Reminder: UKPN Wednesday Seminar: Artistic Perspectives on Unstable Polar Environments, Liberty Quinn

A reminder that this Wednesday, on the 26th November at 2pm, the UK Polar Network welcomes Liberty Quinn. Liberty is an artist inspired by the polar regions and their fragility. In this seminar, she will share her journey, work and inspiration. Please join us online on Wednesday at 2pm GMT on Google Meet by registering at Eventbrite.

Register your attendance at Eventbrite here!

Artistic Perspectives on Unstable Polar Environments

Liberty Quinn

Speaker Bio: 

Liberty Quinn is an artist and researcher based in London. Her work sits on the intersection of art and science to investigate the breakdowns and shifting of space of the Anthropocene.

She graduated her Masters in 2023 from the Royal College of Art and in 2019 graduated from the University of Brighton and received the Breakthrough Award from the Artist's Collecting Society (ACS) during her time there. Soon after graduating RCA Liberty had her debut London solo exhibition The Void Went Flash at Hackney Gallery, London.

Selected exhibitions include After at ASC Gallery, Senses at General Assembly, Night Boat at Fitzrovia Gallery, Proximity at Fold Gallery, Two Fold at Southwark Park Gallery, Stack at 67 York Street, and Un/Sense at Christie's, which showcased the rising talent of artists based in London.

Liberty recently delivered a paper 'Ice and Data: Investigating Antarctica's instability through Research and Practice' at Hugarflug, the annual conference of artistic research at Iceland University of the Arts and 'Digital Fractures: Visualising Environmental Change in Antarctica' at Forces of Nature: New Perspectives on Art and Changing Environments symposium at the Henry Moore Institute. She has undertaken two residencies at Wysing Arts Centre and has been featured in publications including Printmaking Today.

You can find some of her art on @liberty.quinn

Register your attendance at Eventbrite here!

Past Seminar Recordings

If you missed any of our recent seminars, you can find the recordings here:

Why West Antarctica is Critical to Sea Level Rises - Mark Hehlen

The Wurst Idea of All Time - Lisa Craw 

Ocean Decade UKPN Webinar - Chloe Nunn

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UKPN Wednesday Seminar: Artistic Perspectives on Unstable Polar Environments, Liberty Quinn

This Wednesday, on the 26th November at 2pm, the UK Polar Network welcomes Liberty Quinn. Liberty is an artist inspired by the polar regions and their fragility. In this seminar, she will share her journey, work and inspiration. Please join us online on Wednesday at 2pm GMT on Google Meet by registering at Eventbrite.

Register your attendance at Eventbrite here!

Artistic Perspectives on Unstable Polar Environments

Liberty Quinn

Speaker Bio: 

Liberty Quinn is an artist and researcher based in London. Her work sits on the intersection of art and science to investigate the breakdowns and shifting of space of the Anthropocene.

She graduated her Masters in 2023 from the Royal College of Art and in 2019 graduated from the University of Brighton and received the Breakthrough Award from the Artist's Collecting Society (ACS) during her time there. Soon after graduating RCA Liberty had her debut London solo exhibition The Void Went Flash at Hackney Gallery, London.

Selected exhibitions include After at ASC Gallery, Senses at General Assembly, Night Boat at Fitzrovia Gallery, Proximity at Fold Gallery, Two Fold at Southwark Park Gallery, Stack at 67 York Street, and Un/Sense at Christie's, which showcased the rising talent of artists based in London.

Liberty recently delivered a paper 'Ice and Data: Investigating Antarctica's instability through Research and Practice' at Hugarflug, the annual conference of artistic research at Iceland University of the Arts and 'Digital Fractures: Visualising Environmental Change in Antarctica' at Forces of Nature: New Perspectives on Art and Changing Environments symposium at the Henry Moore Institute. She has undertaken two residencies at Wysing Arts Centre and has been featured in publications including Printmaking Today.

You can find some of her art on @liberty.quinn

Register your attendance at Eventbrite here!

Past Seminar Recordings

If you missed any of our recent seminars, you can find the recordings here:

Why West Antarctica is Critical to Sea Level Rises - Mark Hehlen

The Wurst Idea of All Time - Lisa Craw 

Ocean Decade UKPN Webinar - Chloe Nunn

---

To unsubscribe from the UKPN list, click the following link:
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5 funded PhD studentships in in glaciology and polar oceanography at the University of St Andrews

Good morning UKPN,

The COASt and StAG groups at the University of St Andrews have 5 exciting and fully-funded PhD opportunities in glaciology and high-latitude oceanography, as part of the IAPETUS Doctoral Training Partnership. We encourage motivated candidates to reach out and enquire further with the lead supervisors listed below, and to apply! We particularly welcome applicants from non-traditional and minority backgrounds to consider applying. 

