Yvonne Dåbakk, 32, was born and raised in Mainz, Germany. She moved to Oslo, Norway, in 2001 to study physics. She received her PhD in Plasma and Space Physics at the University of Oslo, Norway, in 2010. She worked at the University of Oslo, and her husband, Kenneth, worked as a self-employed carpenter. She says, “Since I’ve always been fascinated by the Arctic and dog mushing, I went to live in Svalbard to do some of my research in Northern Lights physics as part of my Master and PhD program and the University Centre in Svalbard. I got introduced to dog mushing and got hooked. Just love to be out there with our dogs. We built up our own team and decided to enter the 2011 Finnmarksløpet. We had a great time and are here now ready for our second Iditarod. All our dogs are NKC registered Siberian huskies that we brought to Alaska from Norway. Together we will go as far and fast as they want to go, always with a happy, healthy team as our first priority!” This will be Yvonne’s second year in Fairbanks doing post-doctoral research. She is a member of Hakadal Sledehundklubb (the Norwegian Sled Dog Club). When she has time, she enjoys Arctic travel, hunting, photography and enjoying life.