PYRN Newsletter June-July 2013 Dear PYRN-members, Summer is in full swing (at least in the northern hemisphere) and we hope your research is going
PYRN Newsletter
June-July 2013
Dear PYRN-members,
Summer is in full swing (at least in the northern hemisphere) and we hope your research is going great. Enjoy the newsletter below for updates on announcements, reports, and meetings.
The PYRN Executive Committee
Report
IV Congreso Ibérico de la International Permafrost Association (IPA). Avances, métodos y técnicas en el estudio del periglaciarismo
The IV Iberian conference of the International Permafrost Association took place from 25 to 27 of June 2013 in Vall de Núria (Catalonia) in the Eastern Pyrenees and was organized by the University of Barcelona (http://paisatge.wix.com/servei_ub/ipa-2013#!__ipa-2013).
During the conference around 30 oral presentations and 15 posters were presented related to permafrost topics on polar and mountain environments as well as planetary.
PYRN organized the Award for best oral and best poster presentations, evaluating 5 oral presentations and 7 poster presentations. The evaluators were Prof. Dr. Gonçalo Vieira (Portuguese representative of the IPA), Prof. Henrique Serrano (Spanish Representative of the IPA) and Alexandre Nieuwendam (president of PYRN).
For the best oral presentation the winner was Lourenço Bandeira from the Institute for Technical Studies from the Lisbon (Portugal) who presented the communication entitled “Ultra-high resolution image acquisition with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for detailed mapping in Barton Peninsula (King George Island, Antarctica)”. The best Poster presentation was Manuel Gómez Lende from the University of Valladolid (Spain) with the presentation on “Los ortotermogramas en los estudios de hielo de cuevas heladas. El caso de la cueva helada de Peña Castil (Picos de Europa)”.
The last day was mostly dedicated to a great field trip in the Pyrenees, and in the end of the day, Alexandre made a short presentation about PYRN and the plans for the ongoing organization of two workshops during EGU and EUCOP in 2014.
Miguel Angel de Pablo from the University of Alcalá was appointed the new PYRN National Representative for Spain.
Alexandre Nieuwendam
Marc Oliva
Gokyo valley, Khumjung, Nepal
Gokyo valley, Khumjung, Nepal, has an altitudinal range between 4600 m asl and 5200 m asl, and lies in the region of Mount Everest The study area consists of Nepal’s largest glacier, Ngozumba and six lateral glacial fed lakes. Onsite temperature measurements with thermistors indicated presence of temperature conditions around 0°C during thawing at different sites in the valley. A north facing site showed intact ground ice within 30 cm of the ground. Gokyo valley is characterized by different periglacial landforms.
Tanuja Shrestha, Kathmandu University, Nepal
Announcements
Permafrost Young Researchers Workshop during EUCOP4
A “Permafrost Young Researchers Workshop” will be hosted in the context of the Fourth European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP IV). This workshop will be organized in a joint effort of PYRN (Permafrost Young Researchers Network), APECS (Association of Polar Early Career Scientists ) and the young researcher representatives of the two projects PAGE21 (Changing Permafrost in the Arctic and its Global Effects in the 21st Century) and ADAPT (Arctic Development and Adaptation to Permafrost in Transition).
The workshop aims at building interdisciplinary knowledge on how the Arctic and Antarctic permafrost regions play a key role in the Earth System and to give each participant a more overarching view on the regions beyond disciplinary research questions. To achieve this, the participants will share knowledge with each other in thematic break-out sessions and elaborate the future avenues of permafrost research together, with mentors playing a key role in permafrost research either in large-scale international projects or science policy.
PYRN will organize this workshop together with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) who also connects numerous young researchers working in polar and alpine permafrost regions. This workshop builds on the scientific momentum with two very large projects in Europe (PAGE21) and Canada (ADAPT) dealing with permafrost exclusively. Management capabilities from PYRN and APECS along with the targeted scientific input from PAGE21 and ADAPT will allow us maintaining an active, dynamic and growing early career scientific network on permafrost that will last into the future and reach progress by increased collaborations and interdisciplinary studies.
