Exquisite Food and Excellent Seminars at the NIVA Course

Between 7 and 9 of March, Rebecca Tapper attended the NIVA Course in Tromsø, Norway, with support from Arctic Centre’s strategic funds.

Rebecca Tapper is a doctoral student at the Section of Sustainable Health and Medicine, and doctoral student at the Arctic Graduate School. With funding grants from the Arctic Centre at Umeå University, she was able to attend the NIVA Course – Workers in the Cold in Tromsø, Norway. In addition to the fact that Tromsø offered lovely food, Tapper attended a lot of seminars, and made many new connections.

Upon arrival in Tromsø, on Monday 6th of March, around 40 cm of snow had come over night, closing roads, communications, and travels, but they had managed to open the city up again right after lunchtime, Tapper shares. She felt tired after a whole day’s travel, so an early night was well deserved. On Tuesday morning, Tapper was taken aback by the amazing hotel breakfast.

– If I died and gone to heaven, this breakfast would certainly be it. They must have had everything you can think of, from a barista making coffee to order, pancakes, bacon, fish of all kinds and loads of fruits, juices, cheeses, and cakes, Tapper exclaims.

Image Linda Oksanen

After breakfast, Tapper made her way up to the conference location to register and mingle with the other participants. She explains that about 20 people from all around Europe were there, mixing scientist, army, practitioners, and policy developers. The day offered three lectures about “Cold exposure and health”, “Respiratory protection for workers in the cold” and “Cold exposure and musculoskeletal disorders”. The day ended with a 3-course meal at the hotel’s restaurant.

We had a great time, bonding, connecting, and getting a chance to hang out

On Wednesday morning, after a meet-up with one of the participants from the course, Tapper attended the first two lectures of the day: “Thermoregulation, cold-related symptoms and performance degradation among food processing workers” and “Assessment of cold strain and cold protective clothing by using international standards”. It later continued with “Health and safety standards for work in the cold”.

– We also got divided into study groups to discuss cases regarding challenges with workers in the cold, Tapper develops.

After lunch, which according to Tapper was amazing, the lectures continued with “From problem to solution – cold research in an applied perspective” and “Theoretical aspects and preparation of field measurements regarding cold exposure”.

Image Linda Oksanen

– We got a chance to try out some new field measuring equipment and the plan was to go on a northern light safari. Unfortunately, the weather gods were not in our favour and decided it was yet again time for another snowstorm. We thereby decided to go to the local icebar and then to a close by pub to eat some local food. Even though the evening did not turn out as planned, we had a great time, bonding, connecting, and getting a chance to hang out, Tapper shares.

On the last day, Tapper attended three more lectures: “Discussions of field measurements”, “From basal cold physiology to applied practice” and “Workers in the cold – Who are they and what do we know about them?”. The course finished with great discussions and a wonderful lunch.

– After the lunch, me, Albin Stjernbrandt and Tiina Ikäheimo went to the University to meet up with a fellow writer for our ongoing project. We had a work meeting and a look around the hospital and university grounds. The evening and trip ended up with a dinner at a local fish restaurant where we got the chance to try out whale, seal, and reindeer, Tapper says.

Thanks to funding from the Arctic Centre, Tapper had the opportunity to attend the course, experience Tromsø, and make lots of new knowledge and connections within her field of research.

Rebecca Tapper Doctoral student

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