Thayer student to study ice cores
In honor of the upcoming International Polar
Year, the Geographical
Society of Philadelphia recently announced the award of a $1,000 grant to
Rachel Obbard, a graduate student at Thayer School of
Engineering who will complete her Ph.D. in engineering in June. Obbard's
area of specialization is the microstructural properties of ice.
Thayer School graduate student Rachel Obbard, pictured in the cold room at the
National Ice Core Lab in Denver, Co. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Obbard)
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"This grant will enable me to travel to meet colleagues with whom I can
prepare a proposal for work on International Polar Year objectives for the National Science Foundation," says Obbard.
"I hope to be part of a collaborative effort to collect and analyze snow
and ice from polar regions to contribute to our understanding of processes
related to climate change."
Dean of Thayer School Joseph
Helble comments, "Obbard is in good company—this award comes from a
society that is more than a century old, and one that has presented other
awards to explorers such as John Glenn and Sir Edmund Hillary. It is a
testament to her skill as an engineering scientist and an example of the
creative things Dartmouth engineering students can do when given the freedom to
pursue a problem in depth."
International concern over the effects of global warming has led to an
expanding research interest in the Arctic and Antarctic. Obbard has been using
scanning electron microcopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and other advanced
characterization techniques to investigate the location of different chemical
compounds in ice, in support of ice core interpretation. The search for clues
to abrupt climate change drives the need to understand how climactic indicators
in ice may move around naturally, so that researchers can distinguish those
effects from climate change impacts on the original composition.
The International Polar Year 2007-08 is envisioned as an intense scientific
campaign to explore new frontiers in polar science, improve understanding of
the critical role of the polar regions in global processes, and educate the
public about the polar regions. Over 40 nations will be participating and
numerous exhibits, lectures, and conferences will be presented.
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