Course Review of Physical Geography

Course Review

of "AG-204 The Physical Geography of Svalbard" and "AG-221 Arctic Physical Geographical Field Techniques"


In the Autumn Semester of 2018, Daniel, Hugo, Nick, and I (Mascha) studied Physical Geography at UNIS. For everyone considering taking the same course, here’s a little review that may help:


So, let’s start on the general structure of the two courses. They are intentionally intertwined, with AG-204 being the more theoretical half while AG-221 is focussed more on practical skills. That allowed for a layout where you’d often learn about a certain topic in class the first half of the week and then would go out to do fieldwork relating to what you had learned towards the end of the week. We felt this kind of structure, where you get to apply your new knowledge, really consolidated the information in your mind without having to study too much. Another bonus is that we got to go out on fieldtrips at least once per week, which is much more than most courses at UNIS! 


But what did we actually do? Good question! We learned a lot about glaciers, permafrost and different kinds of slope processes and how they shape the landscape in Svalbard. Corresponding to that, we went to take measurements of and redrill ablation stakes into a glacier to monitor the mass balance change, we got sediment samples from Adventdalen to look at the ice structures within and around the permafrost, and we looked at them slopes to map them in ArcGIS.



Playing with ablation stakes on Foxfonna

Permafrost drilling can get quite intense



  
If you should take this course, you will learn to dread THE question…


"So what can you tell me about the geomorphology of this place?"

Looking at them slopes







The course also included some hydrology and climatology, so we got to build our own little hydrological station!


Installing our own little hydrological station (while rocking that Obelix look)

In AG-221, the class was split into 7 groups and each group got to do a term project, so essentially we got to do our own little research/monitoring projects with at least one of the lecturers supervising and guiding you along the way. The topics were ranging from glacier mass balance, over hydrology and hydrochemistry, to mapping-related projects.

You can check out better descriptions of both courses on the UNIS website:

https://www.unis.no/course/ag-204-the-physical-geography-of-svalbard/

https://www.unis.no/course/ag-221-arctic-physical-geographical-field-techniques/



The lecturers were amazing. Apart from all the positive blabla about engaging teaching styles, they really cared about individual students, their progress and their general well-being. They took the time to help us whenever necessary, and they also managed to create a nice sense of community among the students of this course. 


Now before you apply for this course, I must warn you: There’s a lot of mapping. Like, a lot.



Also, a significant part of the knowledge you’ll (hopefully) acquire in this course is not really relevant for a career in Marine Science, HOWEVER, you will learn many very useful skills, like using ArcGIS, or just all the experience you get from your term project.

In conclusion, we would definitely recommend taking this course if you can bear a semester unrelated to Marine Science. From talking to other students, I think this may be one of the best courses UNIS has to offer in the Autumn semester, so don’t let John fool you into taking Arctic Marine Geology! But beware the mapping.






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