In the new episode of The IcePod, we meet with Karin Strand, Vice President of Expeditions of Hurtigruten, a Norwegian coastal ferry service and cruise line that offers expeditions to Antarctica.

When Karin Strand began studying law in the late 1990s, she had no idea where life would take her. It all started with a student job in the summer; here she cleaned cabins aboard the ships of the traditional Norwegian ferry service that carries people from Bergen to Kirkenes in northern Norway. "Little did I know by the time", how much nature would become her profession. "During breaks at sea, I used to go out on deck and look at the coastline," she says. After graduating from law school, she decided to leave law behind and work for Hurtigruten on their ships instead. At the time, Hurtigruten had begun operations on the Chilean coast and in Antarctica which Karin was able to join as a purser to take care of passengers. She remembers well her first glimpse of Antarctica: while she expected it to basically be a copy of what she knew from the Norwegian coast, she quickly realized that Antarctica was "way bigger than myself". She has returned to Antarctica every year since, with the exception of last season when Hurtigruten had to temporarily suspend service due to COVID-19.

When Hurtigruten established an outdoor program, Karin was offered the opportunity to join the Antarctic cruises as an expedition leader. Being an expedition leader requires three things: a good eye for logisticts, curiosity and passion. "This is much more than a job, it's a lifestyle", Karin explains. Today, as the Vice President of Expeditions, Karin is responsible for a fleet of six ships in Antarctica and the Arctic, including onshore expeditions and the onboard educational program. The latter has grown significantly over the years; Hurtigruten not only conducts Citizen Science projects, but offers scientists the opportunity to collect data during cruises.

In her role, Karin is heavily involved into the planning the expedition itinerary. The team onboard uses several sources to check weather and sea-ice forecast, including windy.com (https://www.windy.com) and the Norwegian weather forecast from yr.no (https://www.yr.no). To make sure, we stay safe, "we usually go with the worst-case scenario", Karin explains. Better fog and wind forecasts would be very useful, and if there were a wish list, Karin would look for a combined product where information on sea ice, wind and ocean currents would be available from a single source, "because those are the elements that would stop us on our way.”