I’ve been a bit lax with posting of late, but I’ve been somewhat busy with other projects and life stuff. A month or two I decided to apply to be part of an all-women expedition with an organization called Sea Women Expeditions to Norway’s Arctic fjords to follow the free-ranging killer whales during the annual herring run. I have long been fascinated with the arctic, and have been looking around for a new “outdoor” adventure for a while (turns out you get wistful for your youthful exploits in the field when you approach 40) and this looked to be a great opportunity to return to my roots as a scientist and explore some really cool applications of VR and immersive storytelling. Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago I found out I had been selected to take part, and will be hearing off to Tromso in mid-November. My early discussions with expedition leader (and organization founder), Susan Eaton, have got me very excited, and it looks like my main role is going to be integrating 3D spatial data into the research and outreach (and into some kick-ass VR, of course). Oh, and I’ll get to snorkel with orcas (yes, you read that right). Over the course of the next few months, I will be posting about my preparations as I get ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
For today’s post, I would like to share my first re-entry into the world of snorkelling…