Dr Aga Nowak

September 23, 2019

We aim is to better understand the role of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) in the preservation and maintenance of microbial life on Earth.

In the past decade, glaciers have been recognised as biomes able to host a complex microbial ecosystem. Studies are beginning to show that autotrophic and heterotrophic communities living on ice surfaces contribute to the global C cycle by utilization and simultaneous production of CO2 and organic carbon (OC). 

Predictions of climate change draw increasing scientific attention to the fertilisation potential of the Antarctic Peninsula for the Southern Ocean and consequently global ecosystems. Although the scientific community is becoming aware of a marked heterogeneity in the chemical signature of meltwaters and the snowpack across Antarctica, we are still estimating nutrient fluxes from the Antarctic continent based on..

Longyearbyen is a growing Arctic community whose water supply is directly dependent upon a sensitive and to a large degree, climatically controlled resource: glacial and snow meltwater. The implementation of a new monitoring programme in the Isdammen watershed is essential for future water supply planning due to the pressures imposed by a growing, transient population, climate change  and the influences of coal mining and glacial sediment transfer upon water quality.