Symposium held to mark International Polar Year April 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences With an objective of better analyzing the recent developments of polar research, upgrading China research capacity and presenting strategies and priorities for polar research and capacity building in the future, a session of the Xiangshan Science Conferences opened on 2 April in Shanghai. Under the theme of "Scientific frontiers of International Polar Year (IPY) and future polar research, the three-day meeting will invite scholars from various disciplines to have an in-depth discussion on various topics, ranging from Dome A science, astronomy in the Antarctic, Arctic Ocean Science, and Antarctic geology....

SciencePoles recently interviewed Dr Cynan Ellis Evans of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) on the subject of Antarctic sub-glacial lakes: Large bodies of water that have accumulated beneath the vast ice sheet of Antarctica. In his interview, Dr Ellis Evans answers questions about how these lakes formed, how they are being studies, and what their significance is for Polar researchers including glaciologists, geologists, biologists, and paleo-climatologists. In addition, he sheds light on the nature of the international effort to research these lakes, and addresses more contentio...

A number of research projects during the current International Polar Year are using the traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic as well as sociological studies of these societies in conjunction with research in the natural sciences on climate variability and change. With climate change rapidly altering the face of the Arctic, it is particularly important to document indigenous knowledge while it is still available. The inherent knowledge of snow and snow conditions that reindeer herding communities have accumulated over the centuries can be of great value to researchers studying snow and ice conditions in these regions. In the IPY EALÁT project (n°399), researchers are examining reindeer herding societies and how they are coping with climate change wh...

Hello. I’m Thorsten Dittmar (pronounced TOR-sten), Assistant Professor of Oceanography at FSU since 2003 and co-chief scientist on this cruise. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Bremen, Germany. I’m a chemical oceanographer. My research focuses on the dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ocean. I use molecular methods to resolve environmental questions regarding DOM. Mugshot: Co-chief Scientist Thorsten Dittmar, photo by grad student JiYoungPaeng Why DOM? DOM is important in many aspects. DOM contains several chemical elements essential for the g...

Time lapse images of the Belcher Glacier.