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The beauty of scientific work in natural history is the ongoing process which constantly ties together knowledge from previous fieldwork and collections – months, years or even centuries apart!

First and foremost, we like to present the current bird curator at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Ulf Johansson, as a participant in Bridge Builder Expeditions – Spitsbergen, he has now gained access to a unique and extensive collection of bird sound recorded by the Field Station | Naturae Observatio | Martin's Eye. Through digital Ai technology as well as the human ears, this research will increase the knowledge of this place's Arctic bird life in an entirely new way!

We, moreover, welcome anyone interested in accessing the collected raw material of observational data that is freely available under a Creative Commons license.

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Another and much earlier example is the Irishman Hans Sloane (1660-1753) – a physician, collector and naturalist, whose work and extensive collections laid the foundation for British Museum in London.

In 1748 Sloane was visited by the Linnaeus’ apostle and naturalist Pehr Kalm. This exciting and rarely mentioned visit is addressed in a new essay "HANS SLOANE'S COLLECTION – An 18th Century Study of Natural Curiosities and Textile Dyes" by Textile historian Viveka Hansen, which is part of the research project "Personal Belongings and Collections on 18th Century Travels".

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Both of the above examples are included in The IK Foundation's long-term work on trying to understand the context and knowledge from fieldwork and collections, among other things, which can be linked to the places where we make contemporary observations in the fields of wilderness around the world. This is what we have chosen to call Bridge Builder Expeditions - To Understand Planet Earth.

Welcome to follow the work online and in upcoming publicise projects via books, exhibitions, films and new multimedia initiatives.