Creative scientist and explorer based in the Netherlands, with Dutch and Icelandic background. I teach ecology and study tundra ecosystems and permafrost at the Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group of Wageningen University. I come from an Earth Science education and from a family full of visual artists and nature-oriented people. I am fascinated by polar ecosystems that are tough yet delicate, hard and icy yet soft and mossy. My current research mostly takes place on Svalbard, and in my PhD I studied the climate, permafrost and plants of the North-Eastern Siberian lowland tundra.
This website is my invitation to you to connect to the landscapes of the polar and northern regions, and those closer to home. Most of the prints and photos on this website are inspired by my research in ecology, tundra ecosystems and permafrost, or at least part of a similar journey of discovery.
In my work as a researcher and lecturer, most of my experiences and findings have to pass through an academic filter; Is it quantifiable? Representative? Relevant within the field of study? Significant? All with good, scientific reasons. But this paradigm tends to overlook the odd, the specific and the personal. These things deserve a place and outlet of their own. In fact, I think they are sometimes more valuable and impactful than science, because they invite a personal connection with nature and sense of wonder. And to protect something, we need to know but also care about it.
In my travels, research and daily life I find many things that fascinate me. One such thing is abandoned places and traces of the past in the landscape. They make you fantasize about what a place may have been like and remind you how the world is much bigger than you or the present moment.
I also love evening sunlight shining through leaves, hot springs that you can bathe in, snow and ice in all their forms, auroras, little things that seem out of place or in contradiction with their surroundings.
I enjoy feeling fully immersed in nature. This can be as simple as sheltering from the rain under a lonely tree or eating foraged berries and herbs. Sometimes I push a bit further and try to hike long distances or dip in a cold sea.
It is humbling to feel part of a much bigger and wilder whole, especially in a time and place where everything else tends to already be designed for us and our comfort.
Top image by Judith Wellner
Rúna Magnússon 