Bear guard Brower Frantz surveys polar bear tracks on the way to Point Barrow. Photo: Molly Rettig

Polar Field Services could not accomplish the work we do without the help of our outstanding colleagues. We benefit greatly from the personal knowledge and experience of many of our native colleagues who grew up in the Arctic. Among them is Bower Frantz,  a bear guard and supervisor for UMIAQ.LLC, a Barrow-based company that provides field logistics to researchers and other groups.

Frantz is tasked with keeping researchers safe as they drill, slice, probe and travel on sea ice off the coast of Barrow. His work also gives him a front row seat to scientific research and the changing climate.

Frantz was recently featured in Alaska Business Monthly where he offered his long-term perspective on the changing climate, among other things:

One obvious change is that shore-fast ice is getting thinner and breaking up earlier in the year (as well as freezing up later). Through the 1980s, the ice used to be solid from November through June or July. Locals could go whaling and travel between coastal communities without worrying about falling in a crack or floating away on a broken slab of ice. Now there’s a large gash in the ice shelf in front of town, only a few hundred feet from shore.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen open water so early in the year, in mid-March. That was definitely an eye-opener,” Frantz said.

Last week, a whaling crew was nearly stranded when an opening (called a lead) formed between them and the shore. They managed to cross the big crack, plus 10 smaller ones, on snowmachines to get back to safety, and the ice was evacuated for the day. These events could become more common as the ice becomes less stable.

Frantz says sea ice research can add detail to the history and trends that locals are already seeing. And he enjoys being a part of it: snowmachining on the beach, tundra and ocean, setting up camps and supporting groups on the ice.

To read the full article on Frantz, click here.

Comments (0) May 19 2013

Jorien Vonk on Shuchi Lake in Russia. Vonk is a biogeochemist whose research has taken her to many remote regions of the Arctic. All photos: Jorien Vonk

Jorien Vonk’s passion for the Arctic started when she was a teenager and has grown ever since. Today, Vonk is a post-doctorate researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands where she focuses on biogeochemical cycling in arctic regions and the fate of thawing permafrost.

Vonk’s interests don’t stop with research. She’s also engaged in nurturing the next generation of researchers both in the lab and the field. She began collaborating with Max Holmes and the Polaris Project in 2010 as a post-doctorate researcher. She will return to Siberia this summer as a faculty member, mentoring students and documenting their experiences through photography.

This month, Vonk shares how her interests in the Arctic began and where it’s taken her with field notes.

PFS: You’ve traveled quite extensively and lived in a number of countries. Please tell us a little about your background.

A Great Grey Owl. Vonk illustrates the beauty and uniqueness of the Arctic through her photography.

Jorien Vonk: Originally, I studied environmental science. I always hesitated between chemistry and earth sciences, but then I decided to go for kind of a mixture. As part of my masters, which sparked my interest in the region, I spent time on Svalbard, an island archipelago north of Norway in the Arctic Ocean. I was there a year studying snow hydrology and Arctic mine pollution.

After that, I left research for a while and then went back to do my PhD in Stockholm, where I moved more towards the permafrost world using all kinds of chemical and isotopic techniques to see if there’s actually more old permafrost that is now thawing and to see if we can detect that in rivers or the oceans.

PFS: In general, what are your scientific interests and what is your area of focus at Utrecht University?

JV: I would classify myself as a biogeochemist or a hydrobiogeochemist. Biogeochemistry is an applied form of chemistry where, simply said, researchers look at molecules, bacteria, or chemical elements that occur in the natural environment to learn something about the system.

I like the interactions between hydrology and terrestrial systems. Rivers are big integrators of the landscape that can tell you a lot. You can also look at the more biological parts—enzymes and bacteria—that can help generate greenhouse gasses.

PFS: How did you become interested in the Arctic and polar science?

