An astronaut aboard the space shuttle Atlantis snapped this image of the Aurora Australis flaring against Earth's atmosphere. Image: www.spaceweather.com

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis got a light show worthy of the shuttle’s historic last flight a few days ago. As the above shot attests, from the International Space Station the astronauts witnessed the Aurora Australis light up Earth’s skin as solar wind particles danced with charged particles in the upper atmosphere.

Spaceweather.com also has links to pictures of the very same auroral activity taken from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Robert Schwarz, back at the station for his seventh winter, said the activity was some of the best he’d ever seen.

Photographer Robert Schwarz is wintering at South Pole Station. He tends some of the telescope observatories at the South Pole, including SPUD, seen at lower left.

Fans of the aurora should keep their cameras ready, as solar flare activity should send the magnetosphere into a frenzy in the next day or two.–Kip Rithner

Comments (0) Jul 18 2011

2011 PolarTREC orientation participants pose for a group photo after dinner. Photo courtesy of Mike League

During the last week in February, thirteen educators from across the United States convened in Fairbanks, Alaska, to participate in the 2011 PolarTREC Orientation and ShareFair. The annual orientation is the kick off for this rigorous and rewarding National Science Foundation-funded professional development opportunity. Now in its fifth year, PolarTREC improves teacher content knowledge and instructional practices through intensive two-to-eight-week research experiences in the polar regions. While working closely with polar scientists across many scientific disciplines, PolarTREC teachers share information about polar science and the polar regions with their students and communities.

National Science Foundation Einstein Fellow, Laura Lukes tries a reindeer antler on for size at the UAF Reindeer Research Station. Photo courtesy of Janet Warburton

Orientation events included presentations from ARCUS staff who described the PolarTREC program, requirements, and technology. Three PolarTREC alumni and one past PolarTREC researcher attended the orientation to share their experiences and words of wisdom with newly selected teachers.

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist, Katey Walter Anthony, clears snow from a small pond to try to find methane bubbles trapped in the ice. Photo courtesy of Zeb Polly

A large part of orientation is preparing teachers for the logistical situations unique to the polar regions. Robbie Score from CPS and Roy Stehle from SRI both attended to ensure teachers had a good understanding of typical procedures and the use of satellite phones. Several additional PolarTREC alumni, researchers, and other experts joined the orientation in-person and virtually to present on their areas of expertise.

ARCUS Website Developer Ronnie Owens helps a small group of teachers learn how to post journal entries to the PolarTREC website. Photo courtesy of Zeb Polly

During the orientation’s communication technology training, teachers learned to post online journals, complete with photos and video, from their field camps and stations. Participants also listened to presentations and discussed ideas for sharing the PolarTREC experience with their classrooms, schools, and communities. Between intensive training and hands-on work sessions the whole group also got outside, explored Fairbanks, and learned a little about the Arctic.

Field trips included a visit to the University of Alaska’s (UAF) Museum of the North, the UAF Reindeer Research Program, the World Ice Art Championships, and a visit to a nearby thermokarst pond where Katey Anthony Walter discussed the role of methane in a warming arctic. Teachers also visited the CPS warehouse where Polar Field Service’s Matt Irinaga performed his popular “dressing for work in the Arctic” fashion show.

Matt Irinaga actively describes methods for dressing to work in the Arctic. Photo courtesy of Mike League

Despite the long days, many teachers expressed that the PolarTREC orientation and ShareFair was one of the best professional development workshops they had experienced. At the end of the week they felt well-prepared and enthusiastic about sharing their upcoming experiences.

PolarTREC teachers take photos and record videos as they feed lichen to the reindeer at the UAF Reindeer Research Station. Photo courtesy of Janet Warburton

PolarTREC teachers venturing into the Arctic this year include John Wood, who worked with Susan Natali (University of Florida) studying carbon balance in Healy, Alaska; and Mike Lampert, who is now based at the Svartisen Subglacial Laboratory in Norway with researchers from Iowa State Unversity. Paula Dell is spending April to early June in the Antarctic studying ice fish with Kristin O’Brien from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

In coming events, Jim Pottinger will soon return to Greenland to work with Koni Steffen (University of Colorado) at Swiss Camp, while Jim Miller will visit Barrow, Alaska in June to study microbial activity in thawing permafrost  with David Lipson of San Diego State University.

