Expedition Anthropocene

Expedition Anthropocene

Miriam Akkermann

Musicologist | Topic: Sound Profiles

What’s in your luggage?

I plan to make sound recordings at a variety of places, so I’m bringing different microphones and the corresponding wind screens and cords, as well as two recording devices. What does it sound like on and inside of glaciers? What do you hear in the forest? How much of that sound is caused by humans? For my field recordings, I want to work with stereo, binaural and Ambisonic formats. In case weather conditions (rain, temperature) or technical issues make it impossible to use large equipment, I’m bringing a small recorder as an emergency option so that I can at least do some test recordings. I’m also bringing a boom pole, which allows me to hold the microphone at a distance so that I can record inside of boreholes in the ice. I’ll use my camera to document my work, including the location and position of the microphones.

What is your most important tool on the expedition?

My ears are my most important tool. They serve two different purposes: I need them to be able to reflect on what it is I have actually recorded, and they help me monitor the recordings in order to avoid technical errors. As a musicologist, I spend a lot of time thinking about the different ways that we can perceive sounds and that sounds can be perceived. This is just as true for classical music as it is for soundscapes in nature. As a sound artist, I find unusual listening situations and environments, such as those we will encounter in Ecuador, especially fascinating.

What are you most excited about?

I’m most excited about how the group’s various ideas will be put into practice on site. Although we have different research areas, we will be working together very closely. An exciting aspect of my project is how the glaciers sound and how these sounds can be recorded (from a technical standpoint). Do different glaciers make different sounds? What are the elements of the soundscapes? And especially: can the acoustic information contained in sound recordings give us additional insights? This question is closely connected with the projects that Robert and Ricarda are pursuing. I’m also really looking forward to learning how to extract and study ice cores and to exploring the (acoustic) fauna with Christian.

CONTACT

Miriam at the Jungen Akademie

TU Dresden – Junior Professur in Empirical Musciology 

Personal Website

Medical Doctor | Topic: Impact & Perception of Climate Change

Martin-Immanuel Bittner

What’s in your luggage?

My luggage mostly consists of every day objects: a laptop, a notepad and pen, a replacement battery, a Dictaphone and headphones and – to get into the spirit of the expedition – a biography of Alexander von Humboldt.

What is your most important tool on the expedition?

The Dictaphone will be the most important aid for the interview study because it allows for the full interviews to be transcribed and evaluated after my return. This will enable a much more thorough analysis and may therefore give deeper insights into the patterns of perception of climatic change.

What are you most excited about?

The “Die Junge Akademie” expedition brings together scientists from many different disciplines. I can’t wait to find out how our own perception of research and scientific work, which is shaped by our own respective fields of study, will change as a result of the combination of climate parameter measurements, observations about local fauna, interviews and recorded sound patterns.

CONTACT

Martin at the Jungen Akademie

Arctoris

Christian Hof

Biologist | Topic: Flora & Fauna​

What’s in your luggage?

I always bring along binoculars, a spotting scope and a field guide. These are the key tools for bird watching, which has long been a personal passion and has since become part of my professional activities. I’m also bringing a UV lamp and a sheet for light trapping nocturnal flying insects, as well as nets, traps and containers for catching, transporting and briefly holding insects and other small animals. And I have a camera with a variety of lenses – from macro to telephoto – so that I can photograph the diversity of animals – from the ant to the condor.

What is your most important tool on the expedition?

The most important tool will be my camera. The mountains of the Andes, especially in Ecuador, are among the most biologically diverse regions on the planet. How will the complexity and diversity of the forms, species and ecosystems vary across the different habitats that we visit? And how are they being changed by human activity? These are the questions that will guide me during our expedition. Quantitatively assessing biological diversity is admittedly a challenge – when in doubt, there is never enough time. That’s why I’m using visual processes and digital methods of analysis, which will allow me to make simplified but valid estimates about the biodiversity of flora and fauna. My camera is the primary tool for this.

What are you most excited about?

For a zoologist, ecologist and biogeographer, a research trip that follows in the footsteps of Alexander von Humboldt is something very special indeed. Naturally, I am especially interested in the diversity of fauna (especially birds) and flora as well as how they are influenced by human activity. The interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues from a very broad range of research fields promises to be especially exciting and may lead to insights that far exceed the sum of our individual research results. My experiences as part of Die Junge Akademie have shown that bringing together experts from very different disciplines often leads to unexpected, unconventional and therefore exceptional results. Reason enough to eagerly await this expedition into the Anthropocene.

