Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) with field stations in Kobbefjord (KB) and Niaqornat (NQ)

The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources with its main buildings, laboratories, and living quarters is located in Nuuk, Greenland (64°11’ N, 51°41’ W). A small field station is situated in Kobbefjord (64°08’ N, 51°23’ W), c. 20 km southeast of Nuuk.

GINR was founded in 1995 (preceded by Greenland Fisheries Research; established in 1946), and the main building was inaugurated in 1998. The main building houses c. 3000 m2 of facilities necessary for the Institute’s activities, i.e. offices, laboratories, deep-freeze rooms, storage, conference room, and meeting rooms. Adjacent to the main building is an 850 m2 annex with a large multi-room used for meetings and seminars. Furthermore, the annex has five apartments and eight rooms for visiting researchers, as well as a garage/storage room. GINR has a third building near the city centre of Nuuk with furnished guest rooms for students and visiting scientists. In addition to the buildings in Nuuk, GINR owns two field stations, one in Kobbe­fjord, near Nuuk, and another in Niaqornat, in the Uummannaq area, Northwest Greenland. These field stations function as bases for small research teams and accommodates four people each. GINR also owns two ships, Sanna and Pâmiut, which are used for scientific investigations in both sheltered and open waters. Also, the institute has several small boats and aluminium dinghies. For transport on land, GINR owns three cars and several snowmobiles.

GINR and the Kobbefjord field station provide access to a low arctic ecosystem in West Greenland with different biotopes such as dwarf-shrub heaths, fens, grasslands, and lakes. Monitoring of a variety of parameters on vegetation, arthropods, mammals (both terrestrial and marine), birds, freshwater lakes, and the marine environment has been carried out at GINR for several years.

GINR is located in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, with c. 16000 inhabitants. GINR actively communicates with users of the environment (fishermen, hunters, and recreational users) and with direct recipients of scientific advice (e.g. politicians). Users of the environment and their comprehensive knowledge of the natural environment are included during planning and implementation of the institute’s activities. Fishing and hunting is part of the traditional culture and is still practiced professionally and for recreational purposes.

Nuuk can be reached by air either via Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland (www.airgreenland.com) or via Reykjavik, Iceland (www.airiceland.is). Transportation to the field station in Kobbefjord is by one of GINR’s own smaller boats carrying up to 11 persons.