European Geosciences Union
Division on Cryospheric Sciences
President: Olaf Eisen (cr@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Carleen Tijm-Reijmer
(c.h.tijm-reijmer@uu.nl)
The Cryosphere are those parts of the Earth and other planetary bodies that are subject to prolonged periods of temperatures below the freezing point of water. These include glaciers, frozen ground, sea ice, snow and ice. One of the main aims of the EGU Division on Cryospheric Sciences is to facilitate the exchange of information within the science community. It does so by organizing series of sessions at the annual EGU assembly, and through the publishing of the open-access journal `The Cryosphere’. The division awards the Louis Agassiz medal for outstanding contributions to the science of the cryosphere.
In addition to the official meeting program - chat schedule conveners have the opportunity to organise meetings on other platforms. To spread this information as wide as possible such activities are listed below. EGU asked conveners to have them outside of the actual SGO week to allow everybody to obtain information through the chats.
The 2020 Julia and Johannes Weertman Medal is awarded to Julienne C. Stroeve for her fundamental contributions to improved satellite observations of sea ice, better understanding of causes of sea ice variability and change, and her compelling communication to the wider public.
The 2020 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Anna E. Hogg for outstanding research in the field of satellite remote sensing of the cryosphere and her contributions to science communications.
The 2019 Louis Agassiz Medal is awarded to Andreas Kääb for innovative and multidisciplinary contributions to the field of remote sensing of the cryosphere, with applications in glacier mass balance, permafrost and geohazards.
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Bartosz Kurjanski Cool deltas – Sedimentary environments of the Salpausselka I and II moraine ridges near Lahti, Finland
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Gregory Church Detecting and characterising an englacial conduit network within a temperate Swiss glacier using active seismic and ground penetrating radar
The 2019 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists is awarded to Marie Dumont for outstanding contributions to the field of snow sciences.
The illustration above shows a sketch of the evolution of Arctic sea ice for different levels of warming and the different months of the year, based on the simple extrapolation of observations. A new study, in which I was involved, uses the latest available global climate models and shows that the Arctic Ocean could become practically ice free at the end of the summer for the first time before 2050. This could happen even in a scenario where we drastically …
Did you know that glacier mice can be found at the surface of some glaciers? They’re not the tiny rodent you might be imagining, but actually little balls of moss, which appear to be full of mysteries still to be uncovered… What is a “glacier mouse”? On glaciers around the world, mostly at high-latitudes in the northern hemisphere, little balls of moss develop and move around the ice. Originally described as “jökla-mys” or “glacier mice” in the 1950s, as you …
You’ve just finished your PhD or postdoc… now what? Perhaps you’re thinking of a non-academic career, but don’t know where to start, or which skills you need? Up to 70% of scientists move into non-academic careers after graduation (The Royal Society, 2010). But finding useful information and advice is hard. In today’s blog, we summarise the EGU Webinar ‘Careers outside of academia’ which took place on June 24th 2020. A working group for careers, jobs and funding has been set …
Extending for almost 8,000 km along the west of South America, the Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world. They portray an impressive richness and diversity of cryospheric features, including: the most substantial extension of tropical glaciers on Earth, one of the highest densities of rock glaciers, the largest glacierized area in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica, the most significant extension of seasonal snow and mountain permafrost in this part of the globe. Although crucial for ecosystems …
This month EGU issued an important statement condemning racism—and all other forms of discrimination—anywhere in the world and re-asserting our commitment to improving equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion both within and beyond the geosciences.
A crucial component of anti-racism is sustaining a productive conversation about issues related to equality, diversity and inclusion. In keeping with EGU’s bottom-up structure and philosophy, we welcome diverse voices and opinions and encourage all geoscientists to constructively express their thoughts. In response to recent events, numerous individuals and groups have done so, including:
In celebration of Pride Month, EGU also published an article about risks to safety and other issues that LGBTQIA+ geoscientists face while conducting fieldwork in certain countries.
Since EGU’s founding, the organisation has worked to ensure equitable treatment for everyone in our community. Through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group, we are working towards our stated goals to increase diversity at EGU events and on EGU committees and boards, and we pledge to continue to foster diversity to advance fundamental and applied geoscience research—to the benefit of the Earth and all humanity.