Teacher expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic will be ongoing throughout the year.

Comments (0) May 03 2011

Many school children never see the night sky, let alone the magical auroras on display at the Earth's poles. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears' unit Polar Patterns explores day and night, seasons, temperature, and auroras. Photo: Jason Cullis, National Science Foundation

The online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears seeks to address Americans’ lack of knowledge about the Earth’s polar regions by providing elementary school teachers with tools to teach about these cold, wild places in a fun, interactive way that combines science with literacy, mathematics, art and social studies.

“As part of the International Polar Year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) was looking for proposals designed to enhance our understanding of the Earth’s polar regions,” says Jessica Fries-Gaither, the project director for Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears. “ Kim Lightle [the director of Digital Libraries in the College of Education and Human Ecology at the Ohio State University] decided to try to secure some of this funding to help develop curricula for elementary school teachers to use to educate their students about polar science.

“She received funding for a 20-issue online magazine, and I was hired to be the project director, which equates to being the editor-in-chief for a paper magazine. I did everything from writing articles to overseeing layout and working with contributors.”

International Polar Year Project

Icebergs factor into our collective lore—everyone knows they sank the Titanic and we only see their tips for example—but for children, these sculpted towers of ice remain outside the realm of their imagination. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears examines icebergs within the larger context of water, ice and snow. Photo: Kris Kuenning, National Science Foundation

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears was just one of more than 200 projects that came out of the International Polar Year (IPY), which ran from March 2007 to March 2009. The effort, organized through the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization, brought together efforts from thousands of scientists representing more than 60 countries and was the fourth IPY to be held following celebrations in 1882-83, 1932-33, and 1957-58.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears was produced at Ohio State University but relies heavily on the findings of NFS-supported scientific research in both the Arctic and Antarctica.

From the classroom to the edit room

Fries-Gaither was a schoolteacher in Anchorage before she came to work for Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears. She said living in Alaska meant she knew something about the Arctic, but her own knowledge was limited. How limited she did not realize until she delved into the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears project.

“Armchair” exploration

“I knew better than to misplace penguins, but I honestly didn’t know a lot. It was wonderful to have three years to explore the subject,” she said. “There is so much amazing science going on and exciting stuff to do with children to help them understand it.”

Discovering a new world

She said she remembered the sense of wonder and excitement she felt as she began to understand the immense scale of things in the Arctic and Antarctica.

“I’m awed to think about icebergs the size of states floating around on the ocean,” she said. “And the fact that some of the melt ponds on the Greenland ice sheet can drain in a matter of days in rushes of water that are comparable to Niagara Falls. It’s just amazing.”

Inspiring elementary students

The iconic Emperor penguin symbolizes Antarctica for many Americans raised on movies, National Geographic and Disney. Photo: Robyn Wasserman, National Science Foundation

“My hope is that through Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, schoolchildren will experience this same kind of wonder and awe as they learn more about our incredible planet,” Fries-Gaither said.

The website is vast, linking together original articles and curriculum guidelines with activities, links to online resources, photography, podcasts, reading lists, videos, and a blog for the exchange of ideas and feedback. The site also includes a matrix illustrating how the magazine’s curriculum can be used to support National Science Education Standards.

“Teachers are pretty bound by state regulations and national standards,” Fries-Gaither said. “We wanted to make sure the magazine wasn’t just an add on—that it also brought value to the classroom experience and reinforced educational standards. We wanted to provide teachers with something fun they could do with their students while still supporting the basic concepts we knew they had to teach.”

Oceans explained

 An example of the magazine’s diverse approach is the unit on oceans. One activity involves creating a life-sized mural of an ocean habitat and its inhabitants to help children understand what lies beneath the sea. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears suggests different ways to accomplish this task, such as taking the kids outside and letting them draw with chalk on the playground so they can create a life-sized blue whale or having them paint a scaled rendition of their ocean scene on sheets of butcher paper that can be mounted on the classroom walls.

