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Rissa Citizen Science-owl-2

Snowshoe in the forest for the Tromsø tits project

Goal: Understand the effect of artificial light on birds in the Arctic.

What you’ll do:

Depending on the season, hike or snowshoe and put up nest boxes in trees, check nest content, fill up feeding stations, deploy or retrieve recording devices, swap memory cards in camera traps. In winter, we’ll lend you snowshoes if you don’t have your own.

 

When:

All year round

 

Where:

Tromsø island, forest

 

Duration:

4 hours

What the project is about:

Did you know that the region around Tromsø is one of the most illuminated areas of Northern Europe? Winter visitors often wonder why the houses around here are lit up like national monuments. Or why indoor lights stay on at night, even when the whole household is sound asleep. Northern lights photographers know this too well, constantly trying to escape the orange glow that is as much a part of the Norwegian landscape as fjords, dried cod, and the 17th of May. The dark latitude So, why is artificial pollution so high? Is electricity cheap? Well, no, it isn’t. While lots of European towns and cities turn off their public lighting after 23:30 to save money, we, in Northern Norway enjoy light-flooded nights. Take Tromsø for example. The city sits 350 km north of the Arctic Circle. It is 2,200 km from the North Pole, but still, winters feel long and dark for lots of people. Some don't mind it, but all know this: there is no sunrise and no sunset for nearly two months here. But bless the dams and their hydropower turbines, we have artificial lights to compensate for “mørketid” (the “dark period” in Norwegian). Koselig and disruptive? Artificial lights make the long winter months cosier, or “koselig” – a fundamental concept of Norwegian culture. We, humans, feel safer in the night near a blazing bonfire, or a constellation of sparkling light bulbs. But what is the effect of artificial light on wildlife? Scientists have been documenting the negative effects on birds at lower latitudes, where the sun invariably rises in the morning and sets in the evening. However, little is known about what happens in areas above the Arctic Circle where night and twilight stretch for several months. Citizen science & chronobiology This is precisely what chronobiologist Barbara Tomotani is researching, and why we at Rissa are thrilled to be working alongside her. This partnership also opens the door for us to bring the issue of light pollution to the forefront in Tromsø, sparking conversations with residents, businesses, and local authorities alike. Luckily, Dr Tomotani’s fieldwork is fun, and participants can join events all year round, hiking or snowshoeing in the beautiful forest on Tromsø island, and contribute to a meaningful research project. Depending on the season, you will put up nestboxes in trees, check the nests, deploy or collect recording devices, fill up feeding stations or swap memory cards in camera traps. After each event, we share our observations with Dr Tomotani. When she gets exciting findings, she forwards them to us, and we quickly report to you to complete the circle Are you interested in being part of the adventure? Become a member and join the next event!

Join these events

  • 05 Mar 2025, 08:30 – 12:30
    Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
    Rissa is hosting a group of volunteers in partnership with the European Volunteer Center. Our mission: to build 60 nestboxes in just one hour! These boxes will be used in a research project focused on understanding the impact of artificial light on birds in the Arctic.
  • 29 Jun 2025, 12:00 – 05 Jul 2025, 16:00
    Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
    One week, 6 projects, 10 volunteers. Owls, cairns, campfires, songbirds, kittiwakes. Observing, mapping, measuring, contemplating, photographying. Are you potentially interested in this event? Get in touch first :)

Our partner

Dr Barbara Tomotani is chronobiologist at the Arctic University of Norway/UiT, and she is our research partner for this project. Before every event, we ask Dr Tomotani what we can do to support her research, and we report to her after our day in the field. Regularly, she shares her results with us, so we can report to you.

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