2010 IARC
Summer School, May 20 – June 4, 2010

“Arctic in
a changing climate: Physical and biological linkages to permafrost”

An interdisciplinary summer course at
the University of Alaska Fairbanks

The 2010 International
Arctic Research Center (IARC) summer school will build upon the successful
field trip along the Dalton Highway offered during the 2008 Ninth International
Conference on Permafrost. The event will begin with lectures given in Fairbanks
by experts in numerous Arctic physical and biological sciences. The focus will
be on permafrost. The course will examine its distribution, how it forms, its
variable nature, the effects of climate change, and how permafrost affects
arctic ecosystems, infrastructure, and the people who live in northern regions.
Special emphasis will be placed on the complex interactions between climate,
soils, vegetation, and permafrost. Lecturers will describe the current state of
knowledge, disciplinal links, and research gaps. Our expert guides will offer
an in-depth view of the landscapes and research along one of the most remote
and scenic highways in North America (Dalton Highway). Major themes will
include permafrost and ecosystem variation along the arctic climate gradient,
biocomplexity of patterned ground, and arctic engineering.

We will visit
long-term research sites at Bonanza Creek, Toolik Lake, and Imnavait Creek. The
road trip will end with a tour of Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Each day of the field
trip will focus on aspects of interactions within the climate-ecosystem-permafrost
system. The climate gradient along the Dalton Highway will be used to examine
the effects of climate change on permafrost environments. Engineers involved in
the construction of infrastructure underlain by discontinuous-continuous
permafrost will present the detailed story of how engineering problems are
solved during and after construction.

The aim of
the summer school is to encourage the participants to communicate across science
fields and to examine connections between permafrost and other disciplines at
various scales. Group mini-projects will be an important component of the
summer school culminating in a workshop aimed at defining the future interdisciplinary
research needs. The workshop will build upon the group projects where summer
school participants present their views of promising research at the interfaces
of the relevant disciplines. Summer school participants, in close interaction
with senior experts, will be encouraged to develop and refine the outcome of
the workshop through a white (synthesis) paper that can serve the larger
scientific community.

IARC will provide
travel support from the students’ home institutions to Fairbanks and cover summer
school related expenses associated with the students’ stay in Fairbanks and Dalton
Highway road trip. The application package (application form, CV, letter
of support from supervisor) should be sent electronically to Tohru Saito
(saito@iarc.uaf.edu). Application deadline is February 15, 2010. The
application form and additional information can be found at: http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/education_outreach/summer/2010/.

The summer
school is sponsored by the Arctic Science Division of the Office of Polar
Programs, U.S. National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=ARC)
and by the U.S. Permafrost Association (www.uspermafrost.org).