The US academic research vessel RV Neil Armstrong departed from Nuuk, Greenland in early October. On the first leg of our journey, the science team’s initial purpose was to collect water samples and previously deployed instruments along a line of moorings at the southern entrance to Baffin Bay, a gateway between the Arctic and the north Atlantic. This line stretches from Sisimiut, on the west side of Greenland, to just off Cape Dyer, near the Canadian coast.
Center for OLDest Ice EXploration (COLDEX) Ice Diver Project
Dale’s COLDEX team is working toward testing in Greenland of the University of Washington Ice Diver melt probe, preparatory to deployment in Antarctica as part of the larger COLDEX project. A melt probe can descend through ice with fewer resources than are required for conventional drilling. It thus allows searches for 1.5 million-year-old at several Antarctic locations, in support of the COLDEX goal of finding the oldest possible ice core climate records. The COLDEX version of the Ice Diver incorporates an optical dust logger, which will be used to measure the age of ice versus its depth below the surface (by counting ice age dust cycles). Dave and Dale’s collaboration is focusing on curriculum for Dave’s project-based engineering classes as well as the Astronomy club. Students will use their understanding of warming and phase change to experiment with simple melt probes and develop models to predict power needed melt through different depths of ice. The astronomy club will learn about icy moons in the outer solar system and how they may relate to lakes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.
Participants Involved in This Project
Dave Eisenberg | Educator Fellow
Eleanor Roosevelt High School | Greenbelt, MD
Dale Winebrenner | Researcher Fellow
University of Washington | Seattle, WA
From the Blog
Our plane glides through the Endicott Mountains of the Brooks Range as we make our final descent into Anaqtuuvak. Accessible only by plane, Anaktuvuk Pass (“the place of caribou droppings”) is located 250 miles northwest of Fairbanks and is home to the only community of inland Iñupiat, Nunamiut, people [1]. Below, icy blue glaciers feed into a winding network of streams that snake through dense, green tundra and low-lying willows that line the banks of the Anaktuvuk River. From the air, the tundra is a verdant forest, but once on the ground the trees and shrubbery are no taller than 5-6 feet. The village stands out like a colorful flower within the greenery, blooming into view as we enter the valley. In Anaktuvuk, the roots of plants and people alike extend down into permafrost, the lifeblood of the ecosystem and holder of history.
In July 2024 I had the opportunity to visit Amy in person in Arizona. In the vlog of my trip, I share pictures of the work one of Amy’s colleagues is doing on a telescope that is going in a hot air balloon in Antarctica, we visit Kitt Peak Observatory, which is built on the tribal land of the Tohono Odham nation, and then Amy’s lab at the University of Arizona. You will also hear snippets of the songs I wrote for our Polar STEAM resource assignment.
As a high school science teacher, I’m always looking for ways to inspire my students with real-world science and deepen their understanding of our planet. The PolarSTEAM Educator Fellowship has been an extraordinary opportunity to merge my passion for polar environments with my teaching. Through this year-long virtual collaboration with T.J. Fudge, a research scientist at the University of Washington, I’ve been immersed in cutting-edge research on ice cores, allowing me to bring current polar science research to my students.
The Juneau Icefield is a group of interconnected glaciers just north of Juneau, Alaska that extends into British Columbia, Canada and covers an area the size of Rhode Island. Maybe you’ve heard of the Mendenhall Glacier? It is part of the Juneau Icefield! The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) has been collecting data on the icefield since 1948.
Made possible with funding by the National Science Foundation Award #2221990. The information contained here is those of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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