Have you managed to make your hobby a profession? Everybody tries – Robert Hausen succeeded. For the seventh episode of The IcePod, we met with Robert Hausen who works as a forecaster for the German Weather Service (DWD).  He joined leg 3 of the MOSAiC expedition. Since Robert was a kid, he always waited for the snow to fall and grew up wondering about all kinds of weather phenomena. And this is where he ended up: Polarstern. MOSAiC has been his first Arctic cruise while Robert usually sails the Antarctic seas. This actually qualified him to take part in the coldest leg that MOSAiC could offer its participants.

Part of his job aboard Polarstern was to inform people every day at 8 am about how the weather will be like that day. For that, Robert had to look at different weather forecasts and choose the one that fits the best to ... well, we're not telling you but go listen to the episode!

Eventually, he was rewarded with a helicopter flight across the Arctic sea ice. This might have also consoled him for not being able to be back in Germany for his daughter's birthday end of April – leg 3 of MOSAiC was also the longest leg due to the rearrangements caused by the Corona pandemic. Another highlight for him was the crusted lamb that was served to the science team and crew on Easter Sunday. With Robert, we debunk some weather myths: Sheepy clouds don't actually bring rain, and red skies are not always foreteller of good weather.

If you miss the music, find the very special playlist that Robert created on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2oioLmjvubF0LP3fIJFEit?si=jKykmGMmTFmKuJwc0yUWbw

If you want to listen to the full episode with music, listen to Radio Weser.TV on the first Saturday each month 12–2 pm UTC at https://www.medialabnord.de/radio-livestream/, or check back with us at polarprediction@gmail.com

For updates and other materials, check also our website: https://theicepodcast.home.blog/

MOSAiC Mixdown: mini-podcasts from the Arctic by Sam Cornish
https://open.spotify.com/show/4WSd4ZSXBMZ3TLH1Og90Rc?si=GDbWg4emT36tbkRSAjvD6A

The IcePod is the podcast about polar science and the people. We’ll talk to scientists who went on board Polarstern, the German research icebreaker, for the biggest research expedition in the Arctic. The IcePod is the official podcast of the Year of Polar Prediction initiative to improve weather and sea-ice forecast in the Arctic and Antarctic. 

Editorial responsibility: Kirstin Werner and Sara Pasqualetto 

Music from https://filmmusic.io

"Sweeter Vermouth" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) 

Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/) 

Photo credit: Christian Rohleder (German Weather Service/DWD)