Sounds straightforward enough, but as you delve into Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears’ plan for the unit, you begin to find all sorts of hidden topics that can be addressed through the exercise. Teachers can explore the mathematical concept of scale; they can talk about underwater environments and habitats, or oceanic currents and the life they support; and the children get to explore their artistic creativity as well as develop social skills by working together as a team to complete the project.

From reading to action

 Fries-Gaither and the contributors to Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears have taken the broad topic of the Arctic and Antarctica and used it as a jumping off point to explore a wide variety of subjects in a way that integrates the work of countless scientists, artists, writers, and educators.  The resulting online magazine feels like an intricate web, which is both its strength and its weakness. It’s easy to get pulled off in one direction—from the aurora to painting to Impressionism to the use of complementary colors for example—and find yourself a bit lost from the original intent of the article and a long way from the Earth’s polar regions.

All inclusive

 “If I were to do this over again,” Fries-Gaither said, “I might have pared back the amount of content we included. An online magazine is different from a print magazine. It can be easy to get lost as you move from page to page. We’re working with a graphic designer now to create a printable version of each issue of the magazine. We think it will be easier for teachers to flip through a real magazine—or at least a virtual magazine—to find something they can use and to get a sense of each unit as a whole. This magazine version will not contain everything we have on the website, but teachers can then go back online to get more details.”

The production team worked with a group of teachers during the website construction stage to get a sense of what was working and what was not, and to provide evaluations on how the curriculum affected their students.

Inspired students are good learners

“The two most noteworthy things I took from the feedback were that teachers were more likely to have students write about science after working with Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, and that third graders, in particular, were more likely to say they were good at science and to believe writing was important to science after going through our activities.”

A broad audience

Since the launching of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears in March 2008, the site has had more than 700,000 page views, with the monthly average falling between 20,000-30,000. October 2010 saw a sharp increase with close to 37,000 page views, something Fries-Gaither hopes indicates a growing audience rather than a one-month blip. She also says they have had a lot of positive feedback through the website’s blog and through personal conversations with teachers.

Embraced by teachers

For example, Erica Parker, a fourth grade teacher from Lander, Wyoming, said she was eager to experiment with using Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears in her classroom.

“Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an incredible resource for teachers and one I will share with my colleagues. One thing that I’m beginning to see happen in elementary education is a push for expanded reading time by limiting or eliminating science and social studies curriculum. As educators many of us find this disheartening; science and social studies both provide real world reading for students. So, I was excited to see a focus on science and literacy on the site,” she said.

Continuing education

For those who are not immersed in polar field sciences, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is a great place to learn more. The website provides a wealth of fun facts, beautiful photography, videos, information and activities. For those who are intimately familiar with the subject, the website demonstrates a creative way to explore the world’s cold regions with kids, which can be a useful tool for helping your family and friends understand the allure of polar science and the strange addictive attraction the great, white empty spaces at the Earth’s poles seem to have for so many scientists, explorers, artists, writers, and people who just love wild, harsh and beautiful places.  -Molly Absolon

Comments (0) Jan 31 2011

Here’s Denise Holland all smiles in Greenland this summer. Denise travels to the Arctic every summer with her husband David Holland to document his ice-ocean interaction research.

Few people get to experience the rush of deploying a CTD from a helicopter hovering hundreds of feet above a frozen body of water in Greenland. And even fewer get to witness scientific seal tagging efforts in the Arctic. Denise Holland can say she’s done all of this. And lucky for us she’s been recording!

Denise Holland is a student and art history major at New York University (NYU) who has spent the past several years assisting her husband, researcher David Holland, on preparations for and documenting his research missions to Greenland. Dr. Holland is director of the Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science at New York University.

David Holland in the field, hard at work.

Dr. Holland studies ice-ocean interactions and develops computer models to explain how the world’s ice and oceans may fare in a changing climate. The ice sheet interactions at the Ilulissat and Helheim glaciers in the fjords of Greenland are one area of focus for the Holland duo.

The work is part of a five-year (2009-2013) National Science Foundation-supported effort to improve the understanding of how warm, deep ocean waters are influencing ice sheet retreat.

Click here for more of Denise Holland’s work

In addition to documenting the research through videos and photographs, Denise plays a key role in making sure the research trips run smoothly. Months before the mission starts, she tests and re-tests equipment, reviews the plans and makes sure all the equipment and necessary supplies arrive in Greenland.

