Gearing up to host FOGSS 2024

The University of Idaho will host the 2024 Future of Greenland ice Sheet Science (FOGSS) workshop April 3-5. The workshop will take place on the UI campus, in Moscow, and also be accessible remotely for those unable to travel.

FOGSS is a joint NSF/NASA-sponsored workshop whereby the community of researchers studying the Greenland Ice Sheet engages in discussion to set research priorities and collaboratively advance our science. You can learn more about FOGSS and the coming workshop here: https://www.fogss-workshop.org/2024-workshop

Group assembles for outdoor, socially-distanced conference

The UI Glacier Dynamics Group gathered for three afternoons, Oct 14-16, in Tim’s driveway and garage to participate in the annual Northwest Glaciologists’ meeting.

Ph.D. candidate Chris Miele presented his latest results from floating ice shelves, and discussed the implications of his findings on glacier retreat in Greenland and Antarctica. Group leader Tim Bartholomaus introduced the new Turner Glacier surge project to the assembled research community.

It was great fun to gather in person, after months of time apart, and actually spend some time in community again- both together, and with the broader community of glaciologists in the Northwest.

Emma Swaninger defends M.S. thesis!

Master of Science candidate Emma Swaninger did a phenomenal job presenting and defending the results of her last two years of research. Among other findings, Emma demonstrated that near-terminus ice is likely weaker than typically expected, and that even thin, brief, mid-summer, ice melange can provide rigid support to a glacier terminus. Her presentation online was well-attended by colleagues, friends and family.

Congratulations, Emma, on a job well done! I was proud to be your advisor and am excited that you’ll be continuing your work at the University of Idaho by coordinating our introductory labs.

UI grad students present at Northwest Glaciologists meeting

posted in: Greenland, Research | 0

Three UI students, Chris Miele, Emma Swaninger, and Abby Lute, attended the 2019 Northwest Glaciologists meeting in Corvallis, Oregon, last week. Chris and Emma are students in the Glacier Dynamics lab and shared their work focused on understanding dynamic changes around iceberg calving, whereas Abby is a collaborating student in the lab, advised by John Abatzoglou in the Geography Department. Chris, Emma, and Abby did great jobs communicating their work and fielded questions from an engaged audience. As a whole, the lab had a great time sharing science and connecting with friends old and new.

In the attached pictures, Chris and Emma present their research.

Bartholomaus-mentored Ph.D. student wins Early Career Award for outstanding paper

Denis Felikson has been awarded the 2019 Early Career Award by the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences. Tim Bartholomaus had the privilege of working with Denis while the two of them were at the University of Texas in Austin, and worked with Ginny Catania. During that time, Denis published a paper with Bartholomaus that demonstrated how glacier geometry in Greenland controls the spatial pattern of ice loss from the ice sheet. Denis is now a postdoc at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Congratulations, Denis! The citation is found here.

Ph.D. opportunity in Greenland tidewater glacier dynamics

The Glaciers Dynamics lab at the University of Idaho seeks a curious, hard-working, quantitatively-oriented Ph.D. student to study tidewater glacier dynamics around the Greenland Ice Sheet.  Following Saturday’s successful launch of ICESat-2, the successful applicant will draw on the satellite’s high spatial- and temporal-resolution elevation data to understand outlet glacier change.  Potential research targets include iceberg calving, ice-ocean interactions, crevassing, and glacier bed coupling.  The successful applicant will contribute to a NASA-funded project, co-led with Dr. Ginny Catania of the University of Texas, and will begin with at least three years of salary and tuition support as a research assistant.

Highly motivated candidates with backgrounds in geophysics, earth science, physics, mathematics, engineering, or other quantitative fields are encouraged to apply.  Programming experience with Python, R, Matlab, or similar is regarded well.  Our group values the diverse backgrounds of our members, and individuals identifying with groups underrepresented in the Earth Sciences are especially encouraged to apply.  Student support is available starting January 1, 2019, for which applicants are encouraged to apply by October 1, 2018.  However, start dates later in 2019 are possible, with later application deadlines.

