Hilde Fålun Strøm is from Svalbard, Norway and is an explorer, polar ambassador and citizen scientist with over 20 years experience working in the polar regions.[1] [2] In 2017, with Sunniva Sorby, she started Hearts in the Ice, a platform for social engagement around citizen science and climate change.[3]
She has netted over 60k km (equal to one trip around the globe) on a snowmobile and has had more than 200 polar bear encounters[4]
Strøm co-founded Hearts in the Ice,[5] a social media project aimed at engagement on climate change and together with Canadian Sunniva Sorby. They are the first women to over-winter in Svalbard without men.[6] [1] Focusing on the smallest possible carbon footprint while overwintering on Svalbard, Sorby and Strøm pioneer the use of an electric snowmobile, and keep packaging of supplies to a minimum. Their consecutive overwintering periods, running from August 2019 to September 2021, will be spent at 78°N in a 20 m2 cabin called Bamsebu and their experience broadcast via social media.[7] [8] [9]
Hilde and Sunniva remain in Bamsebu during the COVID-19 global pandemic.[10] [11]