2011 JOINT SCIENCE EDUCATION PROJECT: RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN POLAR SCIENCE

The Joint Science Education Project (JSEP), sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a two-part program that brings together students and teachers from the United States, Greenland, and Denmark, for a unique cross-cultural, first-hand experience of the realities of polar science field research in Greenland. During JSEP, students experienced research being conducted on and near the Greenland ice sheet by attending researcher presentations, visiting NSF-funded field sites (including Summit and NEEM field stations, both located on the Greenland ice sheet), and designing and conducting research projects in international teams. The results of two of these projects will be highlighted. The atmospheric project investigated the differences in CO₂, UVA, UVB, temperature, and albedo in different Arctic microenvironments, while also examining the interaction between the atmosphere and water present in the given environments. The most significant finding was that the carbon dioxide levels varied: glacial environments having the lowest levels, with an average concentration of 356.889 ppm, and non-vegetated, terrestrial environments having the highest, with an average concentration of 395.143 ppm. Following up on these results, it is planned to further investigate the chemical interaction of the water and atmosphere, including water’s role in the uptake of carbon dioxide. The ecology project investigated the occurrence of unusual large blooms of Nostoc cyanobacteria in Kangerlussuaq area lakes. The water chemistry of the lakes which contained the cyanobacteria and the lakes that did not were compared. The only noticeable difference was of the lakes’ acidity, lakes containing the blooms had an average pH value of 8.58, whereas lakes without the blooms had an average pH value of 6.60. Further investigation of these results is needed to determine whether or not this was a cause or effect of the cyanobacteria blooms. As a next step, it is planned to attempt to grow the blooms to monitor their effects on different common ecosystems within the Kangerlussuaq area.