I want to document the diversity of life on this planet. In my profile picture, I proudly show a beautiful chinchilla rat I caught while working in Fray Jorge National Park in northern Chile. Now I am 13695.46 k.m. / 8509.96 miles north in Tromsø, Norway, working to monitor and protect a distantly related organism, the Greenland shark. One of the best places in the world to do this is in Tromsø, at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science. Tromsø is unlike any city I have ever lived in. The language, the weather, and the polarizing seasonal light can be too much for some. But, two years ago, when applying for my grant, I decided I was up for the challenge.
My full name is Rachel Leigh Davis. To my friends, I am rdwag. To the academic community, I am Rachel L. Davis. There are a few of us.
I live on the north of the island, in the Stakkevollan neighborhood. In our interview with Roy, I learned this area once had pasture animals like sheep. Now there are apartments. What was there before the Holocene?
My house is on the bottom floor of a student apartment building, a simple set-up with an oven that automatically turns off to prevent student-caused fires.
