Spring 2022 I am offering a Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing through the University of Washington: Science and Society in a Changing Climate (HONORS 222C / ESS 490F). Details related to this course can be found at the links below: Syllabus Continue reading
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Center for OLDest ice EXploration (COLDEX)
Follow information about this Center at the COLDEX webpage University of Washington press release here Continue reading
Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing – Winter 2021
Winter 2021 I am offering a Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing through the University of Washington: Science and Society in a Changing Climate (HONORS 221D / ESS 490H). Details related to this course can be found at the links below: Syllabus Continue reading
Arctic sea ice and international policy
On this page I will post information relevant to the University of Washington Winter 2020 Task Force course with co-instructor Nadine Fabbi through the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Also see the UW Study Abroad course listing. Seminars and events Relevant links UW Arctic and Northern Studies Library Guide Featured image: 2019 Arctic … Continue reading
Educator’s workshop in Greenland
My report on a uniquely impactful workshop on immersive undergraduate education is also shared here, and has been originally sent out through the Henry M. Jackson School’s International Policy Institute Arctic Initiative July 2019 newsletter. Immersive undergraduate education: Greenland, the Arctic, and beyond Fifteen educators from around the world, five days, and nearly two million … Continue reading
International Policy Institute Arctic Initiative
There is a lot of activity and information about this initiative, and I’ll keep updating as my involvements expand. For now, here is the main website link: See as well recent activity under the Scholarship-to-Policy in the Arctic Minor. Continue reading
Spring 2019 reading seminar
This quarter the group is following the theme of outlet glaciers, loosely defined. Here is what we are reading! 1. Recent work on Jakobshavn Glacier Khazendar et al. (2019) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0329-3 Joughin et al. (2014) https://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/209/2014/tc-8-209-2014.html 2. Reconstructions of a Cordilleran Ice Sheet outlet glacier Kovanen and Slaymaker (2004) https://atmos.washington.edu/marka/okanoganlobe.pdf 3. Catania G. A., Stearns, L. A., Sutherland, D. A., Fried, … Continue reading
Fall 2018 reading seminar
A log of the papers that the group read this quarter under the theme of ‘Inverse theory’: Week 1/2: Monte-carlo methods with demonstrations by Daniel and David Week 3: Brinkerhoff et al. (2016), Bayesian Inference of Subglacial Topography Using Mass Conservation. Frontiers in Earth Science. Week 4/5: Tarantola (2005), Inverse problem theory and methods for … Continue reading
Fall 2018: ESS 490C – Exploration Seminar group meeting
During Fall quarter, our Exploration Seminar group we will continue to meet and keep the discussions and interactions going! See the main page for a summary of the early-Fall start Exploration Seminar. For class participants, all of the presentations during Fall quarter will be shared on the Drive here Final reports are due 30 … Continue reading
Exploration Seminar: September 5-9
Written by Emily W., Eunice, Betz September 5 Starting our day early, and fueled by jet lag and general exhaustion, we headed out from our hostel toward the train, minus Team Taxi (aka, those injured in our effort to survive Greenland: Emily Johnson, Eunice, and Katie) and John. Navigating the Copenhagen train/metro system proved difficult … Continue reading
Exploration Seminar: September 1-4
Written by Emily J., Alden, Karl September 1st Our day started with the general chaos that ensues when you pack your life back into the tiny bag that you’ve been schlepping around for weeks. Getting 17 people and their belongings packed up and ready to move had only gotten easier in the past few weeks … Continue reading
Exploration Seminar: August 27 – August 31
August 27th (Monday) We got onto the coastal ferry on the night of the 26th, hopeful that this boat experience would be slightly less traumatic. HC waited behind with Katie to take a cab to the ferry terminal since her ankle was still bothering her, but no taxi ever came… A hostel employee ended up … Continue reading
Exploration Seminar: August 21 – 26
Written by Sarah August 21 The day started with a lecture at 10 am in one of Hotel Arctic’s conference room. It had a beautiful overlooking view of the bay and icebergs. The lecture discussed changes seen in the Greenland Ice Sheet. At 2:20 we walked over to the history museum, which overlooks the water … Continue reading
