The $30,000 solar panel will reduce the hydro bill, plus excess power generated by it can be put on Manitoba Hydro’s grid.

Debbie Armstrong, an instructor in the environment and geography department, who is a technician at the ultra-clean trace elements laboratory, wrote the proposal to acquire the panel.

To read the entire story, please follow the link to the Winnipeg Free Press.

“We started to wear Canada Goose a long time ago,” Feiyue Wang says. “In the last five years, suddenly it’s become very fashionable. Everyone is wearing them.”

Wang is a professor of environment and geography at the Centre for Earth and Observation Science in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources. He was recognized Dec. 9 for being a leader in more than just the fashion world. He was named a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Arctic Environmental Chemistry, receiving $1.4 million over seven years to support his research.

Quite a few Canada Research Chairs have mentored Wang, and he says he’s thrilled and humbled to be named one himself. When he heard the news, he says he sent an email to his current and past students.

“They are the ones who make me look good,” he says.

Arctic impact

Wang is looking at chemical processes happening in the cryosphere — the frozen parts of Earth, like snow, sea ice and permafrost — and what their implications are.

“We always think once you freeze your stuff, nothing happens,” he says. “That’s how we keep our food in the freezer and so on.”

But as it turns out, there’s more to it.

Because of the high concentration of salts, frozen sea ice has different properties than frozen lake ice. When seawater freezes, it doesn’t become a solid piece of ice — a small amount of liquid remains, filling the space between ice crystals.

Salts and contaminants concentrate in these pockets of water, which can result in unusual chemical processes. These processes may change the cycling of contaminants, like mercury, making them more prone to deposition in the environment and accumulation in organisms. Or sometimes these brine channels create products, such as ikaite, a mineral that acts as a new pathway for carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean.

We need to understand these processes so we know how to clean up contaminants like oil spills in the Arctic, Wang says. So far, technology to clean up oil spills is used in open oceans, not oceans covered in ice. Wang and his team need to determine if the same processes can be used in either place.

“Working in the environmental field… we’re driven by curiosity, but we’re also driven by real world problems and problem solving.”

Feiyue Wang was named a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Arctic Environmental Chemistry Dec. 9. // Photo supplied by Feiyue Wang

Wang has travelled on the CCGS Amundsen, the icebreaker on the Canadian $50 bill. There are labs where researchers can conduct experiments right on the vessel after collecting samples in the field.

Besides fieldwork and using the cold lab, Wang does research at the Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF), originally constructed with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Province of Manitoba, located in Smartpark, the university’s research and technology park. He calls the large inground outdoor pool at SERF a “big beaker.” This is where his team conducts experiments, like growing and monitoring sea ice under controlled conditions.

Since Wang started working at the U of M in 2000, his research has focused on mercury as a contaminant, particularly in the Arctic. People living there rely on marine mammals as part of their diet, which can have high concentrations of mercury.

Thanks to Wang and other researchers, there is now an international treaty, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, protecting people and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury. To date 128 governments, including Canada, have signed the treaty.

In terms of further mercury research, Wang’s team will focus on whether or not the environment will recover after past mercury contamination, and if it can, how long will it take.

A group of leading Arctic researchers is putting forward a plan to conduct extensive monitoring of Baffin Bay, a rich marine environment that is rapidly being transformed by melting sea ice and glaciers….

The potential effects extend well beyond Baffin Bay.

“There is an urgent need to increase our understanding of how changes in the Arctic affect the North Atlantic,” said Soren Rysgaard, who holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic geomicrobiology and climate change, based at the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Rysgaard, who divides his time between Canada and Denmark, said that there is support for the project from the Greenland/Denmark side of Baffin Bay and interest from other countries in cross-border issues such as climate change, pollution, oil spills and fisheries.

This year was the fourth lowest sea ice minimum on record, the extent ranked behind 2012 (lowest), 2007 (second lowest) and 2011 (third lowest).  The difference I have seen in the sea ice over the past seven years has been dramatic. In 2008 we still came across multiyear ice (MYI – ice older than one growing season) that had hummocks (large humps or mounds in the ice field) taller than people.  This year the pieces of multiyear ice we came across were so melted and unrecognizable from what I had seen in the past, that I dubbed them rotten MYI. This type of ice was really the only ice in the area. I spent several days in the helicopter flying around trying to find the old thick pieces of MYI. However after a few days I was ready to just take what I could find. Our goal for the cruise was to deploy up to 15 ice tracking position-only beacons and up to four on-ice meteorological towers. Although the ice conditions were not as favourable as in past years I would call this year a total success having deployed about ¾ of what we had planned for!

