In January 2008, Claire Griffin (a sophomore at Clark University) applied for the inaugural Polaris Project expedition. She was accepted. Unfortunately, one month before leaving, Claire fell off a horse and broke her arm, ending her chance to be part of the 2008 field course. But Claire persevered. She reapplied in 2009 and was again accepted, and this time nothing stopped her. Claire was interested in how dissolved organic carbon concentrations vary across space and time in Arctic watersheds, and decided to combine field measurements with satellite remote sensing products to help investigate this question across large spatial scales and across time. This goal formed the basis of her Polaris Project research and continues to be her focus as she pursues a PhD at the University of Texas, working with Professor Jim McClelland.
We are very proud of the work Claire did as an undergraduate participant in the Polaris Project. It wonderfully fulfills at least two of the three overarching objectives of the Polaris Project: 1) developing the next generation of Arctic scientists, and 2) advancing scientific understanding of the Arctic. Claire’s research was just published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, a top scientific journal – a remarkable feat for research led by an undergraduate student. A link to the paper is pasted below. Congratulations Claire!