I first heard about the possibility of doing a science/art residency, on a tall ship no less, in the Arctic!!! while I was on the job market. It sounded absolutely amazing, and I was just applying for things left and right, so I thought sure I'll apply for this. 
I was so surprised when I was accepted to go up to Svalbard, for the summer solstice 2017! I have always loved Arctic exploration stories, and extreme landscapes, and science/art collaborations, and TAKING TO THE SEA!
The idea was to bring scientists and artists together, at the edge of the world, to talk about how humanity is changing our planet and what we can do about it. We had people from physics, biology, film, painting, writing, dance...
...and of course also guides and ship's crew, to make sure we didn't drown or get eaten by polar bears. It's a beautiful, brutal world out there.
Now, I had never met ANY of these people before we were up there. No one else was coming from Ireland. But I was very lucky to be assigned, as my roommate, a super cheerful choreographer from southern California who had done lots of dance/science projects:
(Yes that is Deidre, who is setting nanoscience to dance TONIGHT in Galway with me as part of #ScienceWeek! eventbrite.ie/e/nanodance-ti…)
We got on super well, but also the whole experience was both inspiring and challenging. It really made me think about what I wanted, what I was doing with my life.
Also, it was shocking to see that so far from cities and people, we still saw trash washing up from the ocean. The quantity of plastic waste we generate, and where it goes, is such a massive issue.
We visited a historic whaling beach too, that was still covered with beluga whale bones. Seeing how people deplete our planet's resources with no comprehension of what it means was... daunting.
We talked a lot about climate change and what it meant, and whether between all our science and art we had any way to make a difference. (I still hope so.)
And we also talked about what right we had to be up there, with the carbon footprint of flights, the impact of the ship and even our footprints, in such a fragile environment. Something concrete had to come of it, otherwise it was incredibly selfish.
So what has come from it? Well, a lot of art (from the artists), lots of talks & writing from me (letstalkaboutscience.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/we-…), and the idea of climate leadership is something I'm going to keep developing with @HomewardBound16 next year.
Also, on a personal note, I went vegetarian after going to the Arctic. A small thing, but a thing I can do. I don't miss it.
I better wrap up now because my science/dance event starts tonight! Love your planet, love different perspectives, love each other. That's it, really.
