News from the Expedition Onboard Oden

On August 10, the Canada–Sweden Arctic Ocean 2026 expedition began in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. From there, the icebreaker Oden and the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent continued into the Arctic Ocean to carry out a range of activities, including further mapping and sampling of the Arctic seafloor. This part of the expedition also hosts an international graduate school, bringing together PhD students and early-career researchers to learn more about the Arctic climate system.

The researchers have been busy assembling the piston corer and loading it with weights before deployment. Once the cores are retrieved, they are carefully opened, sampled, and measured under the guidance of Professor Matt O’Regan. Between the intensive scientific work, there is also time for social activities onboard, including yoga classes and shipwide music quizzes. It has been busy days, combining hands-on fieldwork with learning, collaboration, and even some time for social activities onboard.