Most of the PIs and at least four of the students from the 2008 field class are meeting this week at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting. There are some 16,000 scientists attending this year and some of the highlights from the meeting will be webcast. NASA scientist Jim Hansen will be giving an important talk on global climate change and Mary Albert will talk on Polar Science in a Time of Rapid Change – which gets at the heart of the Polaris Project.

The highlights for us will be presentations of student research from the Polaris Project. Kate Willis and Katie Abbott will be presenting some of the results from their work looking at the biogeochemical characteristics of the Kolyma River with regards to permafrost degradation. Tyler and Boyd will be presenting some of their results quantifying the rates of lake drainage around the Kolyma and speculating on the implications for methane fluxes to the atmosphere. They will be part of the small handful of undergraduates that present at a prestigious scientific meeting.

The PI team will be meeting to discuss next year’s field class and our scientific objectives. We will also be plotting major updates for the website including providing access to the data we collected last year and our plans for the future of the Polaris Project. We’ve rolled out the new photo gallery and will be incorporating some of the videos we took last year as well. We will have a new application procedure up soon as well.

Stay tuned!