The deadline for IAPETUS-listed studentships are Monday 05 January 2026. If you are an international (non-UK / Ireland) applicant, you'll need to make contact with the project supervisors by 08 December 2025. 

1. Source or sink? The roles of glacier melt and sediment transport for the carbon budget of the Greenland Ice Sheet (Craig Smeaton - cs244@st-andrews.ac.uk)

This project calculates and investigates how glacier meltwater and sediment transport influence the carbon cycle within Greenland's glacial systems.

https://iapetus.ac.uk/studentships/source-or-sink-the-roles-of-glacier-melt-and-sediment-transport-for-the-carbon-budget-of-the-greenland-ice-sheet/

2. Measuring the isotopic fingerprint of Greenland Ice Sheet melt (Graeme MacGilchrist - gam24@st-andrews.ac.uk)

This project will develop and apply isotope spectroscopy techniques during Arctic field campaigns to trace meltwater pathways and quantify their influence on ocean circulation. 

https://iapetus.ac.uk/studentships/measuring-the-isotopic-fingerprint-of-greenland-ice-sheet-melt/

3: Investigating the oceanic impacts of Greenland's meltwater (Tom Cowton - tom.cowton@st-andrews.ac.uk)

This project will integrate oceanographic observations and numerical modelling to determine how freshwater from Greenland alters ocean stratification and circulation.

https://iapetus.ac.uk/studentships/investigating-the-oceanic-impacts-of-greenlands-meltwater/

4. How does ice flow enhancement and rearrangement impact the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? (T.J. Young - tjy1@st-andrews.ac.uk)

This project combines ice-penetrating radar analysis and ice sheet modelling to constrain the ice flow history of the Weddell Sea sector and evaluate implications for future sea-level rise.

https://iapetus.ac.uk/studentships/how-does-ice-flow-enhancement-and-rearrangement-impact-the-west-antarctic-ice-sheet/

5. Quantifying Past Variations in Southern Ocean Primary Productivity from Sulfur Isotopes in Antarctic Ice Cores (Andrea Burke - ab276@st-andrews.ac.uk)

This project will analyze sulfur isotopes in ice cores to reconstruct millennial-scale changes in Southern Ocean productivity and assess its role in global carbon cycling.

https://iapetus.ac.uk/studentships/quantifying-past-variations-in-southern-ocean-primary-productivity-from-sulfur-isotopes-in-antarctic-ice-cores/

The COASt (Climate, Ocean, and Atmosphere at St Andrews) and StAG (St Andrews Glaciology) groups conduct world-leading research in the physical processes of climate change with a focus on high-latitude regions:

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/earth-sciences/research/centres/coast/ 

https://glaciology.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/ 

Please feel free to circulate across your networks and encourage applications from anyone that you think would make an excellent candidate!

Andrea, Craig, Graeme, Tom, and TJ

────────────────

Young Tun Jan | 楊敦然
Lecturer in Physical Geography & Remote Sensing

Admissions Officer, Geography & Sustainable Development
420 Irvine, University of St Andrews
Fife KY16 9AL, Scotland, United Kingdom

w: Personal website
e: tjy1@st-andrews.ac.uk 
t: +44 (0)1334 462 463

tw: @tjy511

 

  Book time to meet with me

────────────────

 

Polar EGU session, Arctic aerosol-cloud interactions

Dear colleagues,

We would like to advertise a polar-relevant session for the upcoming EGU meeting in Vienna (3-8 May, 2026):

Session Title: Quantifying Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions in the Arctic: From Observations to Model Parametrization, link: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU26/session/56970

Conveners: Quentin Coopman, Radiance Calmer, Lauren Zamora, Imogen Wadlow

Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 January 2026 

Submit your abstract here: Abstract Submission Link

Session Overview:
The Arctic is warming at a rate four times faster than the global average, yet aerosol-cloud interactions remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate models. This session, organized under the QuIESCENT program, aims to bridge disciplinary gaps by bringing together scientists specialising in aerosols and clouds, physics and chemistry, and observations and modeling.

We welcome contributions that advance our understanding of Arctic cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particles (INPs), their impact on clouds and climate, and strategies to improve their parameterisation in models.

