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Showing posts from June, 2018

Gordon Research Conference: Let's talk about biogenic hydrocarbons surrounded by forest!

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From 10 to 15 June I visited with a few of my colleagues the Gordon Research Conference 2018 on Biogenic Hydrocarbons and the Atmosphere . The conference was held in Les Diablerets, close to my native city in the Swiss Alps. Gordon Research Conferences are known to be at the cutting-edge of research with their policy of presenting latest results and strict rules about not disclosing anything that has been discussed at the conference to non-participants. It encourages discussing cutting edge research in an informal setting with lots of horizontal learning. Young and established researchers mix very well during meals, poster sessions, and free time activities. This was my second Gordon Research Conference after the one on Atmospheric Chemistry last year in Maine, U.S.A. It was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues from various institutions, in particular with other researchers using the Comparative Reactivity Method (CRM) for total OH reactivity measurements. We could disc

Yes, the Finnish Meteorological Institute is 79 years older than Finland...

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On 28 March 1838 Nicholas I , Emperor of Russia, signed the declaration that founded the precursor of today's Finnish Meteorological Institute , the "Magnetic Observatory", at the University of Helsinki (known then as the Imperial Alexander University in Finland). The Observatory changed its name a couple of times until 1968 when the Meteorological Institute's law entered into force and the institute took its current name. Also the Institute moved from its original location in Kaisaniemi (first in a wooden building and then in the Säätalo - the "weather house" - from 1966) to its current location in the Dynamicum building of the Kumpula campus in 2005 . Other locations in Helsinki and Finnish cities host or hosted additional FMI offices as well. To celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Institute, a summer party was organized on 9 June. About 270 employees embarked at 2pm on a boat to Isosaari , one of furthest islands of the Helsinki Archipel