Polar adventurers Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby have been living in an isolated trapper’s hut on Svalbard for more than five months now. From surprise polar bear encounters on their doorstep to beautiful aurora borealis in the depths of the polar night, it’s been both a challenging and rewarding experience.

Strøm and Sorby started the Hearts in the Ice (HITI) project to raise awareness about climate change in our polar regions and to inspire a global dialogue around it. They’re using their time at the remote cabin Bamsebu to contribute to projects from organizations around the world as citizen scientists. Citizen science is a term given to any project that involves public collaboration in contribution to scientific research. The goal is to engage the public and use the data collected to increase overall knowledge on a given subject.

“During several decades, the overall trust in science has declined globally,” says Borge Damsgard, acting director and department head of Arctic biology at the University Centre in Svalbard. He is one of the lead scientist contacts for HITI. “There are obvious differences between countries, but we see more and more signs of mistrust of, for example, climate change research.”

One of the challenges is that people find it difficult to connect to big-picture global data, Damsgard adds. “Citizen science is a way to close the gap between people’s perception and scientists monitoring the climate changes.”

Here’s a look at the six citizen science projects Strøm and Sorby are supporting during their nine-month adventure.

Aurora borealis observations using the app Aurorasaurus

The remote location of Bamsebu, away from light pollution and at a high latitude, offers a unique opportunity to observe the northern lights consecutively over a longer period of time. Strøm and Sorby are monitoring when they see the aurora borealis, their appearance and form, and where in the night sky they are showing up. Their observations will aid scientists in gaining a better understanding of the structure of aurora borealis and the environmental conditions in which they occur. Check out the last HITI Google Hangout with Dr. Elizabeth MacDonald for more about aurora borealis.

Microscopic marine life observations with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

“Phytoplankton are the key to life. They provide food and oxygen to the world,” says Allison Cusick, a PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a key contact for the phytoplankton study. “Citizen science collaborations like HITI help scientists learn more about these dynamics at a timescale one scientist alone couldn’t manage.” For this project, Strøm and Sorby are observing phytoplankton in the waters surrounding Bamsebu. For their observations, they’re using a Secchi disk, a tool that helps measure water depth and transparency, and a plankton net. Check out the last HITI Google Hangout with Allison Cusick about polar ecology.