From the Arctic to Antartica, What Extreme Environments Can Teach Us

A graphic of a ship going through an arctic polar region

This is a summary of a story by Julie Leibach on Nicholas Narratives.

From the Western Antarctic Peninsula to the Arctic tundra, from the microscopic to the titanic, researchers from the Nicholas School of the Environment have been studying extreme environments and the communities, organisms and processes that shape, and are shaped by, these polar regions.

Here’s a sampling of their work: 

  • Tracing Arctic Travel Corridors: Hydrologist Sarah Cooley and Ph.D. student Ana Stringer, with international partners, are studying how Indigenous groups traverse Arctic landscapes. Their work could inform models that predict how future environmental conditions may affect local mobility.
  • Seeing Sea Ice Through Art: Cooley is also collaborating with Inuit artists in Canada to learn about local perceptions of changing sea ice conditions.
  • Monitoring Meltwater in Greenland: Glaciologist Johnny Ryan uses machine learning and other tools to study how the Greenland ice sheet gains and loses mass. 
  • Tracking Nutrients on the Tundra: Biogeochemist Nicolas Cassar and Ph.D. student Perrin Hagge are studying nitrogen cycling on the Arctic tundra through the lens of lichens and mosses. Their work could shed light on the region’s capacity to store carbon.
  • Surveying a Genetic Trove: Cassar and colleagues completed the most comprehensive survey to date of DNA associated with drifting organisms called plankton in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. The work paves the way for a better understanding of plankton’s role in climate change.  
  • Studying South Pole Sentinels: Since 2009, Nicholas School researchers have been studying marine vertebrates in Antarctica. Learning more about these species and how they interact with their environment can reveal signs of ecological changes happening in the region. 
  • Unveiling a Southern Ocean Mystery: For decades, most of the world’s oceans have been warming in step with climate change, but the Southern Ocean is an outlier. Research by climate scientist Shineng Hu and colleagues provides an explanation for the anomaly. 

Read the full story on Nicholas Narratives.