Scholars
| Name | Research sketch |
|
Nerilie Abram |
My polar research focuses on developing reconstructions of Antarctic sea ice – a critical but poorly understood component of the Earth’s climate system. To do this I am studying the chemistry of ice cores from a network of sites around coastal Antarctica. |
|
Elizabeth Bagshaw |
I am a glacial biogeochemist, with particular interest in the interaction between micro-organisms, sediments and liquid water on the surface of polar glaciers. I am currently researching the biogeochemical evolution of cryoconite holes on the surface of glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. |
|
Nerelle Baker |
My research investigates the flow of the Siple Coast ice streams in West Antarctica. I use a numerical ice stream model to gain a better understanding of the influence of water at the bed of ice streams. I am also passionate about the behaviour and history of past and present ice sheets, satellite remote sensing and the role of the glaciers and ice sheets in Earth's climate system. |
|
Laura Belicka |
The broad scope of my research focuses on the past and present organic carbon cycle of the Arctic Ocean. Specifically, I am interested in the sources (marine, terrestrial, anthropogenic) and fate (burial, transport, recycling) of organic matter and how climate change may affect the production and long-term storage of organic carbon in the Arctic. |
|
Amy Breen |
I am interested in the origin, history and evolution of the arctic flora. My dissertation research investigates the origin of balsam poplar, the northern-most tree species in North America, among the tundra in Arctic Alaska. To meet this objective, I am drawing upon evidence from the diverse fields of ecological genetics, plant biogeography and community ecology. |
|
Nicolas Cassar |
I am interested in several aspects of phytoplankton ecology and the biogeochemistry of the polar surface oceans. My research interests recently gravitated toward in situ O2/Ar productivity estimates and the phytoplankton’s response to varying CO2 availability in the Southern Ocean. |
|
Zoe Courville |
I am studying the physical properties of snow and ice, how these properties influence the climate record contained in ice cores, and what impact these properties have on remote sensing imagery of polar areas. I work in the field and in the laboratory studying snow and ice, and use computer simulation to help illuminate certain snow processes. |
|
William D'Andrea |
I am interested in understanding the forcing mechanisms and spatial patterns of natural climate variability in the Arctic. Toward this goal, I use novel organic geochemical approaches to reconstruct decadal-scale climate variability from the sediments of Arctic lakes. |
|
Jason Davis |
My research challenges assumptions of how power and politics work both by using the critical perspectives garnered from science policy and geopolitics with the unique political situation in Antarctica. The current focus of my research is on the regulation of the commercial uses of Antarctic biological processes, which exists at the intersection of the realms of commerce, politics, and science. |
|
Markus Dieser |
The focus of my research is on microbially dominated lake and ice ecosystems in Antarctica. I study the impact of environmental stresses like solar radiation and temperature on bacterial processes, bioavailability of food sources and potential adaptation mechanisms. In general, I always want to know which microorganisms can be found inhabiting these extreme environments. |
|
Susanne Fietz |
My research focuses on biogeochemistry and survival strategies of microbial organisms in the harsh Polar sea ice habitats as well as on palaeoclimate and ecosystem responses in the Polar Regions. |
|
Ryan Fogt |
My research investigates the atmospheric variability, impacts, and interactions of the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) and the El Niño- Southern Oscillation on decadal and longer timescales in the high southern latitudes. I use observations and global climate models to study the long-term fluctuations of these dominant polar climate modes during the 19th and 20th centuries. |
|
Daniela Haase |
My primary polar research interests are the regulation of commercial activities in Antarctica, with particular reference to tourism. Additional research interests include, but are not limited to, the politics of the interna-tional regime governing Antarctica and resource management in the Antarctic and Arctic. |
|
Karen Hebert |
I am a cultural anthropologist whose research addresses economic and environmental change in Alaska. I am especially interested in the creation and consequences of market-driven restructuring and ecological risk in economies and cultures closely bound to natural resources. |
|
Jenna Hill |
The overarching goal of my research is to constrain the timing and climatic implications of ice scour, meltwater drainage, and the subsequent sedimentation history associated with sea level change on the Chukchi shelf. |
|
Cody Johnson |
I am interested in the study of arctic lakes from an ecosystem perspective, linking aquatic biogeochemical cycles to terrestrial inputs, physical drivers, and food web composition. |
|
Michele Koppes |
My primary interest is in the links between climate, tectonics and landform evolution as embodied by glacier change and glacial erosion in temperate and polar climates. I am interested in quantifying recent ice fluxes and sediment fluxes using climate data and the glaciomarine record, which provides a tool to use the glacial sedimentary record as a climate proxy. |
|
Sam Laney |
My polar research focuses on developing and using optical techniques to monitor changes in coastal Arctic marine ecosystems. The color of seawater tells us much about the physics and ecology of the coastal ocean, and I am using satellite ocean color imagery as well as in-water measurements to explore ways to use this information to identify ecologically important changes in this largely inaccessible ocean region. |
|
Jiping Liu |
