Graduate student opportunities in sea ice research at the Geophysical Institute
Graduate students are needed to fill positions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (applicants for Ph.D. program preferred, but strong applications for M.S. program will be considered, also for topics in sea-ice research other than those outlined below):
A better look at Greenland glaciers on the go
Ryan Cassotto, left, of the University of New Hampshire and Martin Truffer of the University of Alaska use radar to monitor “KNS” glacier in Greenland in summer 2011.
Photo courtesy Martin Truffer.
Using some of the great datasets available today, Mark Fahnestock figured the average winter temperatures of the Arctic from the time he was born until he was 10 years old. He compared that data to the same period in his son’s life, finding the Arctic has warmed about five degrees since Fahnestock was his son’s age. All that warmth affects things, the scientist said at a recent meeting in Fairbanks.
By Ned RozellGI Quarterly Report now available
Read up on some of the latest research news in the current edition of the Geophysical Institute Quarterly Report. Glaciers, thermokarst lakes, the 20th anniversary of the Alaska Satellite Facility, GI's new Education Group and details on our new director, Bob McCoy, are all available in this new, extended edition of the Quarterly.
View the pdf here or request a copy of the publication through the Outreach Office. Email info [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu with your requests.
Thermokarst research gets attention
Ben Jones, Geophysical Institute doctoral student in the Snow, Ice and Permafrost group, is lead author of “Modern thermokarst lake dynamics in the continuous permafrost zone, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska,” appearing in the Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences, volume 116. The article was also featured in the Editors’ Highlight section of the journal.
Nature features GI Professors Bernard Coakley and Hajo Eicken
Professors Bernard Coakley and Hajo Eicken are included in a special feature titled "Scientific challenges in the Arctic: Open water" in this week's edition of Nature. The publication is an international weekly journal of science.
Read the detailed report here.
AGU travel grants provided by U.S. Permafrost Association
The U.S. Permafrost Association will provide six $500 travel grants for U.S.-based students and post-graduate researchers to attend the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in 2011. Applicants must be first author on a permafrost-related research presentation at AGU. Preference will be given to applicants who possess both U.S.P.A. and P.Y.R.N. memberships. Undergraduate students are encouraged to apply.
The application is due midnight on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011.
"North by 2020: Perspectives on Alaska's Changing Social-Ecological Systems"
Orders can be placed now for “North by 2020: Perspectives on Alaska’s Changing Social-Ecological Systems,” a 736-page book edited by Associate Professor of Political Science Amy Lauren Lovecraft and Geophysical Institute Professor Hajo Eicken and available through the University of Alaska Press.
Flowing tongues of rock, ice and dirt
A “debris flow” creeping down the southern Brooks Range toward the Dalton Highway.
Photo by Ronald Daanen.
A few years ago, Ronald Daanen was driving north of Coldfoot on the
Dalton Highway, looking for drunken trees. He pulled over when he saw
some tipsy spruce on a hillside.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist thought
the tilted trees would be a classic sign of thawing permafrost, ground
that has remained frozen through the heat of at least two summers. But
these trees were part of something larger — a giant tongue of moving
hillside that was oozing toward the Dalton Highway.
Flowing tongues of rock, ice and dirt
By Ned Rozell
A few years ago, Ronald Daanen was driving north of Coldfoot on the Dalton Highway, looking for drunken trees. He pulled over when he saw some tipsy spruce on a hillside.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist thought the tilted trees would be a classic sign of thawing permafrost, ground that has remained frozen through the heat of at least two summers. But these trees were part of something larger — a giant tongue of moving hillside that was oozing toward the Dalton Highway.