Exploration Seminar: 15 – 20 August 2018
Aug 15: On the first day of our program, I took the 5C bus southeast towards downtown where I would check in at 3pm at the hostel and meet my fellow students who had also decided to adventure to Greenland in the month before school started. I had two backpacks balanced on the front and … Continue reading
Spring 2018 reading seminar
Topic is glaciers and here is the reading list: 1. Rasmussen, L.A. and H. Conway (2001). Estimating South Cascade Glacier (Washington, U.S.A.) mass balance from a distant radiosonde and comparison with Blue Glacier. J. Glaciol., 47 (159). 2. Kamb and LaChapelle, 1964: Direct Observation of the mechanism of glacier sliding over bedrock. 3. Waddington & … Continue reading
Exploration Seminar to Greenland / Denmark
This page provides a summary of the 2018 Exploration Seminar to Greenland and Denmark. Follow the posts written by the incredible group of 14 University of Washington undergraduate students that detail activity during the class: 15-20 August 21-26 August 27-31 August 1-4 September 5-9 September This program has received generous support from the Scan|Design Foundation. … Continue reading
Keck Institute for Space Studies
There is some great content online about how to tackle the challenge of inferring climate history on Mars from polar ice deposits, and what future missions may be required to get the data needed to do this: http://kiss.caltech.edu/workshops/polar/polar2.html (Check out great videos from first workshop) It was a very interesting and enriching experience to be … Continue reading
Sea-level change: state of science and societal implications
This quarter I am offering a new course in undergraduate Honors for Winter quarter 2018 at University of Washington. Here is a link to information about the course, listed as Honors 221C: https://honors.uw.edu/courses/current/ The focus of this course is on the basic science of glacier and ice-sheet change due to changes in the climate system. … Continue reading
Fall 2017 reading seminar
Week 1: IPCC (2013) report on Sea Level Change See also: IPCC FAQ, Real Climate assessment Week 2: Llovel et al. (2014), Deep-ocean contribution to sea level and energy budget not detectable over the past decade. Nature Climate Change 4, 1031-1035. Purkey, S.G. and G.C. Johnson (2010), Warming of global abyssal and deep Southern Ocean … Continue reading
Spring 2017 reading seminar
We had a seminar with papers on a not-so-specific theme this quarter. And read some work from a few here at UW. Here is a recap: Week 1: Colgan, W., H. Machguth, M. MacFerrin, J. D. Colgan, D. van As, and J. A. MacGregor (2016), The abandoned ice sheet base at Camp Century, Greenland, in … Continue reading
Fall 2016 reading seminar
This quarter we are reading papers about the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). week 1: Fahnestock et al. (2001), High Geothermal Heat Flow, Basal Melt, and the Origin of Rapid Ice Flow in Central Greenland. Science 294, 2338. Joughin et al. (2001), Observation and analysis of ice flow in the largest Greenland ice stream. Journal … Continue reading
Commencement 2016
It was really an honor to be invited to speak at the Earth and Space Sciences Commencement this year, and it was a great event. Congratulations to all the graduates! Below is the text of my speech: Good morning, everyone. It is truly an honor to be speaking to such an inspiring group of graduates, … Continue reading
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
There are many resources, programs, and initiatives active at UW. Follow these links and the links within these top-level pages to start learning more: Diversity at UW: http://www.washington.edu/diversity/ UW Graduate School Diversity: http://www.grad.washington.edu/diversity/ Race and Equity Initiative: https://www.washington.edu/raceequity/ Office of Minority Affairs: http://www.washington.edu/omad/ College of the Environment Diversity and Access: https://environment.uw.edu/about/diversity-commitment/ Continue reading
South Pole Station
Taking from basic sources of information about the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, I wanted to write about it before I arrived and then provide my impressions after spending a few weeks there. From a pamphlet put together by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, I copied here a description of the history and … Continue reading
South Pole Flow
