Clean Planet Peninsula: Year 2 Arctic Training in Svalbard
- Clean Planet Group
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Clean Planet Peninsula project is a multi-year research and training programme run by the Clean Planet Foundation, designed to equip early-career scientists with the skills and experience needed to carry out rigorous environmental research in the planet’s most extreme regions.
Delivered in collaboration with polar world record holder Preet Chandi and the University of Portsmouth's Revolution Plastics Institute, the project spans training and expeditions from the UK to the Arctic and Antarctic between 2023 and 2027. Its scientific focus is to understand the impacts and/or scale of plastic pollution, including microplastics, in remote polar environments.
Watch a snippet of life in the Arctic during Year 2 training
From classroom to Arctic ice
Year 2 marked a major step forward. From an initial pool of 40 applicants in 2023, a cohort of early-career research scientists was selected to undertake intensive polar and scientific training — their destination: Svalbard, on the edge of the Arctic Circle.
Svalbard’s glaciers, polar deserts, and unpredictable conditions provided an ideal training ground for structured learning. The objective was practical: prepare participants for future Arctic and Antarctic research expeditions by combining expedition skills with real scientific fieldwork.
Expedition leadership and experience
Year 2 also introduced Captain Preet Chandi MBE as Expedition Leader. A record-breaking polar explorer and former British Army officer, Preet brought first-hand experience of operating safely, efficiently, and calmly in extreme environments. Her leadership shaped daily routines, risk management, and team cohesion—critical elements of any polar mission.
Participants were responsible for all aspects of camp life: setting up tents capable of withstanding high winds, managing equipment pulled on pulkas across glaciers, cooking meals from melted snow, and maintaining strict routines for warmth, safety, and efficiency. Living conditions were deliberately simple, reinforcing the realities of long-duration polar fieldwork.
Life on the glacier
Daily life revolved around skiing across ice with loaded sledges, breaking camp each morning, and rebuilding it again in new locations. Equipment choices were minimal and deliberate; every item had to justify its weight. Wet kit froze overnight, batteries had to be kept warm, and preparation for emergencies—including crevasse rescue and wildlife safety—was constant.
Svalbard’s 24-hour daylight added a surreal dimension. With no darkness, time was tracked by watches rather than skies, and polar bear watch took place under the midnight sun. Hour-long shifts ensured the camp remained safe in an environment where polar bears outnumber people.
Field science in extreme conditions
Alongside expedition training, participants carried out a preliminary microplastics study on a Svalbard glacier. Snow samples were collected at different depths and locations, melted and filtered on site, and analysed using handheld digital microscopes.
All samples contained coloured fibres and fragments, reinforcing growing evidence that microplastics reach even the most remote regions on Earth.
Just as important as the results were the operational lessons: the need for strict contamination controls, detailed metadata collection, and realistic planning for time and fuel when sampling in extreme environments.
This hands-on work formed a critical bridge between theory and practice—testing whether robust scientific methods can be applied reliably in polar field conditions. The answer, with refinements, was yes.
Building towards Antarctica and beyond
Year 2 in Svalbard was not an endpoint but a foundation. The training provided participants with experience in polar logistics, teamwork, and scientific rigour—skills essential for the project’s next phases in the Arctic and Antarctica - announced later this year.
Data collected across the programme will contribute to a final research publication planned for 2027/8, helping to deepen scientific understanding of microplastic accumulation and climate impacts in polar systems.
More information from Year 2 can be found here:
More information on the Clean Planet Peninsula project overall is available here: