Strengthening the Bridge between Singapore and Norway: How Education Exchanges and Public Outreach are Applied in Climate Science

Universities have a critical role to play in the response and recovery from the climate crisis. As institutions, universities have been resilient to changes. This resilience supplies the human, intellectual, and financial capital to understand and address the major challenge of climate change. Singapore and Norway have education exchange programmes through various scholarship programs, research collaborations, and Erasmus+. In 2023, the third expedition of Advancing Knowledge of Methane in the Arctic (AKMA3) by the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) provided students from Singapore a platform to experience how offshore expeditions in the Arctic are conducted.

On board the Norwegian Research Vessel Kronprins Haakon, Singapore students used state-of-the-art research facilities to help collect samples and data from extreme environments (cold seeps) from high-latitudes seafloor. Daily interactions with international experts of different backgrounds help us to better understand the various aspects of the scientific work related to the expedition and outreach efforts undertaken to promote Arctic science to the public.

Here, we demonstrate how our learned experience in Norway can be applied to our research projects in Singapore. Despite the differences in geological location and polar and tropical climates, we strive to show how student collaboration can help build strength between the two countries. By highlighting the adaptability and transferability of acquired knowledge, this collaborative effort aims to transcend geographical boundaries and contribute to the global advancement of scientific understanding of climate change.