And once she sets foot in Greenland the work doesn’t stop.

“I help schlep equipment, set up tents, shop for supplies, document everything in film and photographs, and basically try to make sure the team has everything it needs.  I also make a special effort to do outreach – we have found that the people of the towns we visit are always keenly interested in what we do, and in sharing their experiences of the environment with us,” Denise said.

Through her videos and photographs Denise lets viewers experience the beauty of Greenland’s terrain, as well as get a glimpse into what conducting research in the high Arctic is like. Her work is currently featured at NYU and now people can check it out right here on field notes.

“I hope people will get a sense of the complexity and difficulty of gathering the data that scientists like David use.  It takes a lot of work!  But I also hope they can relate to the rugged beauty and the breath-taking landscapes in which these field missions take place,” she said. “We have a video wall at NYU where I’m fortunate enough to be able to run slide shows of our Greenland field work and I always get a thrill when I see students, parents, and children stopping to look at an iceberg or a Greenlandic puppy.”

Check back with us for more of Denise’s videos and photographs. —Alicia Clarke

Comments (0) Jan 11 2011

“My 3-year old daughter and I were looking at a globe today. She says, ‘I want to go to this island daddy.’  Her finger was on Greenland.”  — A proud Tweet from photographer, Chris Linder

Chris Linder shoots from a larch tree in Siberia. Photo: Brian Kator

Seattle-based photographer Chris Linder grew up in southeastern Wisconsin, which is to say he’s no stranger to snow and sub-zero temperatures, a good thing considering he makes his living, in part, by photographing polar scientists in the field.

‘I was a geeky kid in high school and still am,” Linder wrote on the Polar Discovery website. “I love learning new things and wish I could stay in school my whole life.’

Linder first took up photography as a hobby during the two years he spent in Spain as a naval officer following graduation from the United States Naval Academy and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)/Massachusetts Institute of Technology joint Masters graduate program in Ocean Engineering. After completing his stint abroad, Linder returned to the States as a civilian and returned to WHOI as a research technician.

While in graduate school, Linder went on his first scientific cruise with Bob Pickart (WHOI) to the Irminger Sea, east of Greenland, as a watchstander. When not taking water samples from a CTD rosette, on watch, or doing work on deck, he took pictures of other people doing science. His photographs were impressive—so much so that WHOI scientists invited Linder along on the Edge of the Arctic Shelf cruise just to photograph and handle project outreach.

Winter FINCH II cruise aboard the R/V Oceanus, 2005. Craig Marquette (WHOI) secrures the wet lab as heavy seas crash into the ship. Photo: Chris Linder

Linder’s largest project while at WHOI was as project manager and expedition photographer for the NSF-funded Live from the Poles project which documented polar science during the International Polar Year on the project’s Polar Discovery website. Between 2007 and 2009, Linder worked with science writers Mike Carlowicz, Lonny Lippsett, Hugh Powell, Amy Nevala, and Helen Fields to create photo essays while participating in five WHOI field expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic.

In daily web dispatches, which included audio, video, and still photography, Linder’s media team explained complicated science concepts and field methodology. Linder also set up the Live Talk schedule partnering with nine U.S. museums to facilitate interaction between a scientist in the field and a museum audience via satellite phone.

“Field science is fun and exciting and it’s my job to show this through photography. My goals are to educate, inspire, and communicate.”

Linder relocated to the west coast with his wife and young daughter in 2009, where Linder began what has proved to be a very busy freelancing career. Since that first cruise, he has spent more than a year of his life at sea; more than half of that time has been in the Arctic working for scientists on a total of 11 arctic projects (6 of these ship-based). Now bipolar (in that he’s been to Antarctica twice), he has made photographing field research his specialty.

Ships remain his favorite venue for documenting field science, but Linder is branching out both in terms of venue and medium. These days he’s a mainstay with the Polaris Project, a National Science Foundation-funded summer field course in arctic system science for undergraduates headed by Max Holmes (WHRC). Each summer the group spends four weeks at the Northeast Science Station in Cherskiy, Siberia.