On-ice selfie taken during one of the tower deployments. Left to right: Callum Mireault (ArcticNet), Nathalie Thériault (CEOS), Hugo Jacques (CCGS) and Lauren Candlish (CEOS) // Photo: Hugo Jacques.

The conditions in the Arctic this year indicates that we are now well into the transition from a time when we had sea ice all summer long to the new ice regime. In the very near future there will be very little to no sea ice in the summers and only first year ice in the winters. Although the icescape is always changing and never the same, MYI the way I remember it, may just be that, a memory.

The shift in the ice regime is interesting for many reasons, but it also brings about many questions. Will the ice be as hazardous? Will the reduced sea ice cover allow for easier shipping through the Northwest Passage? Is ecotourism going to increase in the Arctic? How will the changes in the ice affect the ecosystem? These are all questions many scientists are working on including my colleagues who were also on board the CCGS Amundsen.  It’s safe to say there are still many unknowns in the Arctic.

One of the many surprises from the Arctic this year was when we were in the middle of the Canadian Basin; we were about 200 nautical miles from shore and about 100 nautical miles from the last ice floe we saw. We were in a region where there should have been ice; an area that I had initially planned to deploy ice tracking beacons and some on-ice weather stations. At this location, in the open water, we had three visitors come to the ship. There was a mother polar bear and two of her cubs. Polar bears are incredible swimmers, and are well defined as ‘marine mammals’. They can swim for hundreds of miles and when we saw them they were still large and healthy.  But it does leave one to think about where they were going; to the ice, or back to shore?  The summer refuge of sea ice is most likely also affecting their ability to forage as we lose more of our summer MY ice.

Some of the other amazing sights from this year were the aurora borealis and the supermoon. Over the years in the Arctic I had only seen the aurora borealis once before, this year however was an amazing show. The northern lights were the usual green colour and danced across the sky for hours. About a week after the northern lights appeared, the supermoon lit up the sky. The moon was so large and so bright it reflected off the newly forming sea ice and caused rainbow like halos in the clouds.

As with each trip to the Arctic I experience new things and learn new lessons. The CCGS Amundsen is filled with amazing people who are always willing to help out. I greatly appreciate the Coast Guard crew and the other scientists that helped us with our ice work and all the glitches and problems that come with working in such a harsh environment. At the end of every trip North I always long to go back. The Arctic is now a part of me and I look forward to the possibility of returning next year.

This research expedition was announced on April 13 in St John’s, NFLD. Partners include ArcticNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada, Statoil Canada, the Research & Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC) and Husky Energy. They are developing a new research and technology program on board the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen.

The collaboration will bring together the best expertise in academia and industry to collect scientific data and execute full-scale field testing of key technologies that are critical to understanding offshore and harsh weather environments. With a key focus on performing a safe expedition, this unique project will help improve safety practices related to ice hazard mitigation and provide insight on technology requirements specific to cold ocean regions.

From 17 April to 4 May, a team of 40 Canadian and international scientists and technical staff from ArcticNet, Statoil, and partner organizations as well as local Newfoundland and Labrador researchers, will study meteorological, sea ice, iceberg and environmental conditions and assess new data collection technologies in the study area northeast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Barber, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba who is also a member of ArcticNet, will be chief scientist on board the Amundsen during the 18-day expedition.

This is not the first time Barber has been in charge of the research teams aboard the Amundsen: In 2007 he led the largest International Polar Year project – the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System study, which involved over 300 scientists from around the world and marked the first time a research vessel overwintered in a flaw lead in the Arctic.

Related

Meet some of David Barber’s graduate students, Wieter Boone and Krista Kenyon.

Tour the CCGS Amundsen

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation provides a multimedia exploration of Canada’s dedicated research icebreaker.

The partnership brings together more than 300 of the world’s leading Arctic scientists from the greatest Arctic science teams: Denmark’s Aarhus University, Greenland’s Institute of Natural Resources and the U of M’s Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources.

Collaborators will share expertise, knowledge and infrastructure; equipment, laboratories, research vessels and field stations are now mutually available to all, allowing students to work across all research institutions.

The bolstered work covers a wide range of topics, from health sciences to socio-economics to environmental and climate-related issues. The collaboration is also a response to the increasing pressures faced by the Arctic.

“The Arctic faces enormous changes. Its climate is changing dramatically, while interest in exploring for oil, gas and minerals in the Arctic regions is increasing,” says Barnard.

