innsbruck will now be joining us in the field instead of Clive Johnson. Clive will still be on hand to organise our logistics, but he won’t be physically present with us at the cave sites.
Voltaic Systems have also sponsored the Project with their latest product, the lightweight, portable, Arc 20W Solar Charger Kit, in addition to a number of other products. The solar panel will be really important to us, as it will allow Robbie to recharge his batteries needed for documenting the work of the expedition. Thanks Voltaic!
Thanks also to Hilti (Austria) who will be providing the expedition with a drill and batteries, which we need for collecting the samples. Team member Prof. Christoph Spötl and his research group have pioneered a method of conservatively collecting cave samples that involves drilling a core and patching the hole with resin so that aesthetic damage is minimised. We will be adopting this strategy in Greenland. Thanks Hilti!
And finally, save the date! As recipients of this year’s Wilderness Award, we will be spending an evening talking about the expedition as part of the Wilderness Lectures in Bristol, UK, on 4th November, 2015. Please come along and see how the expedition turned out. Thanks to Robbie, we should have some great photographs and film footage, plus a good story to tell. We hope to see many of you there!