Undergraduate Blaize Denfeld takes a water sample from the Panteleikha River in Siberia. Photo: Chris Linder

Linder documents field work, and mentors a university student who is interested in science journalism. Last summer, he and Western Washington University student Max Wilbert took more than 50,000 photos. The two are currently developing multimedia segments on student projects using stills, video, and audio, which will support the Polaris Project website.

Linder has also been increasingly involved in a number of nature and travel groups. He was recently named Associate Member of the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers. The ILCP brings awareness to environmental and conservation issues through the pro bono collaborative efforts of specialized field teams who produce multimedia ‘portraits’ through RAVEs (Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition). The grass roots organization seeks to document ecosystems while informing the public.

Graduate student Maria Tausendfreund collects a water sample from an Arctic melt pond during a brief period of 'ice liberty.' Photo: Chris Linder

Linder’s photographs have been featured in a number of museum exhibits including the Field and the Smithsonian Museums. Linder’s first book, The Photographer’s Guide to Cape Cod and the Islands came out in 2007. His second, entitled Science on Ice, is due in stores by fall of 2011.

When not photographing his new baby boy, Linder teaches photography workshops and gives presentations about his work and expeditions. Thirty-five of Linder’s Adelie penguin photographs are featured currently in an exhibit at the Massachusetts Audubon Visual Arts Center through January, 2011, at which time, he’ll head to Antarctica a third time to work with scientists from Rutgers University and the University of Hawaii aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer. –Marcy Davis

You can check out Chris Linder’s work at chrislinder.com

Comments (1) Jan 03 2011

For Christmas I received a new-to-me iPhone 3G. It’s my first smart phone and I love it. This morning I went way down the bunny hole of apps at the iTunes Store where I downloaded weather, currency converter, and requisite ‘best restaurants around’ apps. But, I wanted more – what apps out there are available and relevant to those of us who live in and/or work in the circumarctic? Below is a brief summary of some that look useful…or at least fun and interesting. Disclaimer: these apps are as new to me as they are to you – I’m not reviewing or recommending, just sharing. If you try these out or have any favorite polar apps to share, let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Arctic Science

Arctic Watch

Arctic Watch allows users to access sea ice maps for the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Coverage maps updated daily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Center for Environmental Prediction show daily sea ice coverage extent. Real-time satellite data is also accessible and users can compare current readings to data for the last thirty years. The arctic utility is free while the antarctic utility requires a one-time $.99 fee which supports other real-time app development. Download

Skeptical Science

This App and its developer have received a lot of press. Below is a review published by the Guardian’s Green Living Blog (February, 17, 2010) as one of the top 10 green iPhone apps. It’s also free.

“Based on information from an Australian blog that puts climate s[k]eptics under the microscope, this app is the ideal tool to counter pub bores when they tell you solar radiation, a spot of snow or the hacked climate science emails are proof that climate change isn’t happening. It lays out the most common arguments by s[k]eptics and then offers you both a succinct and in-depth counterargument, the latter often complete with graphs and links to science papers. Well-designed, it offers dozens of responses to statements you’ll have heard many times, from ‘the ice age was predicted in the 70s’ and ‘the models are unreliable,’ to ‘Greenland was green.’ The genius touch is a reporting feature that enables you to feed back arguments when confronted with them, helping the team behind the app to build up a picture of the most common arguments.” Download

Google Earth

The desktop application we know and love on the iPhone. Download

Arctic Wildlife

Project Noah

Project Noah makes you a citizen scientist. The free app allows users to record wildlife and plant sightings with map, note, and photo formats. Observations are networked so you can see the critters other people in your area have catalogued in the Noah Field Guide. Visit the Project Noah website for global exploration. Join a Mission for science like the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Impact which asks people to contribute photos and observation notes. Download

The Sibley eGuide to the Birds of North America

You can have the entire Sibley Guide complete with bird sounds! The guide isn’t cheap at $29.99, but if you’re into birds, it’s worth it according to this review from The Birder’s Library. Download

Fun and Games

Aurora Borealis Jigsaw

This app creates digital jigsaw puzzles from beautiful photographs of the Northern Lights. The app is well worth the $.99, especially when you find yourself stranded in an airport. Download

