– Expeditions 2023

Photo of Renee Clavette setting up GPR system.

Evaluating the Spatial Distribution and Continuity of Snow and Firn Stratigraphy

Expedition Location: Eclipse Icefield, Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon, Canada Expedition Dates: June 2023 Field Team Members:  Renée Clavette (PhD Student, UMaine) Field Trip Leader, Inga Kindstedt (PhD Candidate, UMaine), Emma Erwin (PhD Student, UMaine), Kailey Mannello (Master’s Student, UMaine). Funding Support: Churchill Exploration Fund, UMaine Graduate Student Government, The Golden Family Foundation – […]

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Pilot survey and selection of geoarchaeological records and metal-ore processing sites in the high elevation Svaneti region of the Caucasus for potential paleoclimate and macro-economic reconstructions from Ice Cores

Expedition Location: Svaneti, Georgia Expedition Dates: July 2023 Field Team Members: Lizi Gadrani 1,2*, Mikheil Elashvili3, Anca Dan4 1Climate Change Institute, University of Maine 2School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine 3Cultural Heritage and Environmental Research Center, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia 4CNRS, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France Funding Support: The Robert and […]

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2023 Denali Geophysics Field Team

Constraining the Spatial Distribution of Snowpack Properties of the Kahiltna Glacier and Begguya Plateau in Denali National Park, Alaska, USA

Expedition Location: Denali National Park, Alaska Expedition Dates: June 8, 2023 – July 14, 2023 Field Team Members: Keegan Bellamy (MS Student, UMaine), Emma Erwin (PhD student, UMaine), Claire Bicknell (BS Student, Alaska Pacific University) Funding Support: The Robert and Judith Sturgis Family Foundation   Research Background: This project expands previous geophysical studies conducted in […]

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Reconstructing the Paleotempestology Record from the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center at Ponce, Puerto Rico

Expedition Location: Ponce, Puerto Rico Expedition Dates: June 12 – 18, 2023 Field Team Members: Karina M. Cortijo-Robles (Researcher), Elizabeth Leclerc (Research Assistant), and Mariana Z. Aguirre Rodriguez (Volunteer) Funding Support: The Robert and Judith Sturgis Family Foundation   Background & Significance: Tibes, on the south side of Puerto Rico, is one of the best-preserved […]

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Wide angle refraction & reflection survey - Seward Gla\cier

Constraining Snow and Firn Properties in Western Canada

Expedition Location:  Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon, Canada Upper Seward Glacier Expedition Dates: May 12-23, 2023 Field Team Members: Mikaila Mannello (MS student, UMaine), Martin Truffer (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Doug Brinkerhoff (University of Montana), Victor Deveaux-Chupin (PhD Candidate, University of Alaska Fairbanks), Michael Daniel (PhD Student, University of Arizona), Annegret Pohle (PhD Student, […]

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Quantifying Rapidly Changing Tidewater Glacier-Fjord Systems in South Greenland

Expedition Location:  Qalerallt Imaa, South Greenland Expedition Dates:  June 11, 2023 – July 02, 2023 Field Team Members:  Sydney Baratta, Kristin Schild, Lee Karp-Boss, Allie Berry Funding Support: The Robert and Judith Sturgis Family Foundation, NSF SAUNNA NRT, and the University of Maine Graduate Student Government   Background and Significance: The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has […]

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Climate Migration in Zimbabwe

Expedition Location:  Harare, Zimbabwe Expedition Dates:  Summer 2023 Field Team Members:  Victoria Markiewicz, Dr. Nicholas Micinski Funding Support: The Robert and Judith Sturgis Family Foundation   Background and Significance: The eastern region of Zimbabwe is experiencing an increase of intense tropical cyclones that travel through Mozambique from the Indian Ocean. These cyclones cause flooding that destroys livelihoods […]

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Understanding the Patterns and Mechanisms of Alder Shrub Expansion in Arctic Tundra using Dendrochronology and Very-High-Resolution UAS Remote Sensing

Expedition Location:  Nome, Alaska Expedition Dates:  July 8, 2023 – July 16, 2023 Field Team Members:  Wouter Hantson, Daryl Yang Funding Support: The Robert and Judith Sturgis Family Foundation and NGEE Arctic Background and Significance: The expansion of tall shrubs into northern high-latitude ecosystems is driving widespread changes in tundra ecosystems that may fundamentally modify […]

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Picture of 2023 Denali Gephysics Field Team

Characterizing the Englacial Stratigraphy at the Bottom of the Denali Ice Core, Alaska

Expedition Location:  Denali National Park, Alaska Expedition Dates:  June 8, 2023 – July 14, 2023 Field Team Members:  Emma Erwin (Phd Student, UMaine), Keegan Bellamy (MS student, UMaine), Claire Bicknell (BS student, Alaska Pacific University) Funding Support: Dan & Betty Churchill Exploration Fund Research Background: Twin surface-to-bedrock ice cores recovered from Begguya (Mt. Hunter) in 2013 have […]

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Chasing carbon emissions from Arctic lakes in drier regions

Expedition Location:  Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland Expedition Dates:  March 30, 2023 – April 11, 2023 Participants:  Vendy Hazukova, Amanda Gavin Funding Support: The Robert and Judith Sturgis Family Foundation and NSF DDRIG Background and Significance: Collecting carbon dioxide data from Arctic lakes is needed because inland waters are important sites of carbon processing and are often expected to be […]

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