Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/N000749/1
A skills framework for delivering safe and effective fieldwork in the polar regions
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Dr JA Crame, NERC British Antarctic Survey, Science Programmes
- Grant held at:
- NERC British Antarctic Survey, Science Programmes
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Climate variability
- Regional climate
- Climate & Climate Change
- Survey & Monitoring
- Ecosystem Scale Processes
- Biodiversity monitoring
- GIS
- Hyperspectral remote sensing
- Marine habitats
- Risk assessment
- Survey & Monitoring
- Abstract:
- In recent years there has been a very substantial increase in the volume of global change research directed towards the polar regions. NERC has itself established one of its largest ever research programmes, The Arctic Research Programme (ARP), which currently comprises some 15 major projects studying subjects ranging from sea ice to methane hydrates. In their 2013 Policy Framework document, "Adapting to Change: UK Policy Towards the Arctic", the UK government described the Arctic as being "on the frontier of global change impacts". Changes in the Arctic Ocean system have the very real potential to affect European weather and climate, and their study remains a matter of urgency, and an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate scientific leadership. It is a priority that we give young researchers the skills to work independently and effectively across the Arctic regions. Future fieldwork will be required using a wide variety of techniques at a wide variety of different localities, and this course is designed to give PhD students and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) the necessary skills to work to the very highest standards. The course covers six intensive days, three of which are spent in Cambridge, and three in Svalbard, and we will challenge delegates to develop a skill-set that encompasses project planning and budgeting, risk assessment and mitigation, mapping, data gathering and management, and working with instruments in cold climate conditions. It should be stressed that the skills learnt on the course could be applied at either pole, in any other extreme or remote environment, and indeed in a variety of academic and commercial projects. Throughout the course the emphasis will be on delegates gaining confidence in various techniques and procedures through practical, hands-on learning. At an early stage in the Cambridge course they will write a field plan that contains both a budget and full risk assessment; feedback will be given directly by both course delegates and tutors. There will be ample opportunity to handle a variety of field instruments, and practical sessions on map making and data gathering. The BAS Head of Future Systems will demonstrate some state-of-the-art field equipment, including various power sources; packing and shipping will also be discussed. At the end of the Cambridge part of the course delegates will be tested on the skills to date in an informal evening session. The first day on Svalbard will be spent at UNIS, Longyearben where some basic training will be given by UNIS staff in fieldwork skills and safety. This will then enable us to have two full days at the NERC Arctic Station, Ny ?lesund to concentrate on field scientific skills and data gathering. In the first of these delegates will be able to participate in oversnow/ice activities to take GPS, radar and meteorological measurements at a variety of different sites. There will also be an opportunity to develop digital mapping skills on solid rock areas. The second field day has a more biological theme and will include the opportunity to take samples and measurements across a fjellfield site, and see how samples are both recorded in the field and then transferred safely to the lab. We will also include some small boat survey work in this second day. This course will deliver a set of skills to early-career researchers to enable them to plan and propose work independently and successfully in the polar and other remote regions. By exposing them to state-of-the-art technologies and best practice for a range of field science, we will equip them to make a very real contribution to cutting edge global change research.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/N000749/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Advanced Training
This training grant award has a total value of £57,600
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £57,600 |
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