Amazing Alaska iSlider Puzzles

I love this app! Photos of Alaska glaciers are made into 29-piece slider puzzles. Truly a fantastic time-waster. Download

North Pole – iSoundboard

Ever wonder what a narwhal sounds like? For $.99 this simple utility allows the user to see and hear a handful of Arctic animals and birds. It’s a fun app for adults for a few minutes, but it’s really geared toward the kiddos. Critters include:

• Whale (sounds like a Humpback to me)
• Wolf
• Reindeer
• Narwhal
• Snowy owl
• Polar Bear
• Husky
• Seal
• Walrus
• Arctic hare
• Musk Ox
• Puffin
• Harp Seal
• Beluga
• Moose
• Penguin (shouldn’t this one be on the South Pole iSoundboard?)

Download

Now, if I could just find an ARMAP app…hint, hint. –Marcy Davis

Comments (1) Dec 31 2010

This map of Greenland shows the location of earthquakes, the boundaries between Greenland's ice drainage basins and the speed of ice (2005-2006). Graphic by Jonathan Corum and Xaquin G.V. / The New York Times.

At Polar Field Services, we are fortunate to assist in important scientific research that takes place in some of the world’s most beautiful places, and we aim to report on much of that research here in our blog. And while we know we have some dedicated readers, we’d hazard to guess the New York Times has a more robust readership. So we were glad to see some of the scientists we support on the front page of last Sunday’s issue in Reading Earth’s Future in Glacial Ice. Situated above the fold, this thoroughly-reported article on National Science Foundation-funded research outlined ongoing studies that aim to understand glacial dynamics.

The article, written by Justin Gillis and with a Tasilaq, Greenland, dateline, transports the reader immediately to the Greenland ice fields in a helicopter where two scientists drop a measuring device deep into water in an ice-choked fjord. The temperature registers at 40 degrees, a “troubling measurement showing that the water was warm enough to belt glaciers rapidly from below.” This information, says Gillis, will be used to help answer “one of the most urgent—and most widely debated—questions facing humanity: How fast is the world’s ice going to melt?”
The article continues to state that glaciology and ice dynamic studies are still in their infancy, and as scientists better understand the relationship between warming sea temperatures and earthquakes and glacial melt, it appears that sea levels will likely rise to a higher level more quickly than previously thought.

For decades, common scientific wisdom believed it would take thousands of years for Arctic and Antarctic ice to melt. Sea levels were predicted to rise possibly seven inches in this century. According to the article, sea level could rise as much as three feet by 2100, and glacial dynamics are much more complex than previously thought.

The article includes information about the Helheim Glacier, located in southeastern Greenland. This glacier has rapidly lost ice in previous years and is the subject of myriad research projects. Sea water flowing underneath the glacier could be contributing to rapid melting and scientists want to understand the impacts of that accelerated melting.

The issue of increased melting extends to many of Greenland’s glaciers. According to the article, “satellite and other measurements suggest that through the 1990s, Greenland was gaining about as much ice through snowfall as it lost to the sea every year. But since then, warmer water has invaded the fjords, and air temperatures in Greenland have increased markedly. The overall loss of ice seems to be accelerating, an ominous sign given that the island contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by more than 20 feet.”

Gillis’s article poses tough questions about the cause of the melting increase. Most scientists concur it is, in part, due to warmer temperatures. He writes, “to a majority of climate scientists, the question is not whether the earth’s land ice will melt in response to the greenhouse gases those people are generating, but whether it will happen too fast for society to adjust.”

He writes about budget issues that have hampered climate research and says a shortage of satellites has decreased the amount of data scientists can collect data about the ice sheets.

Finally, much remains unknown about the earth’s land ice, he writes. Although ongoing studies are critical, scientists need more resources to gather more data. The article quotes Harvard geochemist Daniel Schrag as praising scientists who study ice but commenting, “The scale of what they can do, given the resources available, is just completely out of whack with what is required.”