“To deal effectively with the new challenges these changes present, it is critical that we collaborate with our international partners to remain at the front and centre of this endeavour. The sheer complexity of the Earth systems in the Arctic required us to join our resources with our friends and colleagues from around the world. The U of M has been doing this for years—as when we led the circumpolar flaw lead system study—and it’s rewarding to continually collaborate with such excellent partners.”

Rysgaard in Daneborg, Summer 2014. Photo by Sergei Kirillov

The University of Manitoba has committed to ASP through the work of CEOS and its two powerhouse research chairs: Søren Rysgaard, the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Arctic Geomicrobiology and Climate Change, and David Barber, the Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science.

Rysgaard and CEOS director Tim Papakyriakou lead ASP collaboration in Canada and are both convinced that ASP is quickly becoming internationally recognized as a preeminent force, attracting students and researchers from around the world who want to contribute to a large-scale, international effort at the highest scientific level.

“ASP gives us an enormous, very valuable, logistical platform, which offers our employees and students easy and low-cost access to icebreakers, research vessels and research stations in the Arctic area—something usually not easily attainable,” says Rysgaard.

For students, this means increased opportunities to participate in international scientific expeditions and field campaigns, and access to academic programs across all three institutions including an annual ASP Field School.

In 2015, the university will send students to Nuuk (Greenland) to join an international team of 15 graduate students to learn more about the role snow-covered sea ice plays in the Arctic system. The field school, hosted at the Greenland Institute for Natural Resources, also aims to engage the local communities by developing and implementing an outreach program for local students, and by including elders as instructors.

Kerri Warner, a research associate in CEOS, can easily point to the new opportunities and resources created through the partnership. In May, 2014, Kerri worked at the Daneborg Research Facility, which is in the world’s largest National Park, situated in northeast Greenland. Her research there focused on collecting data and analyzing how the surface albedo (how well sunlight—energy—gets reflected back into space) changes during the melt progression. She also measured changes in the geophysical properties of the snow and ice as temperatures continue to warm into summer. Her data supports myriad other scientists looking at other aspects of Arctic life from biology to contaminants.

“While the data collection is the main reason for going out in the field,” she writes in a blog, “it is the places you go, the people you meet, the moments you share and friendships that develop in such a short that time make it a life-changing experience.

“When people in any part of the world decide to study sea ice, our university will be their first school of choice because we are the world’s top institute.”

“You start as a group of strangers who have to live with each other in a tight living space for weeks at a time, and end with hugs, well wishes and emotional farewells by the time it is over. You discuss ways in which your research can contribute to theirs and vice-versa. These 10 strangers have developed not only collaborative research relationships, but also friendships. We all share that ‘little bit crazy’ quality that takes us away from home for long periods of time to work and to research things that we are all so passionate about.”

Our Pedigree

Of all the founding partners of ASP, the U of M’s is the oldest.

Founded in 1994, CEOS has a major research focus on Arctic science, studying the physical, chemical, biological, and human systems of the Canadian and Circumpolar Arctic.

In 2010, when the CERC funding was announced, the sea ice research group was transformed into one of the world’s most comprehensive and innovative Arctic climate change institutions. In addition to the 17 researchers already involved in the sea ice research, an investment was made in new laboratories, three new tenure track faculty positions, post-doctoral and research associate positions, graduate students and support staff. It increased the size of CEOS to more than 100 people.

Rysgaard in the lab. Photo by Mike Latchislaw

To accommodate the new faculty, staff and students, the Wallace Building underwent major renovations thanks to a generous donation from distinguished geological sciences graduate Clayton H. Riddell, for whom the faculty is named. An entire fifth storey was added to the building to house the many specialized state-of-the-art laboratories, meeting spaces, offices for staff and students, and the Dr. Klaus Hochheim Memorial Theatre. This new floor is named the Nellie Cournoyea Arctic Research Facility, after Nellie Cournoyea, an officer of the Order of Canada, the first female premier of a Canadian territory, and Chair and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

Since CEOS transformed, says Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (research and international) at the U of M, its sea ice research team has become one of the most well-funded and extensive teams in the world, conducting research both in the Arctic and at home. The Sea-Ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF), is the first experimental sea-ice facility in Canada and only one of a few facilities in the world that allows researchers to grow and fabricate sea ice in controlled conditions to better understand how sea ice forms and melts in polar regions.

“When people in any part of the world decide to study sea ice, our university will be their first school of choice because we are the world’s top institute,” he added.

