2 female NTU scientists join expedition to Arctic, discover new volcano in Norwegian depths

Two 28-year-old Singaporean scientists were invited on a research expedition to the Arctic Circle last month, joining a group of other international scientists on board an icebreaker in a geeky cruise of sorts in the Barents Sea. For 12 days from 29 April to 10 May, Ms Yan Yu Ting and Ms Toh Yun Fann from NTU Asian School of the Environment found themselves in the bitter cold aboard the Kronprins Haakon, a Norwegian research vessel crewed by a multinational group of 30 scientists. Called the Advancing Knowledge of Methane in the Arctic project, the effort was led by The Arctic University of Norway and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in the United States, which invites scientists and students from around the world to join in a learning journey. Ms Yan and Ms Toh were the only two scientists from Asia on board the vessel. Speaking to TODAY after their trip, Ms Yan said they were there to pick up new skills and try out state-of-the-art research technology, such as remote-controlled submersibles, to study one of the largest remaining undisturbed marine ecosystems on Earth. In the process, the team serendipitously discovered a new mud volcano, known formally as the Borealis Mud Volcano, spewing fluids and gases some 400m underwater.

 

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