At Polar Field Services, we’ll continue to assist scientists with polar research and look forward to sharing that with you. –Rachel Walker

Comments (0) Nov 16 2010

From hat tricks to the Helheim glacier—a young David Holland spent much of his childhood on ice before studying the matter full time. Photo: Denise Holland

Addicted to Ice

Growing up in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, meant David Holland was well acquainted with ice in nearly every form from a young age. Years later, as a mathematics professor at New York University (NYU) and director of the university’s Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science he’s still surrounded by ice.

Now, his days are spent traveling the world studying ice-ocean interactions and developing computer models that explain how the world’s ice and oceans may fare in a changing climate.

“In the late 1990s, it was noticed that glaciers change a lot faster than people thought—they were much more dynamic. My background is in ocean science, so I was curious about this speed up and the ocean’s contributions,” Holland said. “So I became interested in studying and modeling this. I guess you can say I’m addicted to ice in a lot of ways,” he laughed.

Studying Ice Around The World

David Holland’s love of studying and modeling ice has taken him from the top of the planet to the bottom, and lots of places in between. Here he is all smiles in Antarctica. Photo: Denise Holland

Holland’s fascination with ice has led to some interesting jobs throughout his career and has taken him on adventures spanning the globe.

While still in Newfoundland, he worked as a research engineer to determine ways to move icebergs in order to prevent collisions with ships.

“This technology really never panned out. In Newfoundland and Labrador and Greenland there are icebergs all over the place. We tried to blow them up, cut them in half and melt them, and what not. Really large icebergs are a challenge to move and really the easiest thing is to just get out of their way,” Holland explained.

South Of The Equator

After leaving Canada, Holland headed 10,000 miles south to Australia for a postdoctorate fellowship at the Australia Bureau of Meteorology. While there he worked on coupled modeling—pairing global ocean models with atmospheric models. It was an exciting time because he worked with a group of modelers who had just started to include sea ice in global climate models.

“As we were doing that in the 1990s, nobody had the vaguest thought sea ice in the Arctic would change the way it has today. We now know in the summer sea ice reaches half the extent it used to. That was something no one even remotely believed in the 1990s. Today those models still work pretty well, but they aren’t good enough to project the kind of sea ice behavior we’re actually observing,” he said.

Launching Career

After finishing his postdoctoral work in Australia and the United Kingdom, Holland was a research scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In 1998, he joined NYU as a professor where he lectures, develops computer models and plans research missions. His most recent mission supports an ongoing National Science Foundation-funded project in Greenland.

Field Work in Greenland

David Holland (far right), Denise Holland, and graduate student Carl Gladish pose at the calving front of the Helheim glacier during this summer’s field effort in the fjords of Greenland. Photo: Denise Holland

This July and August Holland was busy studying ocean and ice sheet interactions at the Ilulissat and Helheim glaciers in the fjords of Greenland. The work is part of a five-year (2009-2013) effort to improve the understanding of how warm, deep ocean waters are influencing ice sheet retreat.

Holland and a team of graduate students recorded meteorological observations and collected water temperature, salinity, oxygen, suspended sediment and current measurements using CTDs.

In sea-ice-covered areas, the team used a helicopter to first break up the sea ice before lowering an expendable CTD (XCTD) into the water column. An XCTD is an expendable probe that can be dropped from moving ships or aircraft. Data from the probe are transmitted by wire. For areas with less sea ice, the samples were collected by ship using a traditional CTD lowered off the side of the ship by winch.

Help From The Locals

This bearded seal may not realize it, but it’s playing a critical role in helping scientists study ice-ocean interactions. This summer, David Holland and colleagues attached CTDs with transmitters to the backs of two seals in Greenland. The CTDs will collect data as the animals swim through the water. The devices will fall off after 12 months when the seals molt. Photo: Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid

Holland also looked to the local population of seals to help collect water column data in the fjords. He attached small CTDs with telephone transmitters on the backs of two seals. “I have two seals swimming around now and they email me every four or five hours with profile temperatures and salinity. Then I can look at a map and see where they are,” he said.

The CTDs will stay on for roughly 12 months and will fall off when the seals molt in the spring. Holland points out that every effort was made to meet animal welfare guidelines and ensure that no harm comes to the animals as a result of the CTD attachment.

Water column data collected by both humans and seals alike will be combined with the meteorological observations and used to develop a coupled ocean-ice sheet model. Ultimately, the data and the resulting model will help researchers quantify how the water from the melting ice sheet may change global sea level in the future.

