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A new study has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (AGU, 2025), which provides a comprehensive detailing of how the progressive disintegration has been taking place over the last two decades. The study has been published from the Centre for Earth Observation Sciences and led by Debangshu Banerjee, a recent graduate student from the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS), together with Dr. Karen Alley (Assistant Professor, CEOS) and Dr. David Lilien (Assistant Professor, Indiana University Bloomington and former Research Associate at CEOS). The research is part of the TARSAN (Thwaites-Amundsen Regional Survey and Network) project, one of the components of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) – a major U.S.–U.K. research initiative studying the processes driving change in the Thwaites Glacier of West Antarctica. Renowned glaciologists Dr. Ted Scambos, Dr. Martin Truffer, Dr. Adrian Luckman, and Dr. Erin Pettitt have also been a part of this research.

A series of diagrams showing the shear strain rates and flow divergence of the An image showing ice flow speed at the Thwaites Glacier from 2014 to 2021.

A series of diagrams showing a trend in ice-flow speed and the strain rates from 2006 to 2022.

Drawing on two decades (2002–2022) of satellite imagery, ice-flow velocity measurements, and in-situ GPS records, the team traced the evolution of fractures within the TEIS shear zone and their connection to changes in ice dynamics. The analysis revealed that the gradual development of these fractures led to the shelf’s progressive detachment from its pinning point, causing accelerated flow upstream and a loss of mechanical stability. The study identifies four distinct stages in this weakening process and offers two key insights. First, the fractures developed in two phases: an initial propagation of long, flow-parallel fractures, followed by shorter fractures oriented perpendicular to the direction of ice flow. Second, the researchers found evidence for a positive feedback mechanism between fracture-induced damage and ice acceleration—an amplifying cycle that hastened the shelf’s disintegration in recent years.

Two graphs that show the mid-shelf area of TEIS and the upstream pinning point from 2002 to 2022.

The research highlights how the pinning point, once a major stabilizing force for the TEIS, has gradually transitioned into a destabilizing agent through four distinct stages. This pattern of ice-shelf disintegration may serve as a warning for other Antarctic ice shelves that are currently showing similar signs of weakening. The continued loss of these floating ice shelves could have significant implications for the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s future contribution to global sea-level rise.

You can read more from the publication using the following DOI: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JF008352

Use the following link to learn more about the awards offered through the Riddell Faculty – https://umanitoba.ca/environment-earth-resources/student-experience/funding-and-awards

Direct Entry Admission Scholarship

• Sarah Gledson
• Gavin Stewart
• Heidi Reimer
• Sarah Despins
• John Ziehlke

Indigenous Direct Entry Admission Scholarship

• Annie Gauthier

Undergraduate Admission Scholarship

• Evin Perch
• Samantha Pauls
• Taylor Letham
• Sydney Ostermann
• Jack Goertzen

Indigenous Undergraduate Admission Scholarship 2025–2026

• Anabella Perez

Women in the Physical Sciences Scholarship 2025–2026

• Alexandria Shupenia
• Kateesha Wai
• Gina Bilic
• Jessica Kristof
• Abigayle Wawrykow
• Emilie Tougas
• Alexandra Mitchell
• Mya Stam
• Sara Bergen
• Kendal Courchaine

Diana Loranger Memorial Scholarship

• Kendal Courchaine

Dr. George Brownell Memorial Scholarship

• Mitchell Baker
• Sisara Samaradiwakara

Joseph Wolinsky Scholarship

• Ayub Regehr

Mike and Lesia Muzylowski Scholarships of Excellence (Geological Sciences)

• Ellis Williams
• Mitchell Baker
• Kendal Courchaine

Roscoe R. Miller Scholarship

• Ayub Regehr

Tire Stewardship Manitoba – Moe Tresoor Scholarship in Environmental Studies

• Emma Scarth
• Jack Pilkey
• India Friesen

William J. Hill Memorial Award

• Abigayle Wawrykow

Graduate Entrance Scholarship

• Grace Thomson
• Yiseul Kang
• Julius Odei
• Muditha Goonetilleke
• Ezinne Ugwu
• Thilini Henak Gedara
• Francis Asare
• Tristan Jourbane
• Abir Mohd Shakib Shahide
• Julia Deveau
• Jonathan Robinson
• Carlie O’Brien