JV: My interest was triggered by this one book I read when I was 16:  When the Light Comes. It was about a Flemish girl from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium who went to Svalbard for a year and over wintered there with a seal fur hunter. I like that the Arctic is so remote and that the seasons and nature really affect the people there. It’s not like here—the middle-European latitudes—where we rule or determine everything. There, it’s nature against us. So that’s what is special.

PFS: You have participated in the Polaris Project for several years. What is your role as part of the Polaris team?

Vonk with Polaris Project undergraduate students in 2010.

JV: I’ve been involved with the Polaris Project for the last three summers, from 2010. I contacted Max Holmes asking is we could collaborate or if I could do a postdoc with him, and then he invited me to join in 2010. The first two years, my role was more like a postdoc—serving as a bridge between the undergraduate students there and the more senior PIs. Now I’m more and more part of the faculty.

It was a great experience. I was suddenly exposed to scientists with different backgrounds and views of the system. Some were ecologists, others were more terrestrial people.

That makes the Polaris Project quite unique and very interesting. The students can learn from us, and I can learn from the senior PIs (and from the students!).

PFS: You’ve taken many amazing photographs of the Arctic, including documenting your experience with the Polaris Project in Siberia. What can people learn about the Arctic and Arctic science from your pictures?

JV: You try to make people curious. People always ask me when I go to Siberia, “Oh! It must be cold there?” But in these pictures you can see people are swimming in the river everyday in bikinis. Parts of the Arctic can be very warm at times.

PFS: What are some of the rewards and challenges of working in the Arctic and in the region’s coastal ecosystems?

JV: If you really enjoy being in the Arctic, you are willing to accept some challenges—the mosquitoes, mud, no Internet and all these kinds of things. But the reward is it’s such a unique place. Every time I go, especially when I go back to Siberia, the landscape is never the same. You never get bored of it. Another reward is the people. There’s a common interest that creates good energy.

When you are in the Arctic you have to seize the moment, especially with cruises. On cruises, it’s now or never. There’s not a lot of sleep, there’s lots of work and at the end you’re totally exhausted, but you can build on the experiences and the samples you collect for years and years after that.

PFS: What’s next?

Busy prepping sediment cores during her 2008 voyage on a Russian ship in the East Siberian Sea.

JV: I just started at Utrecht University a few months ago. I got a fellowship from the Dutch National Science Foundation. So I’ll be here for at least three years, but I hope to stay here and build my own lab with PhD students, masters students and postdocs. One of the Polaris Project students from last year is going to apply for a Fulbright Fellowship to come to my lab, so that is a good start!

Next year, 2014, I will be on the Swedish icebreaker the Oden returning to study the East Siberian Sea. I first visited there in 2008. SWERUS-C3 is an international, large project by Swedes, Russians and Americans to study carbon dynamics in the Siberian arctic land-shelf-basin system. I will be looking mostly at the bottom of the sea because there is a lot of permafrost underwater on the shelf that is still frozen. We don’t really know that much about it. I will be part of the team collecting sediment cores.

Comments (0) Apr 11 2013

A research vessel cruises Arctic water. See more Polar Seed images at www.polarseeds.org. Image courtesy Polar Seeds

Last month marked the culmination of an innovative, year-long collaboration between City University of New York (CUNY) professor Marco Tedesco, artists Ethan Ham, Ina Saltz, and Jonhathan Perl (The City College of New York), and a handful of their students. The group collaborated on Polar Seeds to communicate the processes behind Greenland climate change are communicated to the public in a new, very visual, way.

“I went to my colleagues with the idea that they would communicate my research in Greenland through their own interpretation of the science,” says Tedesco. “People have heard now about warming and melting, but it’s time to get people to understand positive feedback mechanisms – how these processes are related.”

He says he reached out to non-scientists to “make science not boring.”

Tedesco’s artistic contributions include photography – photos taken during research excursions to Greenland of landscapes, scientists and students working, and a variety of gear and materials used in their field work along with videos and audio recordings.  The artists interpreted his scientific results graphically and data are translated into sounds with variations in pitch, tone, and amplitude to communicate various concepts and multiple datasets simultaneously.

