The work begins!

We are already four months into the ColdRein project. We are amassing a large number of reindeer samples for whole-genome sequencing, and already we have some tantalizing results regarding adaptations of the Svalbard reindeer genome. We are also in the process of planning a major field campaign in the summer of 2022, to be led by Dr. Mathilde Le Moullec.

Dr. Le Moullec is an expert in Svalbard ecology and has lots of good experience conducting fieldwork all over the Svalbard archipelago. She aims to collect many more ancient bone and antler samples from the Svalbard tundra.

An antler lost in time on the Svalbard tundra. Photo credit: Mathilde Le Moullec.