Arctic in a changing climate: Connection to permafrost

Location: 
International Arctic Research Center
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

Date: late May 2010
Support: Partial travel grants will likely be available to support the participants travel between Fairbanks and their home destination.
Applications: Application will open in late 2009/early 2010

The 2010 summer school will build upon the successful field trip along the Dalton Highway offered during the 2008 Ninth International Conference on Permafrost (http://www.nicop.org/fieldtrips.html, Brown and Krieg 1983, Walker et al. 2009). The event will begin with lectures given in Fairbanks by experts in permafrost sciences and other disciplines with ties to permafrost (engineering, biology, ecosystem modeling, disturbance, climate modeling, social sciences, and hydrology). Lecturers will describe the current state of knowledge, disciplinal links, and research gaps. Over the course of 7–10 days, our expert guides will offer an in-depth view of the landscapes and research along one of the most remote and scenic highways in North America (Figure 1). Major themes will include permafrost and ecosystem variation along the arctic climate gradient, biocomplexity of patterned ground, and engineering solutions.

We will visit LTER research sites at Bonanza Creek, Toolik Lake, and Imnaviat Creek. Each day of the field trip will focus on aspects of the climate-ecosystem-permafrost interactions that are best illustrated in different parts of the Dalton Highway transect. A second theme uses the climate gradient along the Dalton Highway to examine the effects of climate change on permafrost environments. Engineers involved in the construction of infrastructure in the discontinuous-continuous permafrost gradient along the Dalton Highway will present the detailed story of how engineering problems were solved during and after construction, using examples along the highway. The goals of the lectures and the field trip are to encourage participants to think across disciplines and to examine connections between permafrost and other disciplines at various scales. Hence, group projects will focus on exploring the fringes between disciplines in relation to permafrost science.

The event will culminate in a workshop focused on defining future research needs. The workshop will build upon the group projects by having the summer school participants present their views of new and promising permafrost-related research at the fringes of the varying disciplines. We expect a core group (students and senior experts) to develop and refine the outcome of the workshop by producing a white (synthesis) paper that can serve the larger scientific community.

Figure 1. Route of the Dalton Highway field trip (Walker et al. 2009) during the 2010 Summer School, Arctic in a changing climate: connection to permafrost. Mileage and planned stops are marked in red.

Contact:
Tohru Saito
International Arctic Research Center
University of Alaska
930 Koyukuk Drive
Fairbanks, AK 99775

Phone:  907-474-1544
Email:  saito@iarc.uaf.edu