Round 2

Tim Kalvelage

Nationality

German

Career-level

Mid-Career

Host institution

German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) & Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate (iC3)

German and Norway

Residency project

During my residency at GFZ in Potsdam and iC3 in Tromsø (months 4-5), I will explore how microbes living on and below glaciers cope with the extreme conditions they face and how they affect the earth system: from accelerating glacier retreat and sea level rise, to greenhouse gas production and the release of nutrients and toxic metals from rock flour, which are washed into the ocean and can have positive or negative impacts on marine food webs.

These aspects are rarely covered in the media because of the complex biogeochemistry of glacier microbes. Yet, they are important considerations for climate change mitigation and adaption, fisheries, and human health as glaciers melt.

To learn about various facets of glacier microbiology, I will collaborate with scientists with different research foci: GFZ host Liane G. Benning is an expert on ice surface iogeochemistry. She is PI in the ERC Synergy Grant project DEEP PURPLE, which investigates Greenland ice sheet darkening from algal blooms, and the EU Doctoral Network IceBio, which addresses fundamental questions in glacier microbial ecology. iC3 host Jemma Wadham studies sub-glacial processes. She is also PI in IceBio and involved in projects such as on the release of
methane and metals from glaciers.

I will have access to their labs and accompany field work for reporting and photography. GFZ has invited me on 2-week campaigns in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, and Iceland in winter and spring 2025, respectively. At iC3, I will cover sampling in the early melt season in the nearby Lyngen Alps. This will result in a narrative piece on basic research in the high Arctic during polar night and a feature on glacier microbiology. Photographs will be shown in public exhibitions and complement a book on polar ice and ocean expeditions.

My stay at GFZ and iC3 will be a unique opportunity to tap into a rich expertise on the cryosphere and polar seas, extent my network in the scientific community, and develop new story leads.