This is the first season of a new collaborative research project on Characterization of upstream ice and firn dynamics affecting the South Pole Ice Core (SPICE). Details about the SPICE core can be found here: http://spicecore.org/ Our team from University of Washington includes Howard Conway, T.J. Fudge, Ed Waddington, and Max Stevens, and team members … Continue reading
Experience Denmark
Scan | Design Foundation by Inger and Jens Bruun has generously provided undergraduate and graduate student fellowships at the University of Washington to promote exchange between the US and Denmark. There are also faculty travel fellowships available. These opportunities are open to students and faculty from departments across campus, including those within the College of … Continue reading
Fall 2015 reading seminar: glacier variability
This quarter, Gerard Roe suggested something a bit different for a reading seminar, inspired in part by visiting professor Jamie Shulmeister and in part by paleo-glacier puzzles. The topic is ‘The Natural Variability of Glaciers’. Here is Gerard’s introduction: The widespread and ongoing retreat of glaciers is a powerful totem of anthropogenic climate change. Moreover, … Continue reading
Instruments for polar studies
Here is a link to an Eos article about a recent workshop on Instruments for Polar Studies: https://eos.org/meeting-reports/what-instruments-are-available-for-polar-studies Here are links to information about some of this equipment, and some other useful instruments: Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS): ground-based scanning LiDAR to characterize cm to meter-scale topography. http://www.riegl.com/products/terrestrial-scanning/ Gamma Portable (aka Terrestrial) Radar Interferometry … Continue reading
Mt. Rainier glaciers
This post is a start to links and information that I want to keep track of related to glaciers on Mt. Rainier. http://glaciers.us/glaciers-washington (image credit for figure in this post) http://www.glaciers.pdx.edu/Projects/LearnAboutGlaciers/MRNP/Atlas10.html http://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/glaciers.htm (and links within) http://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/mount-rainier-glaciers.htm http://www.glaciers.pdx.edu/Projects/LearnAboutGlaciers/MRNP/Res00.html http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount_rainier/mount_rainier_geo_hist_77.html http://faculty.washington.edu/jhrl/Research.html http://www.wonderlandtrailguide.com/ Some scientific publications: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr03368 http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/39/7/639.short http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JF003086/abstract http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X14004103 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JF003274/full http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379197000772 http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/32/1/81.short For recent work … Continue reading
Spring 2015 group reading seminar
This quarter we are reading “papers that we know, and want to share”. No specific theme, just that all of us are meeting and discussing things together that we are otherwise thinking about individually. Week 1: Schroeder, D., D. Blankenship, and D. Young (2013), Evidence for a water system transition beneath Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica. … Continue reading
Winter 2015 group reading seminar: Calving
This quarter we are reading papers about ice calving. Here is what we have been reading and discussing: Week 1: Benn, Warren, Mottram (2007), Calving processes and the dynamics of calving glaciers. Earth Science Reviews 82, 143-179. Week 2: van der Veen, C.J. (1996), Tidewater calving. Journal of Glaciology 42 (141), 375-385. Week 3: van … Continue reading
Fall 2014 group reading seminar: Modeling
For Fall quarter the Glaciology Group is holding the reading seminar on the very general theme, “Modeling / “Ice-flow modeling”. This will inevitably follow the interest of the group and cannot attempt to be comprehensive in only 10 weeks. Here is what we have been reading and discussing: Week 1: Oerlemans, J. (2011). Minimal Glacier … Continue reading
UW courses for glaciology students
There are many great graduate-level courses at the University of Washington, and many with a focus in glaciology. Check the course listing for quarter and year offered, but these course titles (among others) should be considered for students in our glaciology graduate program: Principles of Glaciology / The Cryosphere Geophysical Continuum Mechanics Scientific Writing and … Continue reading
A few notes on writing and reviewing