Rita Wadien Memorial Scholarship

• Issac Jacques

Paul R. Beaudoin Memorial Geochemistry Scholarship

• Kendal Courchaine
• Westley Sharpe

Philip and Marjorie Eckman Scholarships

• Abigayle Wawrykow
• Matthew Friesen

Kenneth Bergwall Memorial Scholarship

• Matthew Friesen

EGM Scholarship in Geological Sciences

• Matthew Friesen

This year’s program focused on innovative and sustainable transportation solutions to meet the needs of Canadians. Each group of students received training in entrepreneurial and creative problem-solving, as well as pitching their ideas. They collaborated on projects to examine the realities of public transportation in Manitoba and design game-changing solutions to address the challenges they identified.

Daniel Heschuk and Shad students at a coaching session.

“Coaching the Shad participants has been an incredibly fulfilling experience. In just one month, I’ve had the opportunity to see an exceptional amount of growth in these students as they work in teams to solve a complex problem,” said Daniel Heschuk, program development specialist at the Science Innovation Hub, Faculty of Science.

The highlight of this program, hosted by several faculties at UM, is the unique opportunity for students to travel to Churchill. This year, the journey took on a new dimension through the lens of transportation, where the very act of reaching Churchill turned into an educational experience: a nine-hour bus ride to Thompson, followed by 16 hours on the train through the boreal forest and tundra.

Shad students at Churchill.

“The Shad students’ journey to Churchill offered a profound lesson in what it means to truly understand and appreciate life in a remote northern community. The distance alone underscores both the remoteness and the resilience that define life in these communities,” said Associate Dean (Administrative) Krystyna Koczanski.

Immersed in this journey, students experienced firsthand both the stark beauty and the daily challenges of life in the region.

Shad students at Churchill with Danielle Pahud.

“Once there, we toured the Churchill Marine Observatory and discussed how the proposed shipping port—and climate change in general—might affect the quality of the waters and ice, as well as the living beings that depend on them,” said Dr. Danielle Pahud, program director of Shad Manitoba and instructor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “For example, we visited Polar Bears International to learn about how polar bears live and depend on Arctic sea ice. We also spent time on the water learning about and interacting with the beluga whales. It was a memorable, wonder-filled experience that I am grateful we were able to provide to the Shads. I hope they have returned to their homes and are sharing how special Churchill is with their friends and family all across the country.”

Krystyna Koczanski and Janine Carmichael at Shad students’ presentations, 2024.

Koczanski also emphasizes that these experiences serve as a reminder of why young people need adventure and courage to embrace uncertainty and risk: “This experience nurtures deeper empathy, respect, and awareness of what it means to live where geography and climate shape resources and opportunities.”

To see the students in action, please visit the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel.

The program is made possible through strong collaboration across the university, working closely with Laurie Schnarr, Vice-Provost (Students), and supported by the office of Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy, Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

The event awards cash prizes totaling $6,400 across five categories in two streams of competition, oral presentations and research poster displays. Ninety subject-matter experts joined the event as judges, representing 10 UM faculties.

As part of the day, students had the opportunity to explore their “entrepreneurial tooth” at the IDEA START booth to learn how to move ideas and innovation toward impact, using the many resources available at UM.

“This event rewards achievements in experiential learning throughout the many areas of student research and scholarly work at UM and highlights the innovation and creative power at the heart of our university,” said Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, associate vice-president (partnerships, knowledge mobilization and innovation).

“Such hand-on experiences at the undergraduate level expand our horizons, build networks and can open doors to new career opportunities. I congratulate all student participants in the showcase.”

