Funding

Bagshaw, E. Novel geophysical sensors for snow monitoring. Royal Astronomical Society. 1 January 2017-31 December 2017, £1,000

Bagshaw, E. Polar snow in a warming world. The Percy Sladen Memorial Fund. 1 April 2017-31 April 2018, £700

Bagshaw, E. Cryoegg: a novel wireless instrument for exploring deep ice. EPSRC. January 2019-January 2021, £291,000

Mikis, A. and Pike, J. The use of individual planktonic foraminifera from sediment traps to assess seasonal variability along the West Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic Science Ltd. 1 June 2015-31 May 2016, £4,700

Mitchison, F. and Pike, J. Exploring the utility of diatom silica oxygen isotopes as a proxy for Pliocene EAIS retreat. Antarctic Science Ltd. 3 August 2017-31 March 2018, £4,988

Perkins, R. The Longyearbreen Glacier, Svalbard. British Phycological Society Small Grant. August 2015, £950

Pike, J. IceMelt 200: A 200 year record of glacier melting in the Amundsen Sea. British Antarctic Survey Collaboration Voucher. 1 March 2017-28 February 2018, £3,650

Pike, J., Swann, G. E. A., Leng, M. J. and Leventer, A. Tracing icebergs around East Antarctica - an indication of past ice sheet dynamics? NERC Isotope Geoscience Facility Steering Committee IP-1733-0517. June 2017, £32,000

Poniecka, E. and Bagshaw, E. Microbial community structure changes during temporal development of cryoconite holes. Antarctic Science Ltd. 1 June 2017-31 May 2019, £4,590

Williams, J., Pike, J., Swann, G. E. A. Leng, M. J., and Allen, C.S. Late Quaternary Antarctic ice sheet glacial discharge: exploiting the sediment diatom silica isotope archive. NERC Isotope Geoscience Facility Steering Committee IP 1773-1117. November 2017, £44,000

Selected publications

• Hawkings, J. R. et al., 2018. The silicon cycle impacted by past ice sheets. Nature Communications 9 3210. (10.1038/s41467-018-05689-1)
• Montserrat, F. et al., 2017. Olivine dissolution in seawater: implications for CO2 sequestration through Enhanced Weathering in coastal environments. Environmental Science & Technology 51 (7), pp.3960-3972. (10.1021/acs.est.6b05942)
• Swann, G. E. A. et al., 2017. Temporal controls on silicic acid utilisation along the West Antarctic Peninsula. Nature Communications 8 14645. (10.1038/ncomms14645)
• Perkins, R. et al. 2017. Photoacclimation by Arctic cryoconite phototrophs. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 93 (5) fix018. (10.1093/femsec/fix018)
• Anderson, N. J. et al., 2017. The Arctic in the twenty-first century: changing biogeochemical linkages across a paraglacial landscape of Greenland. BioScience 67 (2), pp.118-133. (10.1093/biosci/biw158)
• Swann, G. E. , Snelling, A. M. and Pike, J. 2016. Biogeochemical cycling in the Bering Sea over the onset of major Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. Paleoceanography 31 , pp.1261-1269. (10.1002/2016PA002978)
• Bagshaw, E. et al. 2016. Chemical sensors for in situ data collection in the cryosphere. Trends in Analytical Chemistry 82 , pp.348-357. (10.1016/j.trac.2016.06.016)
• Welsby, H. J. , Hendry, K. R. and Perkins, R. 2016. The role of benthic biofilm production in the mediation of silicon cycling in the Severn Estuary, UK. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 176 , pp.124-134. (10.1016/j.ecss.2016.04.008)
• Bagshaw, E. et al. 2016. Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to light. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 92 (6) fiw076. (10.1093/femsec/fiw076)
• Perkins, R. G. et al. 2016. Microspatial variability in community structure and photophysiology of calcified macroalgal microbiomes revealed by coupling of hyperspectral and high-resolution fluorescence imaging. Scientific Reports 6 22343. (10.1038/srep22343)
• Renforth, P. , Pogge von Strandmann, P. A. E. and Henderson, G. M. 2015. The dissolution of olivine added to soil: implications for enhanced weathering. Applied Geochemistry 61 , pp.109-118. (10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.05.016)

Group leader

Academic staff

Postgraduate students

Associated staff

Specialist low temperature environmental simulation cabinets

The cold climate laboratory has Weiss Low Temperature simulation cabinets, which can mimic conditions in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. We can control light, temperature (-40°C to +80°C) and gas content.

Precision titration facilities

We use Unisense optodes and electrodes to measure oxygen and pH at the microscale.

Field measurement of meteorological, water and biogeochemical parameters

We can measure and log a variety of biogeochemical parameters (pH, EC, light) using Campbell Scientific data loggers and associated probes in the laboratory and in the field.

We use a Fast Rapid Rate Fluorometer (Photon Systems Instruments 3500F) to measure the photophysiology of microalgae and cyanobacteria cultured in our Weiss Low Temperature cabinets. The FRRF can measure photoacclimation as well as standard proxies of productivity and down regulation.