Last updated: December 2025

Meet Hilde Fålun Strøm

Explorer, Educator & Arctic Advocate

30+ years living on Svalbard

Hilde Fålun Strøm is an Arctic explorer, educator, speaker, and passionate advocate for the polar regions. With more than three decades of experience living in Svalbard, she has dedicated her life to understanding the Arctic and the impact it has on our world. 

 

This has come, not only through science, but through daily connection with the land, wildlife, weather, and people who call the north home.

+250.000

Students reached

100+

Educational Talks

50+

Guided Ski Trips

Extreme remote living: 19 months at Bamsebu 

Hilde Fålun Strøm became known for taking on one of the most extraordinary challenges ever attempted in the High Arctic: living 19 months at Bamsebu, a tiny trapper’s cabin at 78° N on Svalbard. 

 

What began as a nine-month overwintering turned into 19 months when the pandemic closed the world — but Hilde stayed, continuing her work in isolation, darkness, and extreme conditions.

Founder of Polheim

Polheim is an Arctic-based hub located in ­Longyearbyen (Svalbard) designed to bring together local, national and international Arctic expertise, scientific research, creative expression and global audiences.

Following the changes

The Arctic is changing—faster than anywhere else on Earth—and here on Svalbard, the transformation is no longer something we read about in reports. It’s something we feel in our bones.

 

Winters are warmer. Sea ice arrives later and melts earlier. Glaciers that once seemed eternal now retreat year after year. 

 

The animals, from the tiny plankton in the sea to the great polar bears on the ice, are struggling to adapt to conditions they never evolved for.

Speaker & Arctic Advocate

As a passionate ambassador for the Arctic, Hilde weave together personal experiences from Arctic expeditions, scientific insight gathered through close collaborations with researchers, and reflections on resilience, leadership and climate responsibility in her talks. 

 

Whether she’s presenting to schools, international organizations, or corporate audiences, Hilde’s message remains the same: the Arctic is changing fast, and its story belongs to all of us and we all have a role to play. 

If you need someone to tell stories with deep personal insight and engagement, to raise awareness about the Arctic regions and leadership in a changing world, then Hilde is a great choice as a speaking ambassador for this. 

Artic Circle Conference Reykjavik

Hilde helps you with planning events, shaping a sustainability program, inspiring young minds, and motivating leadership and teamwork in extreme environments. She brings authenticity, deep knowledge and purpose to the stage. Hilde brings the Arctic straight to you.

 

Reach out to invite Hilde to speak at your organization, university, school, or upcoming project — and let the Arctic spark meaningful insight and action.

Educational Outreach

Hilde`s Year Calendar 2025

Key highlights 2025

Get to know Hildes work

PDF Viewer

Year Calendar PDF

My work as an Ambassador / Speaker

As both a speaker and an ambassador, my mission is simple: to create connection. Because when we connect with a place, we care for it. And when we care, we act. Through science, storytelling, and collaboration, I hope to ignite that spark — one audience, one classroom, one conversation at a time.

Hilde 1h Talk with How We Change The World

Hilde collaboration with Bast Sauna

Seasoned Expedition Leader, Ski Guide & Godmother 

With decades of experience in Svalbard and the Arctic, Hilde leads immersive journeys for small groups — voyages where participants witness the wild, feel the change, and return inspired to become ambassadors for the Arctic.

MS Fridtjof Nansen in Antarctica.

Hilde is Godmother to the hybrid expedition vessels MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Bard, a role that reflects her strong leadership and credibility in polar travel and exploration.

Svalbard Ski / Sail 2026 Tickets

5 days of guided ski tours

Magical sail around Svalbard

Stay at Longyearbyen

Svalbard Expeditions

Photo: Hilde Fålun Strøm

Special moments captured on camera

Having lived 30 years in the Arctic, and spending more than 2 full years out in the field, Hilde has become deeply entwined with the nature and wildlife around her. She is captivated by the chance to observe and photograph animals in their natural behavior, illuminated only by the untouched Arctic light, far from any light pollution. Feeling the weather on her skin and witnessing the raw, unfiltered beauty of the landscape has continues to inspire her.

Every captured moment come with the story behind.

Support Hilde & Polheim, Buy Limited Edition Art Prints

Buy art posters that directly will support Polheim and Hilde`s work with raising awareness about The Arctic.

#1 Svalbard 78 Degree North

#2 Svalbard Norwegian Polar Bears

#3 Up-Close Polar Bear

#4 Svalbard Aurora Borealis

#5 Svalbard Norwegian Polar Bears

#6 Up-Close Polar Bear

Limited edition art prints

After spending decades exploring several places around the High Arctic, Hilde has captured beautiful moments on camera that she is now selling as limited edition art prints. 

Shop Art Prints

Hilde Fålun Strøm Arctic Collection

A3/ A4 / A5 Sizes

Frameless Art Prints

Original Artwork by Hilde

On the ground producer Svalbard

Hilde collaborates with media outlets and organizations to shine a spotlight on the Arctic Region. Through her work, she shares the region's beauty while raising awareness about the pressing realities of climate change and the remarkable adaptations of Arctic nature.

PHONE

+47 909 22 561

ADDRESS

Vei 232 131, 9170 Longyearbyen - Svalbard - Northernmost Norway

EMAIL

hilde@polheim.no