There are many different writing style guides, including those listed as part of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences (ESS) course 519: Scientific Writing and Graphics http://courses.washington.edu/ess519/. Learning to write in a style suitable for scientific publication is critical. The American Geophysical Union provides a worthwhile grammar and style guide as well as suggestions … Continue reading
Introduction to glaciers
This summer a high-school student through the Seattle Pacific Science Center’s Discovery Corps program in the Track for Earth and Space Science Achievement (TESSA) is joining our UW glaciology group. Welcome to Chaja Levy! For the start of Chaja’s summer research project studying changes in Blue Glacier in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State, I … Continue reading
Local ice
Ice in the Pacific Northwest is melting. Loss of our ice and loss of ice from most other glaciated regions of the world means that glaciers are retreating, snowpack reservoirs are decreasing, and sea level is rising. Global ice loss is a signal of the severity of global climate change. Local ice loss is a … Continue reading
Spring 2014 group reading seminar: Ice from far away and long ago
During Spring quarter 2014 the Glaciology Group reading seminar (ESS 593b) is about “ice from far far away and from long long ago”. The start of the quarter this has included ice on other planets and moons. Here I will keep a log of the papers that we are reading. Week 1: Schmidt et al. … Continue reading
Partners in the Park
Friends of mine from University of Washington have organized another amazing summer opportunity in the Park, this time at Mt. Rainier. I look forward to contributing in any way that I can, and learning from this tremendous experience. Here is the description from their website: “Out of the forest at last there stood the mountain, … Continue reading
SPICE ice
The next major US-led drilling program is going to be at the South Pole for an intermediate-depth ice core (to ~1500 meters depth and ~40 ka). The drilling will start this southern hemisphere summer — progress will be posted as the drilling begins. Low annual average temperature (-50˚C) and relatively high accumulation rate (8 cm … Continue reading
2013-2014 season synopsis
We arrived to CTAM by LC-130 on December 9, 2013 after a few days on hold in McMurdo. The put-in to action came as a surprised as we started the day listed in red on the flight board, but we came ready quick when it went green. We had to wait three nights at CTAM … Continue reading
Ground-based radar
The ground-based radar system we used is a coherent system; it records a time-domain voltage induced in the receiving antennas, and thus preserves both the phase and the amplitude of the echoes. The transmitted pulse is +/- 2000 volts and the center frequency of the mono-pulse depends on the lengths chosen for the antennas, which … Continue reading
Ice-shelf seismics
During the 2012 season we conducted active and passive seismics on Beardmore Glacier, about 30 km upstream from the grounding line. During this season (2013-2014), we conducted seismic experiments on the Ross Ice Shelf a few km downstream of the Beardmore Glacier. Paul installs GPS receiver (background) and Max installs a passive … Continue reading
Transantarctic outlet glacier dynamics
Work on Beardmore Glacier, an outlet glacier in the Transantarctic mountains, has been funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs. I am part of this research project, led by Twit Conway (UW) and Paul Winberry (Central Washington University). Recent observations of rapid changes in discharge of fast-flowing outlet glaciers and ice streams … Continue reading
Put in: soon
I was optimistic for a timely put-in to our field work, but not unexpectedly we are waiting a few days for weather, planes, and destiny to cooperate. This gives time to reminisce about last year’s put in. First we will go to a location called “Central Transantarctic Mountains”, or CTAM. This was a base of … Continue reading
Beardmore Glacier, Antarctica… nearly there (again)
Our team is ready and waiting in McMurdo for our second field season on the Beardmore Glacier. Last year we were about 30 km from the grounding line of this massive glacier moving East Antarctic ice through the Transantarctic Mountains and into the Ross Ice Shelf. This year we will be positioned near the grounding … Continue reading
McMurdo Station and surroundings
We have been and are still waiting in McMurdo Station for our flight to Beardmore Glacier. While waiting, I have a chance to put together some blog posts! The station has some highlights: interesting walks, interesting people, and interesting history. We went to visit Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery hut near the station. Built in … Continue reading