Polar Seeds Experiment Video

“We also have a video game that people can play at the exhibition, where it will be projected on a wall, or online. The player must balance a number of physical properties – clouds and precipitation, for example – to keep the ice sheet healthy. This is an effective and interactive way to engage people while helping them understand processes,” says Tedesco.

The group was awarded $50,000 from a competitive, college-wide grant program, called CITY SEED, meant to foster campus partnerships.  Visitors to the campus’ Compton-Goethals Art Gallery can see the results of their collaboration January 28 – February 14.

Installations, including a soundscape of field recordings and time lapse photographs of blocks of ice that melt at different rates, depending on their color, will provide ambient exhibition background, are meant to round out the experience—one that Tedesco wants to feel like a conversation.

“This is a team effort. Even though I had a clear idea of the project, I wanted my collaborators to feel free to do what they wanted to do. It was really interesting to work with artists because I had to first communicate my science to them and then let them go,” Tedesco says. ” There was compromise on both sides. It was interesting from a management perspective because I knew the outcome could go anywhere – this is not at all like writing a scientific paper, but it’s actually quite similar to doing field work as we get ready for the exhibition. It’s very exciting because, through visualization, we are breaking the 3/D and 4D barrier to communicate science.” —Marcy Davis

Comments (0) Feb 11 2013

This image of polar bears is one of 24 featured in the inaugural Arctic Visions calendar. Drop by the CPS booth in the exhibition hall (Booth 5439) to pick up your complimentary copy. Photo: Jeff Johnson, University of North Texas

This year we’re sending a team to the American Geophysical Union (AGU) annual meeting in San Francisco to represent CH2M HILL Polar Services (CPS). The AGU meeting represents the largest worldwide conference in the geophysical sciences, attracting nearly 20,000 earth and space scientists, educators, students, and policy makers.

The meeting “showcases current scientific theory focused on discoveries that will benefit humanity and ensure a sustainable future for our planet,” according to the AGU website.

It’s our privilege to support a wide range of fascinating work, and it’s always fun to see some of “our” scientists presenting their work.

At the meeting, PFS field risk manager Allen O’Bannon will talk about field safety and bears in the Arctic on Monday, 3 December, at noon. If you’re around, drop by the Arctic Community Meeting Room at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 4th Floor, Pacific Room J.

CPS is hosting a booth in the exhibition hall, (Booth 5439) which will be populated by scientists and research support experts. If you’ve got questions about working in the Arctic, stop by.

We will also showcase our first annual CPS calendar, Arctic Visions. This collaborative work features winners in our inaugural photo contest, some of whom are members of the U.S. NSF’s research program in the Arctic, and some who are new friends. Featuring images ranging from the ethereal to the precise the calendar documents many aspects of life and scientific research in the Arctic.

It is also free.

We are looking forward to seeing old friends and new next week.

Comments (0) Dec 02 2012

Jason Briner's field team is fired up! All photos: Jason Briner

Greenland’s unglaciated landscape is one of starkly exposed bedrock undulating in gentle ridges and swales. Small lakes form in the topographic lows where rainwater and glacial ice melt collect. University of Buffalo’s Jason Briner is part of a National Science Foundation-funded collaboration of 10 institutions looking to use these small lakes to reconstruct the last 2000 – 8000 years of arctic climate change.

Last summer, Jason Briner spent a month on Canada’s Ellesmere Island last summer, hiking, camping, and boating on Ayr Lake. Oh yeah, he and his team also got many lake core sediments.

Darrell Kaufman, Northern Arizona U, is the lead PI on this massive effort.

Lakes Provide Important Climate Change Evidence

The collaborators will double the amount of existing high-resolution climate records reconstructed from arctic lake sediments. In particular, Briner and colleagues will focus on collecting cores from Alaska and Greenland likely to record the transition between the Holocene Thermal Maximum, a warm period between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago, and the Little Ice Age, a cooler period between the 16^th and 19^th centuries.

One of the perks of working in Greenland: water, fresh and fast.

