U.S. National Science Foundation supports Mývatn research for 17 years

I wanted to have a look at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project that is attempting to explain, among many other things, the role of the famous Mývatn fly on human settlement in the Mývatn area. This has been a 17-year collaborative effort between American and Icelandic scientists and anthropologists. I met Dr. Adolf Friðriksson, Director of the Icelandic Archeological Center, who took Mary and I on a fascinating journey beginning with the first settlements in the 9th century. NSF has several collaborative research projects involving Iceland which amount to over $140 million. In fact, the NSF has awarded over $700 million to research involving Iceland since 1980.

Flies are quite abundant in the area as readers can tell by looking at my granddaughter's protective gear and the photo above. We were lucky to be there before they begin to bite. It was an interesting experience; I would do it again.