Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/X009092/1
An introduction to polar fieldwork for early career researchers
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:
- Marine
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Climate variability
- Ecosystem impacts
- Glacial processes
- Climate & Climate Change
- Benthic communities
- Biodiversity
- Marine communities
- Community Ecology
- Polar ice
- Glacial & Cryospheric Systems
- Glaciers
- Land - Ocean Interactions
- Abstract:
- Our training course will offer a broad cross-section of early career researchers the opportunity to experience what it is like to live and work on a polar base. There are currently many exciting polar research projects in progress across UKRI but not all of them include a visit to either the Arctic or Antarctic. In addition, polar fieldwork was severely restricted during the pandemic and we have lost considerable momentum in training next generation researchers in this critical area. A key aim of our course is to strengthen connections and collaborations across the UK polar research community, and in particular between those from currently underrepresented groups. We also hope to attract participants not only from across the natural sciences but also areas such as the economic and social sciences. The course is based on seven full days at the NERC Arctic Station, Svalbard, and comprises a series of both theoretical and practical modules. No previous field experience is necessary, and we begin with a comprehensive safety briefing that includes polar clothing, use of field radios and GPS, travel to worksites, and field first aid. Most of our training is geared to working in both polar regions but in Svalbard we also have to incorporate a specific element of polar bear safety. We then test these basic skills with a short, two-hour walk; working together as a group and looking after each other is a key element of the course. The first of two major scientific modules is a geophysical survey of the Midrelovenbreen glacier led by Dr Rob Mulvaney. This takes place over two days, with the first involving transport of the equipment to the glacier, and the second a radar survey across the glacier surface. Although the experts are always on hand, we ask the students to plan the day ahead. How do we get the equipment from A to B, what polar bear protection should we take, what personal clothing should we use, and so on. The glacier work involves close collaboration between three teams during a long day, and what we are really teaching here is not so much glacier geophysics as how to work efficiently in a small group in a potentially dangerous environment. The work is fun and part of it involves the students working out for themselves how far the glacier has retreated in recent years. This brings the current rate of global change home in a very real way. Our second science module is a marine survey of Kongsfjord led by Aurelia Reichardt. This again involves working in small teams but this time planning a marine survey grid to look at the sub-bottom profiles and then take biological samples using a variety of different techniques. The students plan their grids on existing maps and charts and then split into teams for the practical work from small boats. A different set of safety protocols are in place here; some will be working on the subbottom profiler, and others on a plankton tow or baited traps. Biological samples are returned to the Kings Bay marine lab where students work to identify marine organisms from tiny microscopic forms up to small fish. We also extend the biodiversity survey to look at counting protocols for both seabird and walrus colonies. Three late PM/evening informal discussion sessions will be held on base. In the first of these we will tell the students of the various ways in which they can set up a polar field programme, ranging from a small two-person party right up to multinational field campaigns and cruises. Where do you get the necessary permissions, who can give you advice and, most importantly, potential sources of funding. We will then have an evening session led by the students where they each give a short presentation on their current work, and a third session based on both increasing levels of EDI in polar research, and how we can reduce carbon footprints in the polar regions. We hope to run this last session jointly with either Norwegian or German colleagues (or both) from adjacent bases.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/X009092/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Advanced Training
This training grant award has a total value of £40,427
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £40,427 |
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