Polar Sedimentary Processes and Archives Workshop
The UKPN and Loughborough University are pleased to announce the Polar Sedimentary Processes and Archives workshop as the latest in the 2010 series of UKPN career skills workshops.
Location: Loughborough University
Dates: 18th and 19th of November 2010.
Sedimentary archives are key indicators of past environmental change across a range of timescales. Coupled with an understanding of contemporary sediment processes, they make it possible to reconstruct terrestrial, cryospheric, atmospheric, marine, and lacustrine conditions, which are vital for accurate modelling of future scenarios for climate change.
The workshop aims to explore the following themes:
• How is the polar sedimentary archive used to understand past environmental processes?
• How can past polar sedimentary processes be interpreted in terms of environmental and climatic change?
• What uncertainties are there in the sedimentary record (past and present), and what are the strengths and weaknesses of the differing sedimentary records available in polar regions?
• How can we use polar sediments from different sources to obtain a regional perspective on past and present environmental change that would benefit climate modelling?
We intend to appeal to early career researchers (MSc, PhD and post-doctoral researchers) working in polar, sub polar or alpine regions with an emphasis on sediments. The intention is to cover a range of sub-disciplines within the earth sciences including, glacial and periglacial sedimentology, limnology and palaeolimnology, hydrology, aeolian, marine and atmospheric sciences. This is not an exhaustive list and we welcome all polar researchers.
Proposed sessions include
• Glacial and periglacial sediments
• Lacustrine sediments
• Aeolian and Atmospheric sediments
• Marine sediments
• Arctic hydrology
• Modelling future change in the Polar regions
Planned sessions also include advice about publishing and a panel session on field research skills by leading academics.
The workshop will provide an opportunity for peer to peer networking, skills training, encouraging collaborations and increasing the technical and scientific knowledge of participants. All delegates will be encouraged to do an oral presentation or produce a poster about their research, and will be encouraged to help in the organisation of the workshop, such as chairing sessions.
It is anticipated that a small fee (no more than £10) will be charged for all delegates attending the workshop. This is a postgraduate event and costs will be kept to a minimum. The UKPN has donated some funding towards the conference which will be used to support travel and accommodation expenses of delegates. We invite all delegates to claim some funding towards the conference costs.
We ask interested participants to pre-register by the 31st of August 2010 by using the online questionnaire at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SBXD9MW. If you have any questions please email lboroworkshop@polarnetwork.org.