CONTACT

Christian at the Jungen Akademie

Terrestrial Ecology Reserch Group – TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan Technical University of Munich

Chemist | Topic: Mikroplastics

Robert Kretschmer

What’s in your luggage?

In order to track down microplastics, I’m bringing extremely fine filters, a scale and syringes, which have their own very fine filters. In addition, I have a vacuum pump, containers for thawing ice cores and a glove bag (to protect the analysis from particles in the air). Since some of the samples will be taken on glaciers at high altitude, I also need all of the appropriate gear.

What is your most important tool on the expedition?

My hands! Whether I’m on the way to a sampling site, taking a sample or conducting analysis, manual dexterity and mechanical skills are essential.

What are you most excited about?

On the one hand, I am naturally excited about the results, but on the other hand, I’m also looking forward to interacting with my fellow researchers. I’m interested to see the research pursued in other disciplines and how my colleagues approach scientific questions. I’m most curious about the questions pursued in the disciplines farthest from my own, as these questions can inspire me to re-examine my own expectations. Often this opens up exciting new research perspectives.

CONTACT

Robert at the Jungen Akademie

Juniorprofessorship (Tenure Track) Inorganic Chemistry of Catalysis – University Jena

Dirk Pflüger

Computer Scientist | Topic: Image Profiles & Data Collection

What’s in your luggage?

In the age of big data and AI, I have opportunities that are beyond Alexander von Humboldt’s wildest dreams: I’m bringing along mobile devices that allow me to gather and analyse data (semi-)automatically. These include a camera robot, a tripod, a camera, a notepad and, of course, a laptop – as well as countless cords, batteries and storage media (not pictured). If the weather cooperates, I will be able to capture huge volumes of visual data in a short period of time. We will attempt to evaluate these data automatically, for example in order to classify vegetation zones, flora and fauna. And if everything works as planned, others will be able to take a virtual visit to our research stations after the expedition has concluded.

What is your most important tool on the expedition?

Depending on the weather, either an umbrella or a memory card 🙂 But seriously, it’s imperative that none of the many technical components fail and the weather must also play along, at least to an extent. While the pen and paper of Humboldt’s era were less susceptible to problems, today we are able to analyse digital photos and audio recordings, classify plants and animals, and survey glaciers and mountain ridges. And, of course, the expedition isn’t over when we return with all of this data. We’ll continue our research at our home institutions.

What are you most excited about?

I’m looking forward to the interactions among scientists from six very different disciplines. The work of Die Junge Akademie has demonstrated that this often leads to surprising new ideas and that there is a lot we can learn from one another. My day-to-day research generally starts with existing data. On our expedition, I will finally have the opportunity to accompany my colleagues on site and support them in gathering data, and I can also collect huge volumes of data myself. I’m especially curious to see which of our many ideas will pan out. How successful will we be in fusing Miriam’s sound recordings with my image data? Will we be able to automatically evaluate Christian’s images of the insects he has attracted?

CONTACT

Dirk at the Jungen Akademie

Institute for Parallel and Distributed Systems (IPVS) – University of Stuttgart

Physicist | Topic: Snow & Ice Cover

Ricarda Winkelmann

What’s in your luggage?

For our work on the glacier, I’m bringing a drill for taking ice cores and tools that will help us analyse the chemical and physical properties of the top layers of snow and ice. A core sample is 1-2 metres long – we will divide it up into discs that are about 5 cm thick and then determine the temperature, salt content and density of these individual layers. To do this, we’ll need the proper containers, salinometers, thermometers and a scale – and of course mountaineering equipment for our work on the ice.

What is your most important tool on the expedition?

Paper and pencil! When we take a sample on the glacier, we immediately determine and record a number of parameters including the location, altitude and temperature of the upper layers of snow and ice. In cold, wet and windy weather, the best way to do this is with an “old fashioned” pencil and paper – after the expedition, we’ll analyse the data using modern computer models.

What are you most excited about?

I’m really curious whether we’ll find microplastics in the snow and ice at these altitudes. And as a climate scientist, I’m most interested in the consequences of anthropogenic climate change for the (ice) landscapes and ecosystems in Ecuador, and how the local population is affected by the retreat of the glaciers and the changes in the local climate. And of course I’m really looking forward to exchanging ideas with my colleagues and gaining insight into other research fields and methods. The Die Junge Akademie expedition is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from very different disciplines – from chemistry and biology to sound art.

CONTACT

Ricarda at the Jungen Akademie

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Personal Website