Undergraduate Research Showcase 2025 winners

Applied Sciences

Poster format

1st– Loic Lambert, Quantifying skin subtraction performance in microwave breast imaging
Research Supervisor: Stephen Pistorius, Faculty of Science

2nd– Shirley Morris, Syncytia from scratch: generating placental organoids from human stem cells
Research Supervisor: Lei Xing, Faculty of Science

3rd– Khoi Nguyen, Electronics-Printed MEMS Lorentz Actuator Released by RIE with Integrated Electrostatic Hold-Down
Research Supervisor: Cyrus Shafai, Price Faculty of Engineering

Oral format

1st– Juliann Chan, Decoding the Behavioural Cues of Dairy Cattle: Automating Ear Position Identification Using a Convolutional Neural Network Model
Research Supervisor: Gabriel Dallago, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Creative Works

Poster format

1st– Cecilia Thompson, We Are The Canvas: A/R/Tography and the Power of Collective Art Education
Research Supervisor: Bruno De Oliveira Jayme, Faculty of Education

Health Sciences

Poster format

1st– Quinn Derksen, Exploiting RBX1 deficiency to identify novel therapeutic targets in tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma

Research Supervisor: Dr. Kirk McManus, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

2nd– David Ben, Reduced SKP2 Expression Induces Centrosome Overduplication in Tubo-Ovarian Cells

Research Supervisor: Dr. Kirk McManus, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

3rd– Hans Sanchez, Extracellular vesicle release with acute electrical pulse stimulation in skeletal muscle is AMPK-dependent
Research Supervisor: Dr. Ayesha Saleem, Centre on Aging

Oral format

1st– Khushleen Chaddha, Investigating the Effects of a Potential Chemotherapeutic

Research Supervisor: Dr. Mark Nachtigal, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

2nd– Lauren Castagna, The role of Empagliflozin in the prevention of chemotherapy mediated cardiotoxicity
Research Supervisor: Dr. Davinder Jassal, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

3rd– Jewel Paskaruk, SIRT3 Deficiency in the Liver Results in Hepatic Steatosis and Elevated Circulating Lipids in Gestational Diabetes
Research Supervisor: Dr. Vernon Dolinsky, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Natural Sciences

Poster format

1st– Sion Yi, CRISPR-Associated Transposase Reveals a Key Gene for Bioplastic Degradation in Burkholderia vietnamiensis LMG16232
Research Supervisor: Silvia T. Cardona, Faculty of Science

2^nd (tied)– Hargun Uppal, The influence of membrane phospholipid interactions with MgCl2 on antimicrobial susceptibility in E. coli
Research Supervisor: Denice Bay, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

2^nd (tied)– Danika Harland, The long-term effects of wetland salinization on emergent insect communities
Research Supervisor: Mark Hanson, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources

Oral format

1st– Erica Wong, Dach1 promotes basal radial glia proliferation in the developing mouse neocortex
Research Supervisor: Lei Xing, Faculty of Science

Social Sciences and Humanities

Poster format

1st– Kyla Sarmiento, Drawing Privacy: How Children Conceptualize Regulation and Content Across
Research Supervisor: Shaylene Nancekivell, Faculty of Arts

2nd– Charlotte Gill, Exploring geoscience methods for archaeological stone-tool fingerprinting, Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania
Research Supervisor: Paul Durkin, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources

3rd– Stella Kraft, Gender Differences in Alcohol Research
Research Supervisor: Natalie Riediger, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Oral format

1st– Justine Ramos, Countering Reductionism: Racial/Ethnic Minority Experiences and Preferences of End of Life Care at Home
Research Supervisor: Laura Funk, Faculty of Arts

2nd– Ainsley Brennan, In the Garden of the Beguines: Reinventing a Medieval Religious Movement in the 21st Century

Research Supervisor: Danielle Dubois, Faculty of Arts

The Undergraduate Research Showcase is hosted annually by the office of the vice-president (research and international). Check the Undergraduate Research Showcase website for entry and prize details.

UM researchers are drilling deep into Earth’s surface to produce core samples that date back as far as the Jurassic era. These rock samples contain a well-preserved timeline that researchers can use to pinpoint the exact timing of major environmental shifts and how they affected surface sedimentary organic matter at the time. Understanding the effects of historic environmental events can help predict future impacts of climate change on Canada’s unique ecosystems.  

