Home Reseach Teaching Fieldwork Bio Personal Links                                                                                                                                                                                                         More links to these trips with additional pictures will be added soon... July 2008, Peyto Glacier, Alberta, Canada Led a 10-day expedition with two undergraduate and one graduate student from Dartmouth to the Peyto Glacier (pictured) in Alberta, Canada. The students collected snow and surface water samples for mercury analyses, and ice-penetrating radar data for glacier volume studies.  I returned to this site in September 2008 to co-lead the Dartmouth "STRETCH" field course segment with Dr. Hawley on glaciology and climate change for 12 undergraduate students.         May 2008, Denali Massif, Alaska USA Month-long reconaissance expedition to the Denali Massif to determine the best location for a deep (500+ year-long) ice core record from the region. This trip was led by Cam Wake (UNH) and Karl Kreutz (UMaine). We collected shallow ice cores, snow pit samples, meteorological data and ice-penetrating radar profiles from two different locations: Kahiltna Pass on the route to the summit, and Russell Plateau on a nearby mountain (pictured). This research is part of our efforts to understand late Holocene climate variability and pollution in the North Pacific region during the late Holocene. We have identified a promising deep ice core site and have submitted a proposal to NSF to continue our research here and collect a long record of climate change and pollution.     May, 2005, Mt. Logan, Yukon, Canada Month-long expedition to Mt. Logan up to the King Col site (4000 m asl) and the nearby Eclipse Site (picture is from Eclipse looking at Mt. Logan) with Gerry Holdsworth from the University of Calgary. We collected snow pit samples and shallow ice cores in support of my Dissertation research investigating late Holocene North Pacific climate variability and pollution. We also installed 3 automatic weather stations at different elevations in order to get a better understanding of the synoptic dynamics of the "Pineapple Express" storms that bring copius moisture and wind to the mountain. Unfortunately, we were on the mountain when one such storm struck, and another climbing party higher on the mountain required rescue. You can read about their story here. February, 2005, Cordillera Darwin, Patagonia, Chile Three-week expedition led by Paul Mayewski (UMaine) to the Cordillera Darwin on the Beagle Channel in southernmost Patagonia, Chile. Because of the limited access of the glaciers in this region, we used a sailboat to drop us off at the terminus of the Sinus Glacier beneith Mt. Darwin. We performed reconaissance of the region to look for a deep ice core site, and collected surface snow and shallow ice core samples for glaciochemical analyses. This fieldwork was part of Dr. Mayewski's research into changes in zonal atmospheric circulation in the southern ocean in response to climate change. Dr. Mayewski returned with a drilling team to this site in 2006.       November-December 2003, Dry Valleys, Antarctica Six week expedition to the Dry Valleys in West Antarctica led by Karl Kreutz (UMaine). I was part of the expedition team in year 1, when we visited the Clark, Commonwealth, and Blue Glaciers to collect ice penetrating radar data (pictured), snow pit and shallow ice core samples, and installed automatic weather stations. Dr. Kreutz returned to these sites for two more seasons, collecting deep (250+ m; 1000+ years) ice core records to investigate Holocene climate variability in the region. The Dry Valleys have a unique climate regime due to their location adjacent to the Ross Sea and the polar plateau. Like all expeditions to this part of Antarctica, we travelled through Christchurch, NZ and the U.S. McMurdo Station on Ross Island. It turns out my Great Grandfather, Amory "Bud" Waite, was a frequent visitor to "Little America" (as McMurdo base used to be known) with Admiral Byrd back in the 1930s-1950s during the second wave of Antarctica pioneering. Bud was part of the team that rescued Admiral Byrd from "Advance Base" in 1934 after Byrd nearly died from carbon monixide poisoning. Bud Waite also pioneered the use of radio waves to determine the thickness of sea ice. It was amazing to walk in my great grandfather's footsteps, literally and scientifically, in such a remote part of the world.     July, 2003, Divide Site, Saint Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada Two-week expedition to the Divide of the Kaskawalsh Glacier in the Saint Elias Mountains with Karl Kreutz (UMaine). This site has two automatic weather stations maintained by the Geological Survey of Canada. Trips are made annually to download the met station data, and collect snow pit samples for major ions, trace elements, and stable isotopes to investigate how meteorological variables are related to snow chemistry. This has important implications for the interpretation of ice cores in this region. This was my first polar/high alpine expedition...needless to say, I was hooked.         February, 2001, Lake Tekapo, Otago, New Zealand Two-day expedition to Lake Tekapo with Phaedra Upton (GNS) to collect high-resolution seismic reflection profiles. We were looking for evidence of a major fault, the Irishman Creek Fault, passing through the lake. We were able to collect spectacular images of the thick glacio-lacustine sediment sequence in the lake. We found extensive evidence for folding and faulting in these sediments, as well as several mass-wasting deposits that we used to estimate the past seismic activity in the region.         March-December, 2000, Otago Margin, New Zealand My Master's thesis at the University of Otago was based on high-resolution seismic reflection profiles and side-scan sonar profiles collected above the Otago continental shelf and slope aboard the RV Munida. I spent a total of 14 days on the Munida with Captain Chris Spears collecting data in the best weather the Southern Ocean has to offer. I interpreted these profiles in a sequence stratigraphic framework, identifiying highstand, lowstand, transgressive, and regressive systems tract deposits. I also identified depth-limited deposits such as offshore bars and beach fronts, and paleoshoreline platforms and inflection points, to determine the late Quaternay sea-level history of the margin. These paleoshorelines were depth-corrected using isostatic and crustal loading models.