APECS’ Online Conference, Virtual Posters and Webinars to the World

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is a multidisciplinary, international organization dedicated to maintaining a network of early career researchers (ECRs) and professionals (ECPs) to share ideas, develop collaborative research directions, provide opportunities for career development, and promote education and outreach as an integral component of Polar research. Science outreach is one of APECS’ key objectives and we have found that online media is a powerful tool for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) knowledge transfer. We introduce the use of online presentations as a platform for communication, education, and networking. APECS’ Online Conference, virtual posters, and webinar series provide case studies to examine how online technology bridges geographic and disciplinary boundaries. APECS’ Online Conference allows ECRs and ECPs to present their research to an interactive, online room of viewers. The third iteration of this annual event (March 2017) appealed to science communicators with the theme: “Outside the Box: encouraging alternative solutions for undertaking and communicating polar research”. Virtual poster sessions have allowed members to share work on an array of topics, from whaling and tourism to showcasing studies affiliated with specific national research programs. Webinars have covered a variety of skills-based and scientific topics, with invited speakers addressing everything from writing grant proposals to eco-cultural communication. Each presentation is recorded and saved on APECS’ website as a free resource. ECRs, ECPs, and APECS mentors from around the world attend our events, promoting diversity in networking and helping steer the Arctic community in positive directions. We will provide examples of connections fostered by and benefits of online events, including easier dissemination of ideas across geographically distant regions and minimal cost. While this presentation focuses on APECS’ experiences, we will highlight how innovative communication promotes international cooperation and offer suggestions on how to incorporate similar elements into other outreach programs

Long-term destabilization of retrogressive thaw slumps (Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada)

Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) are a common thermokarst landform along Arctic coastlines and provide a large amount of material containing organic carbon to the nearshore zone. The number of RTS has strongly increased since the last century. They are characterized by rapidly changing topographical and internal structures e.g., mud flow deposits, seawater-affected sediments or permafrost bodies and are strongly influenced by gullies. Furthermore, we hypothesize that due to thermal and mechanical disturbance, large RTS preferentially develop a polycyclic behavior. To reveal the inner structures of the RTS several electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) transects were carried out in 2011, 2012, and 2019 on the biggest RTS on Herschel Island (Qikiqtaruk, YT, Canada), a highly active and well-monitored study area. 2D ERT transects were conducted crossing the RTS longitudinal and transversal, always reaching the undisturbed tundra. Parallel to the shoreline, and crossing the main gully draining the slump, we applied 3D ERT which was first measured in 2012 and repeated in 2019. The ERT data was calibrated in the field using frost probing to detect the unfrozen-frozen transition and with bulk sediment resistivity versus temperature curves measured on samples in the laboratory. The strong thermal and topographical disturbances by gullies developing into large erosional features like RTS, lead to long recovery rates for disturbed permafrost, probably taking more than decades. In this study we demonstrate that ERT can be used to determine long-lasting thermal and mechanical disturbances. We show that they are both likely to prime the sensitivity of RTS to a polycyclic reactivation

APECS as an Arctic Stakeholder: Training Future Leadership of the Polar Research Community

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is an international, interdisciplinary NGO for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early career professionals, educators, and others interested in polar regions and the wider cryosphere. The existence of APECS as a stakeholder is fundamental towards developing diverse future leadership in the Arctic community. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2017, APECS has grown from a small group established during the 2007/08 International Polar Year (IPY) to a global community of more than 2,300 actively-engaged early career researchers (ECRs) and professionals (ECPs) interested in the polar regions, from over 60 countries; within the last decade, more than 7,500 individuals joined our network during the early stages of their careers. APECS creates opportunities for innovative collaborations and information exchange amongst ECRs and established professionals, thereby helping to recruit, retain, increase cooperation amongst, and promote future polar experts. APECS works with polar organizations to enable skilled early career representatives to contribute to their goals and projects, including the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the Arctic Council Working Groups ‘Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme’ (AMAP) and ‘Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna’ (CAFF). In these capacities, APECS members contribute to the scientific activities of the working groups, synthesizing research to identify and address areas of concern to Arctic ecosystems, communities, and Arctic residents. This presentation discusses how APECS contributes to training future leadership in the Arctic community and how members influence polar science and policy. We highlight how APECS updates activities to reflect scientific, policy, and environmental challenges in order to provide the most relevant resources to our members. Early engagement of ECRs and ECPs develops a workforce more adept to bridging the divide between scientific research and sustainable development in the Arctic and, therefore, is an investment in the future of the Arctic

Thermokarst lake dynamics and its influence on biogeochemical sediment characteristics: A case study from the discontinuous permafrost zone in Interior Alaska

