106 MAY-JUNE 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Near the end of a hike through Bjorndalen Valley just outside Svalbard’s main settlement of Longyearbyen, the setting sun cast a warm glow on the valley’s lone house. Only minutes earlier our group— led by the rifle-wielding guide required for polar bear protection—had passed remarkably close to a herd of reindeer. A mother and calf stood together and gently nuzzled. Svalbard reindeer are especially endearing: the smallest variant of the species, they grow to just three feet tall and five feet long. Though its High Arctic location is generally too far north to see the northern lights, Svalbard, an archipelago mainly composed of the island known as Spitsbergen, still offers wide and strikingly barren vistas that invite you to forget the rest of the world. n Noah E. Rose, a second-tour Foreign Service officer serving in Montreal, is looking forward to exploring the Canadian Arctic. He took these photos with a Nikon Z6III in October 2024. Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be considered for Local Lens. Images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” x 10”, or 1 MB or larger) and must not be in print elsewhere. Include a short description of the scene/event as well as your name, brief biodata, and the type of camera used. Send to locallens@afsa.org. BY NOAH E. ROSE n SVALBARD, NORWAY LOCAL LENS
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