WEEK 5: NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire Forges America’s Next Generation of Arctic Researchers
Building on More Than Two Historic Centuries of Arctic Research, New Hampshire is helping ensure that our nation continues to excel in Arctic science
By Dr. Ross Virginia, Myers Family Professor of Environmental Science at Dartmouth, Director of the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth’s Dickey Center for International Understanding, and Co-Lead Scholar for the Fulbright Arctic Initiative; Dr. Lauren Culler, a lecturer of environmental studies at Dartmouth; and Lee McDavid, Arctic Program Manager at Dartmouth’s Institute of Arctic Studies.
It’s almost time for the legendary Winter Carnival in Hanover, New Hampshire — a hundred year old Dartmouth College tradition. During the four-day celebration students build a colossal snow sculpture, plunge into icy Occom Pond for the Polar Bear Swim, and compete in a human dogsled race.
New Hampshire may lie midway between the equator and the North Pole, but the Arctic is a recurring theme in our history and the work done here is critical to understanding the rapid changes taking place in the Arctic.
Our Arctic identity began in the 18th-century with explorer John Ledyard (1751–1789), a Dartmouth student. He joined British explorer Captain James Cook on a voyage into the Bering Sea, and then, encouraged by Thomas Jefferson, trekked across Siberia, until Catherine the Great had him arrested. New Hampshire’s legacy of Arctic study continued when the Canadian explorer and scholar Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1870–1962) founded Dartmouth’s Northern and Polar Studies Program with his wife, Arctic researcher and later philanthropist Evelyn Stefansson Nef (1913–2009). The Stefansson legacy includes the Stefansson Special Collection on Polar Exploration, one of the premier library collections on the history of the Arctic and Antarctica; and a major donation of indigenous art and artifacts to the Hood Museum of Art. The library and museum are used extensively for research by visiting scholars and as teaching tools for Dartmouth students who are able to move from classroom to hands-on research in the North thanks to the Stefansson Research Fellowship. The many Dartmouth students who have made the Arctic part their career are proof of the Stefansson influence.
Stefansson was also instrumental in establishing the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in New Hampshire. CRREL scientists work closely with Dartmouth faculty on critical engineering and environmental challenges in the Arctic and Antarctica. It is located down the street from the Ice Drilling Program Office, directed by Dartmouth engineering professor Mary Albert. Her office provides scientific leadership and oversight of ice coring and drilling activities funded by the National Science Foundation worldwide.
Founded in 1989, the Institute of Arctic Studies at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth is a hub for polar initiatives nationally and internationally. It is a founding member with the University of Alaska Fairbanks of the UArctic Institute for Arctic Policy and collaborates with academic and research institutions across the circumpolar North. Dartmouth has developed deep ties with the Government of Greenland and the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik) through exchanges and research collaborations. Greenlandic leader Aqqaluk Lynge, former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, was an Institute of Arctic Studies research fellow and received an honorary degree from Dartmouth in 2012.
New Hampshire’s international reach became much broader when Ross Virginia, Director of the Institute of Arctic Studies, became Co-Lead Scholar for the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright Arctic Initiative. Fulbright scholars from the eight Arctic Council nations are collaborating on solutions to critical issues facing the Arctic. In January 2016 they met with scholars, indigenous leaders, nonprofits, youth, and government representatives to define health and wellness goals for communities in the Arctic.
Dartmouth is deeply involved in these discussions and is committed to educating a new generation of students who are tackling topics from sea ice dynamics and glacial history to Arctic policy and science communication. Lauren Culler, a Dartmouth graduate and postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Arctic Studies, is studying how warming temperatures are causing Arctic mosquitoes to grow faster and emerge earlier, which could have a devastating effect on indigenous communities.
Students are also learning how to explain complex science topics to audiences as different as scholars and researchers to local communities groups and even daycare centers. Doctoral student Ruth Heindel uses her field sketches to help explain to a general audience her research on soil erosion near the Greenland Ice Sheet.
And a student-produced YouTube video (also at left) showcasing women students working in the field became a viral favorite.
Even secondary school students from New Hampshire and elsewhere have an opportunity to undertake research and study in Greenland and Antarctica thanks to National Science Foundation funding. The Joint Science Education Project is a course in Greenland for high school students from the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland. Two students from the 2014 expedition are now enrolled at Dartmouth. The Joint Antarctic School Expedition/Expedición Antártica Escolar is a Dartmouth-Chilean partnership for Spanish-speaking high school students. These programs encourage young students to aspire to careers in polar science.
At the University of New Hampshire, the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/ Joint Hydrographic Center partners with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on developing cutting edge oceanographic mapping and sensor development. The university is also home to the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space which has a long history of polar research. At Keene State University and Plymouth State University faculty and students work on topics ranging from the history of Arctic exploration to the physiological ecology of tundra plants in Alaska.
The collaborations, research and scholarly work done in New Hampshire is providing a pathway to understanding the environmental and human consequences of rapid environmental change in the Arctic. All Americans are Arctic citizens, especially those who live in New Hampshire.
About the Authors:
Ross Virginia, PhD, is the Myers Family Professor of Environmental Science at Dartmouth and Director of the Institute of Arctic Studies at the Dickey Center for International Understanding. He is Co-Lead Scholar for the Fulbright Arctic Initiative. He can be reached at ross.virginia@dartmouth.edu
Lauren Culler, PhD, coordinates science outreach at Dartmouth’s Institute of Arctic Studies and is a lecturer of environmental studies. She studies the effects of climate change on connections between insects, wildlife, and people in Greenland. She can be reached at lauren.culler@dartmouth.edu
Lee McDavid is Program Manager for Dartmouth’s Institute of Arctic Studies where she oversees the student exchange program with the University of Greenland and communications. She can be reached at Lee.mcdavid@dartmouth.edu