Key topics include:

• The contrasting effects of anthropogenic pollution and natural aerosols on Arctic cloud microphysics and climate

• The role of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions in determining Arctic boundary layer mixing and the processing of local pollution

• The influence of boundary layer structure and dynamics on the formation, development, and spatial distribution of Arctic clouds, as well as their interactions with aerosol particles

This session encourages studies utilising field campaigns, ground- and satellite-based observations, modeling, and long-term measurements to characterize the evolving Arctic aerosol population. Special emphasis will be placed on efforts to better parameterise cloud processes, including phase partitioning and microphysics, to reduce uncertainties in climate projections.

We look forward to your contributions and to fostering a productive discussion in Vienna! Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues who may be interested.

Best wishes,

-the QuIESCENT steering committee

PhD position in Atmospheric Physical Chemistry

Please see the below PhD opportunity:

PhD Position in Atmospheric Physical Chemistry

Keen to explore cutting-edge laboratory experiments and sharpen your experimental skills? We're looking for applications for a PhD position in physical chemistry of the atmosphere. This SNF-funded project tackles ammonia acid–base chemistry, hydrogen bonding, and solvation at ice–air and water–air interfaces, motivated by snow and ice's recognised role in Earth's geochemical cycling and lingering gaps in our understanding of ammonia chemistry in the cryosphere and upper troposphere.

Your research will examine the mechanisms of ammonia (NH₃) adsorption and proton transfer on ice, accounting for the effects of acidic co-adsorbents (CO₂, HONO, HNO₃), mineral oxides, and reactive trace gases (NO₂, SO₂, O₃). A key aim is to investigate molecular-level differences between air–water and air–ice interfaces. Our group at PSI has developed Near Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoemission and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy to study acidic trace gas adsorption on ice. You'll have the chance to design and conduct experiments using coated wall flow-tube reactors and X-ray excited electron spectroscopy at PSI, and to collaborate internationally on sum-frequency generation spectroscopy with Boise State University.

What we're looking for

* Brilliant, creative, and motivated—no worries if your previous research hasn't focused on interfaces, ammonia, snow, or atmospheric science.

* Master's degree in physical chemistry, chemical physics, or a related discipline.

* A talented experimentalist.

* Genuine curiosity about molecular-level interfacial processes and enthusiasm for developing predictive understanding.

* Strong communicator in English, capable of presenting results in high-impact journals and at international conferences.

* Experience in low-temperature experiments, spectroscopic methods, and programming for data analysis is a bonus.

Get in touch

To discuss the project and find out how to apply, contact Thorsten Bartels-Rausch: +41 56 310 43 01 |  thorsten.bartels-rausch@psi.ch | https://www.psi.ch/en/lac/people/thorsten-bartels-rausch

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Dr Floor van den Heuvel

Cloud Physicist

CloudSense Science Coordinator

Member-at-large UK Polar Network

Atmosphere, Ice and Climate team

British Antarctic Survey

High Cross, Madingly Road,

Cambridge CB3 0ET

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Reminder: Seminar on ITGC and Sea level rise tomorrow at 2pm

Tomorrow, on the 5th November at 2pm, the UK Polar Network welcomes Mark Hehlen. Mark has been heavily involved with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) through his work at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge. The 7-year project has recently completed and produced knowledge vital for future sea level rise prediction. Mark will share these findings with us at the seminar. Please join us online on Wednesday at 2pm GMT on Google Meet by registering at Eventbrite.

Register your attendance at Eventbrite here!

Why West Antarctica is Critical to Sea Level Rise and the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration

Mark Hehlen

Abstract: 

The study of ice sheets is usually justified through the shear proportion of the water cycle that is locked up inside them: Antarctica holds about 60% of the world's fresh water, while Greenland holds 10%. There is clear geologic evidence that number and size of ice sheets varied throughout Earth's History. This means sea level changes. The current amount of ice locked up in Greenland and Antarctica can raise global average sea levels by about 70 meters. With nearly 1 billion people in the risk area, and the climate warming faster than anywhere in the observational record, this begs the question: 'how much and how fast?'.

 

While Greenland is trending to contribute a sizeable amount to sea level rise in the coming centuries, the largest uncertainties in the predictions come from the inherently unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). At the heart of WAIS lies the rapidly accelerating Thwaites Glacier - often called a canary in a coal mine, or the doomsday glacier in popular media. In this talk I will introduce you to Thwaites and why it is so critical. I will outline the work of 8 vast interdisciplinary science teams that studied Thwaites since 2017 as part of joint US-UK led International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration and the findings we discovered.

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