Research Highlights

Managing for the Future in a Rapidly Changing Arctic, a major report recently issued by the Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska, highlights the need to coordinate and use the best available science to integrate cultural, environmental and economic factors in decision-making about development and conservation in the Arctic. Read More

As a post-doctoral fellow studying climatology, Peter Bieniek’s work is focused on Alaska’s vast and complex climate, and he aims to improve the accuracy and reliability of climate analysis. Bieniek recently completed his PhD dissertation on climate variability across Alaska’s recent history; his work has been recognized by the World Climate Research Program Open Science Conference and published in the Journal of Climate. Read More

Director of the Scenarios Network for Alaska & Arctic Planning (SNAP), principal investigator (PI) for the Alaska Climate Science Center (AK CSC), and co-PI for the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP), Dr. Scott Rupp has led important developments in forest ecology and ecological modeling as a faculty member at UAF since 2001. In 2012, IARC was pleased to welcome Dr. Rupp, along with SNAP, into its increasingly diverse and robust scientific community. Read More

December 2012 marked the inaugural issue of Changing Ice: A Newsletter of Cryosphere Research in Alaska, a biannual newsletter with contributions from IARC researchers Sarah Trainor, Hajo Eicken, and Alessio Gusmeroli. Cryosphere changes in the Alaska region in the last decade have been dramatic. Widespread glacier retreat, reduction of summer sea ice, decreased snow season, thawing permafrost, and thinner and less durable freshwater ice are among the clearest signs of worldwide climate change. Read More

IARC researchers John Walsh, Natalia Shakhova, and Igor Semiletov contributed to the Arctic Report Card: Update for 2012, "a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of the Arctic relative to historical records. The Report Card is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in the Arctic environment and science." The Arctic Report Card has been published annually on the web since 2006. Read More

The National Research Council (NRC)'s report, "Seasonal-to-Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice: Challenges and Strategies" was recently released. The report explores major challenges in sea ice prediction and identifies methods, observations, and technologies that might advance capabilities to predict the extent of sea ice over seasonal to decadal timescales. The report was written by the Committee on the Future of Arctic Sea Ice Research in Support of Seasonal-to-Decadal Prediction, co-chaired by IARC's Chief Scientist John Walsh. Read More

As a post-doctoral fellow at IARC since 2009, Taro Nakai studies plant micrometeorology (forest climate and gas exchange at very small scales) and the methods available to scientists in the field. Nakai’s recent publications include papers on carbon dioxide flux measurement, improving and refining micrometeorology methods of measurement and analysis, and the evapotranspiration (gas exchange) that occurs in the black spruce forests of interior Alaska. Read More

Since 1999, Yongwon Kim has worked to establish new and important research on the topics of carbon and nitrogen cycling, particularly in the terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic. Kim has published extensively in this field, and he continues to promote awareness amongst general and scientific communities about the important dynamics of terrestrial carbon and methane. Read More

In May 2012, IARC's Simon Filhol and Alessio Gusmeroli, together with a few other researchers of the SnowNet project, visited Imnavail Creek to monitor the snowmelt. Imnavait is located on the foothills of the Brooks Range, on the North Slope of Alaska. The creek is also widely used by researchers like biologists, hydrologists, ecologists to perform studies on climate change and Arctic ecosystems. In addition to the long-term study of snowmelt with daily snow-depth probing and snow density measurements, time-lapse cameras were set up around the creek to capture photos of the snow melting. Read More

A Research Assistant Professor at UAF and IARC since 2009, Georgina Gibson studied Marine Biology and Oceanography at the University of Wales, Bangor and received her PhD in Biological Oceanography from UAF in 2004. Dr. Gibson’s work uses computational modeling to understand and predict changes in marine ecosystems, particularly in organisms at lower trophic levels. Gibson maintains an active service profile as a judge of science competitions at the local and national levels. Read More

As a post-doctoral fellow at IARC, Andrey Pnyushkov studies mesoscale processes in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, in an effort to quantify interactions between physical processes of the ocean, sea ice, and the atmosphere. In the face of recent changes to the region’s climate dynamics, Dr. Pnyushkov has worked to identify the properties of tidal currents and their relation to changes in sea ice cover. Read More

A new report, Lessons and Legacies of International Polar Year 2007-2008, has been published under the guidance of the Polar Research Board (PRB), with IARC Director Larry Hinzman as a contributing author. International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY) was an intense, coordinated field campaign of observations, research, and analysis. Read More

Dr. Igor Semiletov joined the International Arctic Research Center ten years ago, in 2001, and has since established himself as a leading researcher on the subject of Chemical Oceanography in the Arctic Siberian Seas. He has published extensively on the phenomena of Arctic offshore waters and greenhouse gases, much of this study resulting from his ongoing series of research expeditions throughout the Pacific-Siberian sector of the Arctic Ocean. Read More

Follow IARC graduate student Alice Orlich's journey aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent on the 2011 Beaufort Sea cruise, including photos, satellite images, and ice observations. Read More

The intent of the ISAC Science Plan is to outline an open-ended international research program and a framework for comprehensive study of Arctic environmental change in all its dimensions. ISAC builds upon existing efforts to further our understanding of past, present, and expected Arctic change to carry over new insights into the public and the decision-making arenas. Read More

Wildfire is a major disturbance in boreal forests. It attracts research attention not only because it instantaneously releases a large amount of carbon into the atmosphere, but also because it significantly alters hydrology and carbon exchange at the land surface over a decadal timescale during the vegetation succession after wildfire. Read More

The useful lifespan of hydroelectric power infrastructure is 50 years or more; this is long enough that long-term climate change and shorter-term climate variability should be considered when planning new facilities and maintaining existing ones. This study examines observed historical climate variability in Southeast, Alaska, where several new and expanded hydropower facilities are proposed. Read More

Follow IARC graduate students Alice Orlich and Heidi Isernhagen as they report on their Beaufort Sea ice observations aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, joined by several other international research groups. Read More

In a recent report produced by the WWF International Arctic Programme, IARC scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov published key findings of their research on the powerful greenhouse effects of methane released into the atmosphere from destabilized ocean sediments and permafrost. Read More

In late June, 2004, a wildfire swept across the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks. The Boundary Fire, as it became known, burned so intensely that it destroyed the ground surface organic layer, a 30-centimeter-thick mixture of roots, leaves, lichens, and moss which normally acts as an important insulator protecting the frozen ground below.  Read More

IARC-led study of multidecadal variability in the Arctic and North Atlantic climate system is summarized on a new web page. Read More

The Russian Icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn will start her cruise in Kirkenes, Norway on October 1st at 8:00am. In Kirkenes, she will upload scientific team and equipment and will sail into the Arctic Ocean for her 30 day voyage, covering vast areas of the polar basin. Read More

Check out dispatches from the East Siberian and Laptev Sea researchers as they study methane emissions in the Russian Arctic Ocean.  Read More

The Northern Alaska Coastal System and North Slope regions have extensive wetlands, despite near desert precipitation levels. This is an energy-limited system, where evapotranspiration is highly dependent on incoming solar radiation and relatively impermeable permafrost reduces sub-surface water storage capacity in the flat landscape. Read More

The Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska controls the heat and freshwater exchange between the North Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. This exchange is important to the balance of the world’s ocean circulation... Read More