We are a group of freshwater ecologists from the Biology Department at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Our research takes us to Iceland and other arctic regions where we are working to understand how temperature influences nitrogen fixation rates and metabolism in cyanobacterial assemblages. Nitrogen fixation is extremely sensitive to temperature and therefore nitrogen gas from the atmosphere may become more accessible to freshwater ecosystems as the climate warms. We are working to understand the potential ecological and environmental implications of changes in cyanobacteria species composition and nitrogen fixation rates in arctic lakes and streams.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Birthday Bonanza

Taking in the views of the glacial lagoon on our 20th and 21st birthdays!

The undergraduates participating in Fixation on Ice 2015, Bree and Abbi, share the same birthday - July 24th! We were born 365 days apart and to celebrate, we chose to take a trip to Jökulsarlon Glacier Lagoon in southern Iceland. The drive was filled with many “oohs and ahhs,” but watching the floating ice in the glacial lagoon was the highlight of the trip.  In addition to the glacial lagoon, we saw puffins for the first time, walked along a black sand beach on the Southernmost tip of Iceland, and made a few extra stops to admire the amazing waterfalls.  It was truly a breathtaking experience - one we will never forget! It was by far the BEST birthday EVER!

Skógafoss waterfall

July has certainly lived up to our every expectation as the best month ever. Filled with lots of memories and stories to share, we couldn’t have asked for a better birthday month! 
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Nature’s Fireworks

This glorious photo of the sunset was taken the night of July 4th, near the harbor and downtown Reykjavik. The photo barely captures the beauty we observed with our own eyes. While we are rarely up to see midnight sun set here in Iceland during the summer, we were excited to see that nature provided us with fireworks more extravagant than anything we have ever seen before! It was quite a sight for us to see, especially since our families back in the U.S. were celebrating Independence Day. Iceland - thank you for the spectacular show!



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