Under the currently projected scenarios of a warming climate, discontinuous and warm permafrost in Interior Alaska is expected to experience dramatic thinning. Thermokarst ponds and lakes give evidence for permafrost thaw and, vice versa, amplify deep thaw by talik development. During the thawing process, previously preserved organic matter is decomposed and potentially released as greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. In the course of lake development and shoreline expansion, both, younger near-surface and older organic matter from slumping shores are potentially deposited in the lake basin. Lake internal bioproductivity is complementing carbon accumulation in lacustrine deposits and provides an additional source of young carbon transformed into greenhouse gases. This study presents results of two intersecting, limnolithological transects of 5 sediment cores from Goldstream Lake, a typical small, boreal thermokarst lake in Interior Alaska. With the aim to distinguish external terrestrial and internal aquatic carbon contributions to sediments, sediment samples are analyzed for the total organic carbon/total nitrogen ratio (C/N) as well as stable carbon isotopes. Selected samples are analyzed for their grain size distribution in order to reconstruct the depositional environment and accumulation conditions. The littoral zone with actively eroding shorelines is characterized by methane bubbles produced from anaerobic microbial decomposition but near-shore sediments have surprisingly low total organic carbon contents of mean 1.5 wt%; the low C/N ratio of 8.7 indicate a dominance of lacustrine plant material. Very similar results are found for sediments in the central basin but a clear shift to a terrestrial carbon signal (C/N of 22) with total organic carbon content of almost 30 wt% is presumably indicating the trash layer of the initial lake phase. The talik sediments seem to have carbon storage as low as the lake sediments but are not as well layered. Subarctic aquatic environments like Goldstream Lake demonstrate a relatively low aquatic productivity and a high biogeochemical turn-over over short periods of time. In addition, the ongoing decomposition of organic matter in talik sediments proves to be crucial to assess the contribution of thermokarst lakes to future climate change by mobilizing Ice Age soil carbon previously frozen in permafrost

Do’s and Don’ts in Arctic Research? An interactive Workshop on Community-based Research with Early Career Scientists

Research in Arctic and Sub-Arctic environments presents unique challenges and obstacles, in particular, establishing a necessary baseline understanding of environmental systems in the face of ongoing climate change. Pairing scientific and traditional knowledge approaches can help to close this gap, however creating a bridge between non-local, non-indigenous research scientists and traditional knowledge holders in northern communities can be challenging. For example, most researchers are likely less familiar with local norms, customs, as well as with social systems and protocols, leading to inevitable challenges for the scientists and communities. In a cross-cutting initiative for the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), Fellows of different the Terrestrial, Cryosphere and Marine Working Groups organized a workshop session on “Community-based Research: Do`s and Don`ts of Arctic Research” during the Young Researchers Workshop at the 11th International Conference on Permafrost in Potsdam, Germany, June 2016. This workshop brought together Early Career Scientists (ECS, including engineers) with resident Arctic representatives and experts to discuss best practices in the exchange of traditional and modern knowledge when conducting research in northern communities. After a short presentation by the panelists, ECSs with invited experts split into small groups with an IASC Fellow as moderator. The break-out groups discussed their experiences and raised questions for the invited experts. These discussions generated a list of “do’s and don’ts” from each group, which were presented and discussed with the larger audiences. The format and organization of the workshop allowed an interactive and fruitful discussion, generating a diverse list of Arctic Research considerations and best practices. Key ideas from the workshop discussions are visualized in the word cloud figure. Recommendations from this workshop included enhancing future support opportunities, like the IASC cross-cutting initiative, to facilitate continued discussions between scientists and northern representatives to maximize the benefits of pairing traditional and modern knowledge to face future challenges

Organic carbon stored in a thermokarst affected landscape on Baldwin Peninsula, Alaska

As Arctic warming continues and permafrost degrades, more organic carbon (OC) will be decomposed in high northern latitudes. Still, uncertainties remain in the quality and quantity of OC stored in permafrost. This study presents OC data from permafrost deposits on the Baldwin Peninsula, West-Alaska. We analyzed cryostratigraphical, biogeochemical and biomarker parameters of yedoma- and drained thermokarst lake basin (DTLB) deposits as well as thermokarst lake sediments to identify the size and quality of OC pools in ice-rich permafrost. Here we show that two thirds of soil OC in this region are stored in frozen DTLB deposits and that the lake sediments have the highest volumetric OC content. The n-alkane distribution shows, however, that OC stored in yedoma is of higher quality than that stored in DTLB deposits. These findings highlight the importance of molecular OC analysis for determining the potential future greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost

Organic carbon characteristics in yedoma and thermokarst deposits on Baldwin Peninsula, West-Alaska

As Arctic warming continues and permafrost thaws, more soil and sedimentary organic carbon (OC) will be decomposed in northern high latitudes. Still, uncertainties remain in the quantity and quality of OC stored in different deposit types of permafrost landscapes. This study presents OC data from deep permafrost and lake deposits on the Baldwin Peninsula which is located in the southern portion of the continuous permafrost zone in West-Alaska. Sediment samples from yedoma and drained thermokarst lake basin (DTLB) deposits as well as thermokarst lake sediments were analyzed for cryostratigraphical and biogeochemical parameters and their lipid biomarker composition to identify the size and quality of belowground OC pools in ice-rich permafrost on Baldwin Peninsula. We provide the first detailed characterization of yedoma deposits on Baldwin Peninsula. We show that three quarters of soil organic carbon in the frozen deposits of the study region (total of 68 Mt) is stored in DTLB deposits (52 Mt) and one quarter in the frozen yedoma deposits (16 Mt). The lake sediments contain a relatively small OC pool (4 Mt), but have the highest volumetric OC content(93 kg m-3) compared to the DTLB (35 kg m-3) and yedoma deposits (8 kg m-3), largely due to differences in the ground ice content. The biomarker analysis indicates that the OC in both yedoma and DTLB deposits is mainly of terrestrial origin. Nevertheless, the relatively high carbon preference index of plant leaf waxes in combination with a lack of degradation trend with depth in the yedoma deposits indicates that OC stored in yedoma is less degraded than that stored in DTLB deposits. This suggests that OC in yedoma has a higher potential for decomposition upon thaw, despite the relatively small size of this pool. These findings highlight the importance of molecular OC analysis for determining the potential future greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost, especially because this area close to the discontinuous permafrost boundary is projected to thaw substantially within the 21st century