Climate and Future Modeling

In the future, Holland plans to tackle a very tricky climate-related question: which changes in climate are occurring naturally and which are influenced by human activities? He will collaborate with others to make long-term observations in both Greenland and Antarctica to try to answer these questions.

He also hopes to develop models that will give us a better idea of how sea level may change in the future. “It’s going to take a long time to get that sorted out correctly, if at all, but the climate model may tell us about future sea level changes due to glaciers,” Holland said.

A Family Affair

Month-long trips in remote areas like Greenland require a tremendous amount of effort and teamwork. Data collection success is dependent on detailed planning done months in advance. And Holland’s wife Denise is always more than happy to lend a helping hand by taking on much of the logistics planning and coordination.

Denise is also an artist currently studying at NYU. She often joins him in the field to document the trips through photos and videos. “The trips take about a month or so and it’s nice to have family around to help,” Holland said.

Holland’s graduate students also play a critical role in the success of the missions. In addition to teaching two graduate-level courses, he always takes graduate students on missions to help with data collection and to gain valuable field research experience.

“It’s [field work] extremely valuable both to me and to them. The graduate students are very, very, capable, hard working and creative about coming up with solutions. It’s an all-around victory,” he said.

To learn more about David Holland and his ice-ocean interaction research, visit: http://efdl.cims.nyu.edu/ —Alicia Clarke

Comments (1) Oct 12 2010

Ed 'n' Friends. Penguin Ranch near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, November 2005. Photo: Ed Stockard. All rights reserved. Used with permission

“Here is a self portrait while working at the Penguin Ranch outside of McMurdo Sation, Antarctica,” writes Ed. ”I think they bonded with the hat!”

We’re glad Ed Stockard shares this photo with us despite the “risk to my reputation or masculinity,” because it symbolizes the endless attraction and dare we say charm of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s polar programs:  in the midst of the everyday, you’re never far from the matchless and the amazing—the opportunity to do or see something you can do or see no where else in the world. That’s pretty attractive.

If you’re curious, Ed was supporting a long-term study of penguin diving physiology led by Paul Ponganis of UC San Diego. The work continues, and Dr. Ponganis has expanded it to include leopard seals. For more basic information on the Penguin Ranch studies, including exerpts from the PI’s 2008 research journal, read this LiveScience piece.

We asked Ed to share some of his favorite shots with us in honor of his being selected as a finalist in the Air Greenland Photo Contest.  The contest ends today so be sure to visit the site if you haven’t yet done so.

–Kip Rithner

Comments (0) Sep 15 2010

“Quite possibly the most amazing and fortuitous moment I have ever had with a camera in my hand,” Ed Stockard writes.

“This was taken in the IMAX crevasse on Hut Peninsula outside of McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I had taken a small group of DV’s [distinguished visitors] to the crevasse. I was the snowmobile mechanic and a member of the winter SAR team and had the blessings to lead trips here. While in the crevasse the sun shone through the small opening behind and above me. The light of the sun appeared to move down one wall and up the other side. I had a short time to ask this person to move into the light!”

The crevasse (a crack in an ice sheet) is a local landmark near McMurdo Station, the largest of three NSF-funded stations on the 7th continent. Its name denotes an IMAX film crew that visited to shoot footage for the polar IMAX adventure, Antarctica, which was released in 1991.

To celebrate the selection of his photo as a semi-finalist in the Air Greenland’s photo contest, Ed has been sharing some of his favorite shots with us. We encourage you to check out Ed’s photo of a red and white twin otter tail on the Air Greenland contest site, and vote! Preferably for Ed, but vote! You’ll be entered in a contest to win Air Greenland swag, and if Ed wins, he’ll receive two travel vouchers on Greenland’s national airline. 

Ed is helming Summit, the NSF-funded research station on Greenland’s ice cap, as a staff of five prepare the place for the winter. He’s shooting pictures of the adventure, and you can tag along by visiting Ed’s flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coastaleddy/.  Recent photos include shots of the season’s first sunset. Gorgeous.–Kip Rithner

Comments (0) Sep 14 2010