In September 2019, the German research icebreaker Polarstern set sail from Tromsø, Norway, to reach the icy North Pole.

Verena Mohaupt, coordinator for logistic and research platforms at the German Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, joins this year’s Athens Science Festival to inform us about MOSAiC, the largest arctic expedition in history. The goal of the MOSAiC expedition was to take the closest look ever at the Arctic as the epicenter of global warming and to gain fundamental insights that are key to better understanding global climate change.

To accomplish this, the expedition brought a modern research icebreaker close to the North Pole for a full year, including for the first time in polar winter. During her special speech titled ‘MOSAiC: A year in the Arctic Ice’ Mohaupt suggests that scientists around the globe will use the valuable data gathered to take climate research to a completely new level.

The discussion will be moderated by journalist Aspasia Daskalopoulou.

Verena Mohaupt is a coordinator for logistic and research platforms at the German Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. She took on the role of logistic coordinator for the MOSAiC expedition; taking part in three of five cruise legs of the expedition, After her diploma in physics at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, Verena Mohaupt started working for the ‘Save the Arctic’ Campaign of Greenpeace.

Speech title: MOSAiC: A year in the Arctic Ice || Date & time: Sunday, 28 March, 10.00-10.50