Thematic Network on Permafrost
We are happy to announce that the Thematic Network on Permafrost is officially established as part of the University of the Arctic’s (UArctic) range of activities. Briefly, while the Thematic Network on Permafrost does not fund the network, it does support permafrost educators and researchers working under IPA and UArctic to develop stronger international relationships with other schools and scientists including the International University Courses on Permafrost (IUCP). We will use and further improve the IUCP catalog, a project also cooperatively supported with the UArctic: http://ipa.arcticportal.org/resources/courses-iucp.html. The IUCP catalog can advertise your class and program information, aiding your organization in recruiting more diversified and qualified students. The Thematic Network on Permafrost can share data archives and serve as a dissemination point for similar data collected by scientists and teachers at your organization. This information sharing can also feed back to your local schools and communities.
The Thematic Network on Permafrost can be a part of many international activities between northern institutions, both with and without partnerships that are part of institutions participating in the University of the Arctic. We would like to discuss a more detailed plan for supporting your education and outreach activities with your institute. At minimum, we offer collaboration and support for your activities on the following three topics.
1. Research cooperation 2. Knowledge sharing in education 3. Curriculum development and class/summer school cooperation
If you have identified funding opportunities that incorporate outreach components for research projects, or if you are participating in an exchange program (undergraduate or graduate level) please contact us. We can help make your applications stronger and extend the scope of your existing programs. Please visit more information at our SNS and web site:
PYRN Russia invites permafrost researchers to come up with the results of their research or research plans in open lectures for the purpose of theoretical training and sharing of knowledge on permafrost since 2012. Senior permafrost researchers and their younger colleagues share with their experience, ideas and opportunities in course of the lectures. PYRN Lyceum is open to the community members, wishing to rehearse and discuss their reports in a friendly environment prior to the public talks at meetings and conferences of various levels.
In order to expand the audience we are working to implement the online seminars (webinars) platform. It will bring together young permafrost researchers and lecturers from various cities, allowing you to not only watch the live webcast lectures, but also to participate in the discussion. The archive of the lectures will be accessible online soon.
Subject of the research presented in the PYRN Lyceum is limited only by the sphere of interests of the PYRN members which is the permafrost. The following lectures have already been presented: ”Geocryological conditions of Mars and cryogenic processes in its high latitudes” (Komarov I.A., Professor, Lomonosov MSU, DSc (Geology)), “Glaciation of caves” (Mavlyudov B.R., PhD), "Expedition to the New Siberian Islands of Russian Geographical Society" (Belova N.G., Ph.D.), "Submarine permafrost of Ob bay" and "Ice and glaciers of Franz Josef Land" (Kokin O.V., PhD), "Permafrost on Kilimanjaro" (Khalilova Y.V.), "Snowmobile Expedition from Alaska to the Atlantic - the establishment of the monitoring network for observation and the active layer monitoring" (Kenji Yoshikawa, Professor, University of Alaska, PhD).
PYRN Russia Library
The sphere of our interest on various aspects of the permafrost occupied areas is very specific. Not every library could fulfill this interest. Proceedings of the conferences, works of the research groups, as well as textbooks, methodic and reference literature could be helpful anytime. Moreover limited editions of new books are often insufficient to cover all the audience.
This is why PYRN have initiated its own library in electronic form. Here You can find the list of literature available from PYRN members. You can get any source by contacting the librarian – holder of the book on an exchange basis. The book holder will answer you so you could share information.
In case you would like to have review or full translation of the Russian book to English contact pyrn-russia@googlegroups.com
PYRN Bib - Bibliography of Permafrost-Related Theses
PYRN has initiated and now maintains a bibliographical database on all student theses previously submitted for degree-earning in the field of permafrost research. In this database are listed all degree-earning theses (e.g. MSc, MA, BSc, PhD, Diploma, Licentiate, Avtoreferat, etc.) that have a focus on permafrost or periglacial processes.