My research includes polar climate modeling and variability, atmospheric-ice-ocean interaction, and satellite remote sensing in ice and ocean. |
|
Nikki Lovenduski |
In my current research, I strive to make better predictions of the future of the Southern Ocean sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide, using numerical and theoretical models of the ocean. |
|
Arthur Mason |
I work on the history, politics and culture of arctic natural gas development, and particularly of Alaska and Western Canada. I am working on my first book, Alaska Modern and the Import of Expertise which is a study of energy market restructuring and the politics of Alaska natural gas pipeline development and is based on ethnographic fieldwork at various urban and village sites in Alaska and Western Canada. |
|
Jessica Meir |
My polar research interests focus on the physiology of diving animals in the extreme polar environments. I have three years of field experience working with diving emperor penguins in McMurdo Sound, involving studies of heart rate and oxygen depletion while diving, and hope to apply similar techniques to other polar species (Weddell seals, Antarctic fur seals, etc.). |
|
Michael A Rawlins |
My research focus is arctic hydroclimatology, climatic change, and spatial statistics and models. I investigate the terrestrial water cycle by combining remote sensing tools, process-based models, and observational data sets. In my studies I often apply a synthesis approach which spans traditional earth science disciplines such as physical geography, atmospheric and ocean sciences, and terrestrial ecology. |
|
Asa Rennermalm |
I am interested in understanding the state and dynamics of pan-arctic land surface hydrology, its interaction with ecosystems and the climate system, and how changes in pan-arctic land surface hydrology might influence climate outside the pan-arctic. Recent research topics are: description and understanding of pan-arctic river discharge trends, the influence of hydrologic variability on peatland ecosystems, and the influence of pan-arctic river discharge on the thermohaline circulation. |
|
Christina Riesselman |
My polar research interests center around the use of biological and geochemical proxies in marine sediments to investigate threshold intervals in the development of the Antarctic cryosphere. Currently, I am working with light stable isotopes to help constrain the development of the initial permanent Antarctic ice sheet, and with diatoms to investigate community response to CO2 and to reconstruct sea-ice and nutrient utilization in the Pliocene. |
|
Julie Rose |
I am interested in microbial community dynamics in the Antarctic marine environment. Currently I am studying the effects of climate change factors such as temperature, CO2, iron concentrations and light on microbial food webs of the Ross Sea. |
|
David Schneider |
I am interested in the climate history of both polar regions. I have used observational records, high-resolution ice cores, and climate models to expand our understanding of climate variability and climate change in the Antarctic and the Arctic. |
|
Steven Sjostedt |
My research during IPY has been focused on the measurement of trace gases at high latitudes utilizing a proton transfer mass spectrometer. Species of particular interest include dimethyl sulfide and volatile organic compounds due to their potential effect on the radiative balance in the Northwest Passage. |
|
Peter Snyder |
Modeling and measurement of land-atmosphere interactions in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Particular emphasis on improving understanding of biophysical (water cycle and energy) and biogeochemical (carbon and nitrogen) processes and how they are represented in regional and global climate system models. |
|
Mateusz Strzelecki |
I’m interested in polar geomorphology especially in fluvial and coastal geoecosystems and their interactions with the permafrost and ice processes. I’m also curious to know where is a place for polar regions in modern, globalized world. |
|
Heidi Swanson |
Arctic charr is a species that migrates between the Arctic Ocean and freshwater lakes in the circumpolar north. My research addresses the potential for this species to affect contaminant transport and contaminant bioaccumulation in freshwater lakes and investigates life-history characteristics that will aid in the design of habitat enhancement programs. |
|
Ken Tape |
I am interested in terrestrial responses to climate warming in polar regions, and in revealing these changes to the broader public. |
|
Lois Wardell |
Small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can provide ways of gathering data that have previously been inaccessible or limited by hazardous conditions. Collaboratively developing UAS capabilities as tools for polar research allows me to work with a wide range of scientific investigations in the Arctic and Antarctic. |
|
Michael Willis |
I am interested in figuring out how, and by how much, the polar ice sheets are changing. My research uses geodetic techniques to observe the Earth’s crustal response to varying ice loads. I test Glacial Isostatic Adjustment models against my measurements in order to see how ice loads have changed in the past, clarify what the ice is doing at the present, and provide insight into how the mass of the ice sheets may change in the future. |
|
Cameron Wobus |
Arctic coastlines lie at a crucial interface between the sea ice-ocean system and the landscapes of polar regions. My project is focused on understanding how climate change is influencing rates of coastal erosion in northern Alaska, which we hope will help us to predict future changes in Arctic landscapes, hydrology, and ecology. |
|
José Xavier |
Marine biologist focused on food web interactions in relation to climate change in the Polar regions. Currently I am investigating the feeding and foraging strategies of top predators, including penguins and albatrosses, in relation to prey abundance at various temporal and spatial scales in the marine ecosystems. |