Undergraduate education and research opportunities in the Siberian Arctic: The Polaris Project

Background/Question/Methods

The Polaris Project is an innovative international collaboration among undergraduate students, teachers, and scientists. Funded by the National Science Foundation since 2008, the Polaris Project trains future leaders in arctic research and informs the public about the Arctic and global climate change. During the annual month-long field expedition to the Siberian Arctic, undergraduate students conduct cutting-edge investigations that advance scientific understanding of the changing Arctic.  There is increasing evidence that inland freshwater ecosystems play a significant role in the global carbon cycle due to the metabolism of terrestrial-derived organic matter as it moves in fluvial networks from land to sea. Recent research suggests that Arctic watersheds may increasingly augment the global role of freshwater ecosystems in the flux of terrestrial carbon to the atmosphere and ocean as a result of global warming. Here we document the bioavailability of dissolved and suspended organic matter in a wide variety of freshwater environments (including shallow wetlands, stratified lakes, small streams, major tributaries, and main-channel locations) throughout Siberia’s Kolyma River watershed. In addition, we share our integrative approach to incorporating undergraduates in Arctic ecosystem research and sharing undergraduate research and experiences in traditional classroom settings.

Results/Conclusions

The Polaris Project team has made significant advances in our understanding of the carbon dynamics of the Kolyma River through a series of student led, peer-reviewed publications and scientific presentations. We have quantified carbon dioxide fluxes and organic carbon composition and bioavailability among the Kolyma River watershed's aquatic ecosystems.  In mass, our findings suggest that the Kolyma River watershed is actively transporting organic carbon from permafrost to the atmosphere and Arctic Ocean. The location of this work is noteworthy in that the Kolyma River is the world’s largest watershed underlain by continuous permafrost and has one of the largest global reserves of soil carbon.  The station is poised to be an important sentinel location for studying long-term ecosystem change in response to global warming.  The Polaris Project is preparing future leaders in Arctic science and integrating Arctic-based, undergraduate research opportunities into college classrooms throughout the U.S and Russia.