By Liane G. Benning
Being allowed to do field work this summer is a huge privilege and we are not taking it lightly – the inherent dangers of the virus we all live with are very real. We had in a frenzy packed and shipped all our gear (and some) in early June although we did not yet know then if we would get a permit, find flights, be allowed into Greenland, or arrange a field camp etc etc. The moral issue about going at all to a virus-free country weighed heavily on our minds. At least for myself I almost became a hermit and distanced myself from all humans for the last 3 weeks so as not to jeopardise our chances and possibly get infected. I did eat loads of salad to prepare for the lack of it on the ice, and once @Rey_Mourot arrived back from the ‘exile’ in France, we did final lab preparations…
Stocking up on salad in preparation for the lack of it on the ice
@Rey_Mourot doing the sterilisation of the mineral mix for the in situ and fertilisation experiments… to be done soon on the Greenland Ice Sheet
All planning and care is however useless in the light of the possibility that at the last moment a test comes back positive for any of us.
Alas, the advance @DeepPurpleERCSy team consisting of our fearless leader @MartynTranter1 and, as far as I know, our youngest team members @Rey_Mourot and myself @LianeGBenning have all tested negative and can thus tomorrow embark on the 1st leg in our 6-stop journey to our field site in south Greenland. Tomorrow evening we transit through CPH airport and meet the DK part of the DeepPurple team. On Friday morning (crossing all digits that we have all paperwork we need – I counted 20 pieces) we will hopefully be allowed to board the AirGreenland plane to Kangerlussuaq/Nuuk/Narsarsuaq. That will be followed by 5 days quarantine in the airport hotel combined with lots of hope for all to go well. There are many possible plans B, C, D, …X, yet ultimately keeping everyone safe at our end but also in the Greenlandic community is the only thing that matters. The next step is to be united with the 2nd part of the team and getting onto the ice.
Only once we are left behind by the helicopter on the ice sheet will we be convinced that field work this summer will indeed happen.
But I am after all the eternal optimist so it will work out somehow.
We are a GO! (for now)