New state-of-the-art equipment 

UM has a powerful new tool to analyze ancient rock core samples, thanks to funding from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) awarded to Dr. Ricardo Silva, assistant professor, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources.  

Dr. Ricardo Silva

The new equipment heats small amounts of sediment and rock to identify the type of organic materials inside—the only one of its kind at a Canadian post-secondary institution. It allows researchers to quickly and cost-effectively measure the amount and type of organic matter in a wide variety of materials.  

Silva will use the new equipment to study ancient marine rocks from several geological periods, which will help him, and researchers worldwide, understand how past climate events have changed our planet. He leads a global network of researchers including the Middle Jurassic Earth System and Timescale or M-JET, which is supported by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program.

Their goal is to uncover crucial insights into Earth’s distant past, dating back to when the continents began to take their current shape. By collecting rock samples from deep underground, they are building a timeline that shows significant climate events that happened about 150 million years ago. This exciting research helps us learn more about our planet’s past and how it has evolved over time. 

“These core samples serve as a vital record, preserving evidence of ancient environmental conditions,” says Silva. “We carefully remove small fragments of rock material and distribute them to researchers worldwide. This allows for a broad range of experiments aimed at reconstructing Earth’s prehistoric climate, ecosystems and environmental change.” 

Providing evidence-based data for future policymaking 

Silva’s research showcases UM’s commitment to tackling climate change and supporting studies on sustainability. This work is important for ongoing governmental efforts at both the provincial and federal levels, focusing on how issues like melting permafrost and other environmental changes impact Canada’s ecosystems and carbon cycling processes.

By studying how organic carbon moves between rocks and surface sediments, Silva aims to contribute to practical strategies for adapting to and reducing the effects of climate change. This kind of research is particularly relevant for the Arctic region and will shed light on how climate change affects wildlife, natural resources and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. 

Using Silva’s new testing equipment, researchers can gather important information about soil quality that will impact agricultural producers as they develop more sustainable land management strategies. By looking at the organic matter in the soil, they can learn more about what affects the growth of crops. The insights will be helpful in creating management practices that enhance the types of crops grown and their production, especially considering the changing climate in the Canadian prairies. 

Silva’s work will provide valuable insights that promote responsible resource extraction while also aiming to lessen the impact on the environment.  

“Our research aims to improve how resources like oil, gas and critical minerals are extracted in Manitoba,” says Silva. “For 2024-25, the province’s mining and oil and gas industries are expected to generate about $3.4 billion in production value. These sectors play a key role in northern communities by creating jobs, supporting local businesses and contributing to economic develop.” 

Atlantic Sedimentary Basin research site, Portugal

With their groundbreaking research into past climate events, UM researchers are positioning themselves at the forefront of global efforts to understand and prepare for future environmental challenges and opportunities. Their work will play a vital role in shaping policies that balance resource management with sustainability, ensuring that decisions are guided by data and focused on protecting the environment.  

2024-25 John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) funding at UM:

Hooman Derakhshani (Applied Animal Microbiology) Microbiome solutions for mitigating environmental impacts of the livestock industry, $159,999

Renée Douville, Henry Dunn (Pharmacology and Therapeutics) Subcellular Protein Assembly (SPA) platforms for investigating mechanisms of neurological disease, $344,169

Julia Gamble (Anthropology), Kirstin Brink, Michael Schindler (Earth Sciences) Multimodal imaging and digital applications to deep time biorhythms and developmental biology, $513,071

Peng Hu, (Electrical and Computer Engineering) Infrastructure to advance the study of space-air-ground integrated network systems and applications, $160,000

Savino Longo, (Physics and Astronomy) Sub, atomic particle detector innovation laboratory, $159,872

Barbara Porto (Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) The respiratory infections modelling lab: Enhancing capacity for aerosol exposure and lung mechanics studies, $155,600

Ricardo Sliva, (Earth and Resources) Sedimentary organic matter research facility, $156, 670

Cedric Tremblay, (Immunology), Samantha Pauls (Pharmacy) ImmunoMetabolism Suite (IMS) for translational research, $345,000

Chengjin Wang, (Civil Engineering) Triple quadrupole liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for micropollutant control investigation, $159,753

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