Every member of PYRN is invited to contribute to the bibliography project not only their own thesis but also other, previously published theses known to them at their home institution. We would be happy if members make a simple search at their university library: Just browse for the search terms 'permafrost' and 'frozen ground' + ' thesis' (in English and/or your own your language). Export your results to some database format (if possible) and submit them by email to Guido Grosse or directly on the PYRN-Bib submission interface (after login in). Even small contributions count!
Our PYRN bibliography is available online as literature list and is more or less regularly updated. Our database currently contains more than 1130 theses (as of 2010-11-10) and is growing nicely, since we have been grazing some major databases. Some members contributed their own comprehensive databases (R. Frauenfelder, G. Grosse). The database is now accessible to all as a beta version. There is so much out there... amazing. Did you ever want to know what thesis Troy L. Péwé wrote for his Ph.D. in 1952? Or E.M. Katasonov in 1954? Or A.H. Lachenbruch, J. Brown, etc.... it is all here!
http://pyrn.arcticportal.org/index.php/ru/pyrn-bib-permafrost-bibliography
If you have a larger amount of citation information (in any database or non-database format), please contact us so we can figure out the best way to imput the data.
You can cite PYRN-Bib as follows: Grosse, G., Lantuit, H.(2010). PYRN-Bib 3.3: The Permafrost Young Researchers Network Bibliography of Permafrost-Related Theses, Permafrost Young Researchers Network, 3.3, 86 pp.
PYRN plans to continue and expand the PYRN Bib!
Therefore, we need YOU as 1-2 PYRN volunteers to take this on and make shure the successfull project is going on! Let´s grow the list together and make it even better!
Contact: contact@pyrn.org
Upcoming Meetings
PYRN Russia meeting # 20
At July 25, 4:30 pm the Russian branch of PYRN will hold a meeting with a bottomley experience - key experiment of physics of ice in Moscow.
Join for more information: http://vk.com/pyrn_20
3rd UK Arctic Science Conference
The Scott Polar Research Institute is hosting this conference from 18th to 20th September 2013. This three-day conference aims to bring together UK Arctic scientists of all natural and social science disciplines to present and discuss recent findings. Presentations on all aspects of Arctic research in the physical and social sciences, including atmosphere, biology, ecology, geology, marine and terrestrial cryosphere, modern climate and palaeo-climate, oceans; their various interactions; observations and modelling; relevant engineering research and development; and cultural, social, economic and political issues are welcome. A draft programme will be available soon.
Registration and abstract submission closes: 1 July 2013– now extended to Friday 12th July 2013.
5th International Conference on Polar and Alpine Microbiology
The 5th International Conference on Polar and Alpine Microbiology will be held just miles from Yellowstone National Park in Big Sky, Montana (USA) from 8-12 September 2013. The objectives of the Big Sky meeting will be again to bring together scientists, students and professionals to discuss all aspects of cold-adapted microorganisms and the roles they play in polar and alpine environments, to address recent developments, and to exchange ideas and experiences on an international scale. The conference will provide a multi-disciplinary forum to explore emerging areas in the field and as always, will have a wealth of opportunities for the exchange of ideas and building of collaborations.
Sessions
Includes topics related to prokaryotes, eukaryotes, viruses, technological developments, and process related research:
• Sub-zero Microbiology: Links to Other Ecosystems
• Microbial First Responders to a Changing World
• Thresholds and Tipping Points in the Cryosphere
• Subglacial Microbiology
• Evolution of Psychrophilic Microorganisms
• Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function, and Environmental Change: Past, Present and Future
• Earth's icy Biosphere as a Model for Life on Extraterrestrial Subzero Worlds
Funding for conference participation
The 5th International Conference on Polar and Alpine Microbiology is pleased to announce funding for US Early Career Scientists to attend PAM 2013. Generous support from the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the US Department of Energy has made these grants possible. PAM 2013 will award several competitive grants in the amount of $1200 based on strength and relevance of abstract submitted. Further details on these grants and the application procedure can be found on the conference website http://polaralpinemicrobiology2013.montana.edu/.
Late Registration and abstract deadline: August 1, 2013