The U of M’s sea ice research team, unlike the ice they study, is not retreating from anything. It’s only moving forward, and with its new partners, growing stronger.

Story originally appeared in the Winter 2015 issue of Research Life.

Graduate student Megan Shields, supervised by Distinguished Professor and Canada Research Chair David Barber, will create an artificial ridge of ice and then scan it with radar and laser systems from above. Why? The project is trying to understand the signals that radar satellites read off of an ice ridge in the Arctic by duplicating it here on a smaller scale. In the north, conditions are often dark or cloudy, so scientists depend on radar imagery to properly understand it.

Years ago, Professor Barber released a study that showed Arctic sea ice had duped satellites into reporting thick multiyear sea ice where in fact none existed, raising doubts about the accuracy of satellite data.

Shields work will help scientists get more reliable data. Shields will decipher which signals serve as the best descriptor for the type of information they’re looking for in the Arctic and SERF, combined with this year’s frigid winter, allows her to create a model of what would be found in the Arctic. Over the course of the experiment, Shields will also blow various depths of snow on to the ridge, noting how it impacts the readings.

Properly identifying ridges has an impact from both an ecological and a navigational perspective as well:

• Seals tend to den in the air pockets that are formed in ridges, and as seals are a food source for polar bears, they too are often found near ridges
• Where there is a ridge, the ice is much thicker. If a large floe of ice (with a ridge) collides with a structure or ship, there is potential for greater damage. Large ice floes move with the currents and have enough momentum to crush man-made objects.

This research is being funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Thanks to the remarkably cold winter this year, media are invited to watch an Arctic experiment be conducted within city limits (map). The experiments will take place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Graduate student Megan Shields, supervised by Distinguished Professor and Canada Research Chair David Barber, will create an artificial ridge of ice and then scan it with radar and laser systems from above. Why? The project is trying to understand the signals that radar satellites read off of an ice ridge in the Arctic by duplicating it here on a smaller scale. In the north, conditions are often dark or cloudy, so scientists depend on radar imagery to properly understand it.

Years ago, Professor Barber released a study that showed Arctic sea ice had duped satellites into reporting thick multiyear sea ice where in fact none existed, raising doubts about the accuracy of satellite data.

Shields work will help scientists get more reliable data. Shields will decipher which signals serve as the best descriptor for the type of information they’re looking for in the Arctic and SERF, combined with this year’s frigid winter, allows her to create a model of what would be found in the Arctic. Over the course of the experiment, Shields will also blow various depths of snow on to the ridge, noting how it impacts the readings.

Properly identifying ridges has an impact from both an ecological and a navigational perspective as well:

• Seals tend to den in the air pockets that are formed in ridges, and as seals are a food source for polar bears, they too are often found near ridges
• Where there is a ridge, the ice is much thicker. If a large floe of ice (with a ridge) collides with a structure or ship, there is potential for greater damage. Large ice floes move with the currents and have enough momentum to crush man-made objects.

This research is being funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

For reporters and producers looking for experts and breaking news, follow us on Twitter: @UM_Today

For more information contact Sean Moore, Marketing Communications Office, University of Manitoba, 204-474-7963 (sean_moore@umanitoba.ca).

Or

Dr. Randall Scharien, Sea-Ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF), University of Manitoba, 204-474-9980 (randall.scharien@umanitoba.ca)

You may hate the deep freeze that we have right now, but Feiyue Wang, professor of environment and geography in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources, and lead scientist at SERF, is absolutely delighted because these are perfect conditions for studies on how our climate is changing.

SERF’s main feature is a large, outdoor, saltwater pond equipped with sophisticated devices that monitor the pond’s sea ice formation.

By “growing” sea ice under controlled conditions, scientists better understand how sea ice forms and melts on polar oceans, and gain insight into the processes that regulate the exchange of molecules between the ocean and atmosphere. SERF, funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund and the University of Manitoba, is a research laboratory essential for understanding climate change.

(Scroll down or click through for more photos.)

Feiyue Wang collecting frost flower samples for study. // Photo by BeiBei Lu

Dec. 06, 2011: First pancake ice formed at SERF. // Photo by David Mosscrop

Photo by Juliana Kusyk

Photo by Fei Wang

IR photo by Fei Wang

Photo by Fei Wang

Photo by Fei Wang

If media wish to visit SERF, please contact Feiyue Wang at: 204-474-6250 or 204-223-3181, or email: wangf@ms.umanitoba.ca