“We have good climate information from ice cores, ocean sediment cores, and tree rings, but not from lake sediments. So, for this project we pulled together people who are good at studying lake cores. Ultimately, we want to extend back to 8000 years and collect cores from around the Arctic,” says Briner.

Middle Holocene as Proxy for Today

“The middle Holocene period climate was warmer than today so it is our closest analog to modern climate change. By studying how and when the ice sheet retreated during a warming climate and constraining the timing and degree of margin fluctuation during the subsequent Little Ice Age, we will place constraints on the sensitivity of the GIS to temperature change. Understanding this sensitivity is urgent given contemporary issues.”

Briner and UB graduate students Nicolas Young, Sam Kelley and undergraduate student Stefan Truex worked out of three field camps near Ilulissat in 2011. The team collected cores from lakes a few hundred meters across where the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) spilled its melt along with pulverized glacial flour, very fine-grained glacial sediments. Briner had many lakes to choose from. Ultimately he and his team sampled from lakes closest to camp, portaging their sediment cores in a small, motorized Zodiac boat.

Exploring the glacial landscape near Illulissat, Greenland.

How to Get a Lake Sediment Core

Once on a lake, the team used GPS and a fish-finder device to get a sense of lake bottom topography and water depth. After creating a rough map of the lake bottom, they chose a coring location with a water depth that would accommodate their coring apparatus: two meter-long sections of clear tubing, or several-meter-long sections of PVC pipe. Coring from a “cataraft,” two pontoons with a plywood platform in between, Briner’s team successfully cored five lakes.

Using ropes and cables, the scientists lowered the coring contraption into the water whilst keeping track of the length deployed by measuring the amount of rope out. Once the tubing was on the bottom, they hammered the top of the PVC pipe until they couldn’t any longer. Then they pulled up the tube, making certain to hold it vertical to contain the muck.

On the boat, the core bottoms were capped, and a piece of floral foam was put on top. By gently pressing down, the team drained the water from the tube; back at camp the core sat upright over several days to let the sediments compact. Before transporting the cores from the field, the team split some of them lengthwise for inspection.

Just another day at the office...

What the Sediment Cores Tell Us

Briner, who runs the UB Paleoclimate Lab, uses the relative thickness of varves, layers of sediment that accumulate in response to seasonal weather changes, to get a sense of how warm or cool a particular year was. During warm summers, the GIS melts more readily and, consequently, transports more sediment downstream to the lakes. Consequently. the varve layer will be relatively thick for that year. Conversely, in mild summers with low discharge, the sediment transport will also be low and the varve layer relatively thin.

“Eventually, we can say ‘when it’s this thick, it was this temperature’ and we can mathematically extrapolate that assumption back in time to get a detailed climate picture from these very fine sediment laminations that correspond to annual sedimentation,” explains Briner.

Glacial lake varves yield volumes about Greenland's past climate.

Reconstructing the Climate

Dating lake sediments is also important in climate reconstruction. Briner correlates the upper two or so centimeters of sediment to historical climate records and then counts sediment layers to get the number of years back to the end of the core. He and his researchers also date organic matter using radiocarbon techniques, which helps constrain the onset of glaciation. Biological markers like pollen grains or insect assemblages, particularly chironomids, two-winged flies that spend much of their lives in arctic lakes, highlight climate details. Ultimately, these data will contribute to climate models that will help predict GIS behavior in a changing climate.

“One of my real passions is finding out where the glaciers have been and how they’ve advanced and retreated. We need more detailed climate records not only to establish the timing of retreat, but because the pattern and rate of future ice sheet retreat are unknown,” says Briner. “We know that the GIS marginal extent fluctuates, but we need to know how long and when the ice sheet was at its maximum as well as how fast the margin retreated and associated volumetric changes given the temperature during that time. If we know these things we will be in a better position to predict the response of the cryosphere to warming–rates of global climatic change, glacier melt, and sea-level rise through the next century.”—Marcy Davis

Comments (0) Nov 08 2012