It was the first time that Polarforum was arranged at Umeå University, which was appreciated by Dieter Müller, Professor of Social and Economic Geography and Deputy Vice-chancellor at Umeå University.

– It was about time that Polarforum is being held in Umeå! Umeå University has a relatively large focus on polar research, which we manifest through the Arctic Research Centre (Arcum), but also through the many projects we have in the polar area. We want to be a node in this context, and that includes us being able to host Polarforum, says Dieter Müller, who also liked the mix of presentations.

– I am glad to see that there is great breadth in what is presented, everything from natural science that has historically dominated, but also the humanities sciences, medicine and social sciences. It’s great to see the diversity that polar research actually has.

One of this year’s speakers was Anna Wåhlin, Professor of Oceanography at the University of Gothenburg. Her presentation on the doomsday glacier was appreciated and also covered by the Swedish radio station P4 Västerbotten.

– What I like most about Polarforum is the opportunity to meet people in other research areas, such as social sciences and medicine, which I do not meet in other contexts. There were also a lot of young researchers that I had not met before, which was a lot of fun. It is also good to gather several research funders at the same place where we researchers can ask questions, says Anna Wåhlin.

A familiar visitor at Polarforum was Michael Tjernström, Professor at the Department of Meteorology at Stockholm University. He also enjoyed Polarforum, although he liked to see more atmospheric research.

– There are two aspects that I particularly like with Polarforum. The first is that this is the time of the year when you meet other polar scientists, many are good friends and colleagues since a long way back, and some are new acquaintances. The second is to learn something new. This year’s Polarforum was very good, the scientific content was beyond my expert competence, but was very educational. However, I must note that this was the fifth Polar Forum I am on and it is still a lack of atmospheric scientists.