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What exactly happens when the temperature of water drops below the freezing point? (Do you think everyone knows?) What does a little wind-up gadget remind you of? (Do you think everyone would have the same answer?) As science communication  instructor on this Glaciology Summer School in Alaska, I presented these kinds of questions, among others, during the continuation of my science communication workshops. My goal for this session was to have everyone identify the main points of their research that are the most important for the public to understand, and then to lead them through the process of developing a concept for a hands-on activity, related to their research, that could be led in a science museum or classroom. The activity could be anything from a demonstration to multi-person game play to a problem-solving challenge.

It’s not easy. When you know or understand something well, it’s sometimes hard to know where to “aim” your descriptions when talking to someone who is not a fellow scientist in your field. But think about how much difference it could make, if any time you met a scientist in an elevator, on an airplane, or in a classroom, if you (adult or child), walked away with a little bit more understanding, or better yet, perhaps even inspiration to learn more.

Leading up to our exercise time when our student scientists would be developing their activity concepts, I had them “draw their research” to really get them to narrow down their thoughts to a simple picture. Paper and colorful markers seem to autompatically make things more simplified, and more fun. Here are some of their drawings, and check back to see what activities they came up with!

Onward with Glaciology Summer School projects! Firsthand data, like when you can actually be in a place and measure the temperature with a thermometer, is always useful. But what happens when you want to take the temperature of a place that is one of the more remote places on the planet, like Antarctica? This project focuses on the Antarctic peninsula, a dynamic area which has changed a lot in the past decade, especially with the collapse of the massive Larsen B ice shelf in 2002. We are using microwave signals from a satellite as well as ground-based weather station data to understand the relationship between climate and Antarctic melting.  Microwave frequency signals are used because ice and snow reflect a significantly larger amount of microwave radiation than liquid water.  Since water melts at close to 0 degrees Celsius (depending on pressure and purity), melt detected by the satellite is strongly related to increases in surface air temperature above freezing.  Therefore, using weather station data we are able to confirm this relationship between temperature and melt.  Using satellite data to detect the timing and spatial distribution of melt is particularly useful in locations like Antarctica, where taking sufficient ground measurements is not very feasible.

Our next step will be to compare the melt that was detected using satellite data with melt as modeled by a regional climate computer model, to contrast the strengths of each method for accurately detecting melt.  At the end of the day, what we want to do is see how well global climate indicators relate to the melt events on the peninsula. These may help explain why melt events may be larger or smaller on any given year, and when studied over time, may offer a “big picture” of how climate changes affects melting processes.

– Thomas and Tyler

If you didn’t follow along with us during last year’s Arctic Ocean expedition, let me introduce you to Willy the Box Turtle. Willy served as a kind of diplomatic mascot for that expedition, to show that even though Miami is about as far from the polar regions as you can get, changes in climate affect us all globally, and what happens in one place can affect other places. Willy came along on this Glaciology Summer School, where we are as we speak, to continue that mission, because glaciology is a prime example of the kind of research that illustrates that point. All of the scientists here study glaciers, but how and why glaciers grow, melt, and move depends on climate and environmental conditions. And when glaciers melt, it affects sea level rise and freshwater sources for communities around the world, both human and animal. For turtles, rising sea levels affect their coastal nesting habitats, and increasing temperatures can even have an impact on the gender ratio of hatchlings. So Willy had to come out and see the glacier for himself! (Don’t worry, he is a stuffed turtle.)

I also wanted to share a poem I received from a reader of blog during the Arctic expedition (who prefers to remain anonymous) that I want to share here again. I think it’s a really lovely way to sum things up.

A polar bear from the Arctic named Chilly
A turtle from Miami named Willy
Who would ever think?
Is there really a link?
Oh Yeah! It’s mankind we’ll name Silly.

So if the ice is crucial to Chilly
And water equally so to Willy
If we all hold the key
‘Cause we’re the powers that be
Isn’t it time to stop being “Silly?”

-Anonymous

It can be a little overwhelming to think about something as massive as a glacier changing drastically over the course of a single generation. But that is happening, and we are using all kinds of tools, new and old, to help us understand what is happening and why. Our glaciology project as part of this summer school is to calculate the mass change in glaciers in the Svalbard valley in Norway over time, and we started by looking at aerial photographs taken in 1966, 1977, 1990, and 2005. We want to calculate changes in the glacier’s elevation by comparing observations from these photos, which were taken over time and across glaciers. Using this information from historic photographs, we can see the glacier levels decrease over time compared to stable features in the surrounding mountains. We are using geodetics (which refers to a grid used to locate places on the Earth) along with these observations to understand the mass balance of the glacier – that is, how much it increases or decreases over time – to allow us to track how the elevation of the glacier has changed over time and area. By combining our observations of how much the glacier elevation is decreasing, with data on the area over which the decrease is happening, we can find out the total volume of ice mass that the glacier has lost over time. By also considering meteorological variables, including temperature and precipitation data that were taken during the same time as the melting, we can also relate the glacier retreat to the climate conditions at the time. Glacier retreat is something that will directly or indirectly affect so many around the world through sea level rise and freshwater access, so it is vital that we understand how and why it is happening.

