fIELD sTATION

Skálanes provides simple but functional infrastructure for field research, university courses and student expeditions. The facilities are designed to support extended stays in the landscape while allowing research, teaching and daily life to operate together in a practical way.

Accommodation is arranged in shared sleeping rooms within the main buildings at Skálanes. These rooms typically contain bunk beds or sleeping lofts and can accommodate small research groups or student cohorts. The station is designed for communal living, where visiting groups share kitchen, dining and common working spaces during their stay.

The station includes a central kitchen and dining area where meals are prepared collectively. Groups usually organise cooking on a rota system, which helps integrate daily logistics into the rhythm of fieldwork. Basic storage and food preparation facilities are available, allowing visiting teams to operate independently for extended field periods. Workspaces are available for sample sorting, data entry and preparation of field equipment. While the station does not function as a fully equipped laboratory, it provides the basic facilities needed for field-based research. More specialised analytical work is typically carried out later at home institutions or partner laboratories.

Skálanes itself is located a short distance outside the town of Seyðisfjörður. The town provides access to shops, accommodation, medical services and transport connections when required. Seyðisfjörður also serves as the logistical gateway to the reserve and the surrounding fjord systems. Field access across the reserve is supported by station vehicles and possible access to ships for marine studies or sampling when required, allowing research groups to reach different habitats and monitoring areas within the landscape.

Over the years a large number of student projects, monitoring efforts and collaborative research initiatives have been conducted at Skálanes. Reports, student theses and field studies form an important foundation of knowledge about the site and continue to inform new research questions. In this way the field station operates as both a base for fieldwork and a place where observations and datasets accumulate over time through repeated visits by researchers and students working in the landscape.