The University of Idaho, in Moscow, ID, is located in the northern panhandle of Idaho, in the picturesque, vibrant, walkable, small town of Moscow (population of 25,000; https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-getaway-to-the-tuscany-of-america-1532716438).  UI has an enrollment of 12,000 students and is the state’s flagship research university.  Moscow features access to the mountains and rivers of the northern Rockies and a low cost of living.  Additional information about our group can be found at http://tbartholomaus.org/.  Information about the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Idaho, including how to apply, is here: https://www.uidaho.edu/sci/geology.  To learn more, please send a CV and short expression of interest to tbartholomaus@uidaho.edu.

And finally, congratulations to the NASA ICESat-2 team on their successful launch over the weekend!  (https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/icesat-2)

Image credit: NASA

 

Student researchers advance understanding of iceberg calving

posted in: Greenland, Research | 0

Thanks to the hardworking team of student researchers who worked together over the summer on our NASA-funded project to understand iceberg calving around the Greenland Ice Sheet.  Undergraduate researchers Danny Bugingo and Rian Brumfield worked with M.S. candidate Tristan Amaral to compile and process the remote sensing imagery necessary to test and validate “calving laws.”  These calving laws represent the numerical rules applied in ice sheet models to define the terminus boundary of glaciers that flow directly into the ocean.  As such, evaluating their performance and selecting the best calving laws for inclusion in ice sheet models is a critical component of accurate forecasts of future ice sheet change.  This project represents the focus of Tristan’s M.S. research.

PhD student opp. to study calving in Greenland

The glacier dynamics group at the University of Idaho seeks a Ph.D. student to pursue research into the factors controlling iceberg calving around the Greenland Ice Sheet.  This NSF funded project, with Co-PI Dr. Ellyn Enderlin of UMaine, will draw on a wide variety of remotely sensed imagery, oceanographic data, and timelapse photography to evaluate terminus boundary conditions (calving laws) used by ice flow models.  These calving laws predict terminus positions and calving rates (formally: “frontal ablation rates”) around the ice sheet.  Increases in calving and submarine melt rates at the marine termini of Greenland’s tidewater outlet glaciers lead to the most rapid rates of ice loss from around the ice sheet, and therefore to acceleration in the rate of sea level rise.  Outcomes from this project will include: 1) New, mechanistic understanding of the drivers of terminus ice loss in the diversity of settings around Greenland; and 2) Model improvements in the handling of calving, thus directly leading to improved predictions of ice sheet change and sea level rise.

The successful applicant will join a growing lab group with two other graduate students in fall 2018, including a masters student working on a portion of this calving law project.  Collaboration with this student and Dr. Enderlin, and support from others in the group, provides a rich and varied research experience.  The student would additionally work towards completion of a Ph.D. within the Dept. of Geological Sciences at the Univ. of Idaho, a group of researchers with strong backgrounds in geophysics, climate change, remote sensing, numerical modeling, and statistics.  The University’s location in Moscow, ID, adjacent to the northern rockies, is an exciting and diverse geologic region with ample opportunities for diverse outdoor recreation.

This position includes two years of financial, educational, and benefits support through a research assistantship, with subsequent years of support through teaching assistantships.  Ph.D. student applicants with backgrounds in programming (python, matlab, r, etc.), geographic data analysis, and strong quantitative skills are preferred.

Expressions of interest are requested by Friday, March 2nd.  Please email a short statement of interest, a CV, and transcripts (unofficial is fine) to Dr. Timothy Bartholomaus.  Additional information about the group and the graduate school application process is available at this link and this link.  Following the statement of interest, complete applications for this opportunity should be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies prior to the project-specific deadline of March 9th.

Welcoming new graduate student Tristan Amaral

The Glacier Dynamics lab at UIdaho welcomes Tristan Amaral this semester.  Tristan will be working on a NASA and NSF-funded project to examine the controls on calving around the Greenland Ice Sheet.  He comes to us after graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire, a published paper behind him, and experience working for the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP).  We’re happy to have him in Moscow!

What’s our fieldwork like in Greenland? Watch and see

posted in: Field work, Greenland | 0

The Uummannaq region of West Greenland is a spectacular area of steep cliffs, icefalls, and long fjords.  While on a NASA-funded research project to better understand the connections between water in these fjords and the glaciers terminating there, I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to fly, camp, hike, and work in this landscape.  Now, you can get a taste for our work in a 4-minute movie set to music, that draws on video footage from 2015 fieldwork, and time lapse imagery from 2013.  I hope you enjoy it!

 

Thanks to Sophie Gilbert (University of Idaho) for producing this movie.