– Caitlyn and  Samiah

Kennecott is an old mining town a few miles down the road from McCarthy. Today the abandoned copper mine and the still remaining town looks like a postcard of red buildings with white trim and machinery inside, built between a glacier and a mountainside. In the early 1900’s, this current National Historic Landmark site was found to have the richest known concentration of copper in the world. It was home to five mines, lots of miners, and a few families with children. As these children grew up in the mining town, their view down the hill was a massive glacier bed. The mines closed in the late 1930’s, and by the 2000’s, when the aging “Kennecott Kids” returned to their childhood home for a reunion, they were shocked to find a very different view than the one they remembered. The thick glacier bed was gone, and for the first time, they saw a whole mountain range on the other side of the remaining glacier.

In the photo below, Glaciology Summer School students are learning about the Kennicott (spelled with an “i”) Glacier in front of them and in the distance. The mounds of earth in the foreground at left are actually not mounds of dirt. They are mounds of  ice. Where you see darker colored dirt, that is actually ice covered by just a thin film of dirt. Here you see where two glaciers, the Kennicott and the Root Glaciers, come together. As glacier flows merge as they move down the valley, rock and soil is gathered in a ridge between the glaciers. This is called a medial moraine. Moraines result in part from rocks falling onto the glacier from the mountains above, and they move along with the glacier. And as the glacier moves, it can also slowly grate the rock below, and bring them up to the surface. Rock cover of more than a few centimeters thick on a glacier is insulating, and will actually prevent melting under the rock cover. Therefore, as the ice around the thicker rock cover melts, mounds of ice covered by rock debris are left behind. As the glacier melts, even more rock inside and under the glacier becomes exposed, which continues the cycle, leaving behind more visible rock debris.

So, what you see below may not be white, but it is still part of the glacier. But here’s the big point here: just imagine the size and thickness of a glacier that can hide those mountains from view, and now imagine it decreasing to this point in just a few decades.

The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” might be adjusted to “don’t judge a glacier by its surface.” Glaciers are stunning beautiful, dynamic structures the size of mountains, but a lot of what scientists study, and what they really want to better understand, is how glaciers work under the surface. Moulins are just one of the main features that may dominate a glacier’s surface. Moulins are well-like shafts that make up part of the glacier’s internal “plumbing.” As the glacier melts, water flows down the moulins, carrying water through the glacier. The flow of water might meet and merge with another water flow, it might exit via the glacier’s edge, or it might flow into the sea. If the water reaches the base of the glacier, it may also act as a lubricant, allowing the glacier mass to slide more easily against the earth, therefore contributing to glacier mass loss and perhaps sea level rise. So if you are ever standing at the top of one of these beautiful wells of marbled white and blue, first of all, be careful. Then make a wish that we can learn more about what’s going on under your feet, because it will affect us all, from Alaska to Florida.

Mountains. Valleys. Canyons. I’m not talking about rocks. I’m talking about ice. Seeing these features in photos can hardly do a glacier justice. The sheer size, beauty, power, and environmental importance of these structures are almost incomprehensible. But scientists are trying to comprehend all of the dynamics happenng in glaciers, and that is why we are here at this Glaciology Summer School. Students and instructors trekked to the Kennicott Glacier (which, as of several decades ago, reached all the way to McCarthy itself), to see it firsthand. For a few in our group, it was their first time on a glacier, and for the others, being on a glacier again was just as exciting as it was the first time. With every step, the vista is more breathtaking that the last. And there is science in every crack, color, flow, ridge, movement, and every other feature in and around a glacier, and we’ll tell you about it on the blog throughout the Summer School. For now, just appreciate the size, beauty, and power…

Glaciers are magnificent, colossal masses of ice, but don’t be fooled by the seemingly still, white, beautiful ice. Glaciers are dynamic forces of nature, and the research represented by the scientists here is as diverse as glaciers are stunning. How do glaciers move? Why do glaciers suddenly become more active and “surge?” What is happening to the snow, ice, water, and rock that are all interacting on the surface of the glacier, at the base of the glacier, and within the glacier? How do we use computer models to understand and predict how it all works? And ultimately, how do changes in climate affect glaciers, and how do changes in glaciers in turn affect the world?

All of these scientists certainly know their stuff, but my role here is to work with all of them on how they can effectively communicate their stuff to non-scientists. I am leading a couple of workshops for scientists with this goal in mind, which are a little different than your everyday lecture. Here are some of the things we have done so far:

In groups, one person acted as “scientist” while two others acted as “the public.” “Scientists” had to describe to “the public” a drawing on a piece of paper (with no charades), and “the public” had to recreate the drawing from that description (with no questions allowed). The idea: when speaking to the public, how you can get them on the same page with you.

I asked scientists to think of a meaningful memory and write one-word descriptions on post-it notes. Was it fun, surprising, visceral, a family experience, a learning moment…? The idea: when you interact with the public, you want to create a meaningful memory for them.

I challenged scientists to figure out what was inside a box, only by looking through a small hole in the side. They could stare into the hole, try to aim a flashlight in the hole, shake the box, or anything they wanted to try, except for opening or damaging the box. The idea: there is a pleasure inherent in the process of scientific discovery, whether you know what is in the box or not.

At the end of the workshop, I asked them to use some of these strategies and write a blog entry that I could share with you here. So you will be able to get to know each of them and learn about what they do and why they do it, as they try to answer those big questions. And just maybe you’ll be inspired to discover more for yourself. Check back soon to hear more directly from each of them!