Experience of education of new generation of young scientists

in the field of sea and polar researches

1Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), Russia, 2Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR), Germany,

3Afred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany, 4 Sankt Petersburg State University, Russia

Timokhov1 L.A., H. Kasssens2, I.V. Fedorova1,

J. Hoelemann2,3, N.V. Kaledin4, S.M. Pryamikov1

Ice

drift

Atmospheric circulation

Area of Laptev Sea System

Pacific Water

Atlantic Water

River runoff

Russian-German Cooperation in Polar and Marine Sciences

Since 1991 Russian and German scientists have jointly investigated

the environmental history of the Siberian Arctic

German-Russian program “Laptev Sea System” includes:

1.Marine project “Global Change in Eurasians Arctic Seas: frontal zones and polynyas in the Laptev Sea”

2. Terrestrial project

“Samoylov Island Laboratory: Hydro-biological investigationsin the Lena Delta and polygonal lakes”

3. German-Russian project

“Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Sciences“

Main goal: TO STUDY FRONTAL ZONES, POLYNYA SYSTEMS AND ATHERS AS INDICATORS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY THE

LAPTEV SEA REGION

MAJOR TARGETS:• IDENTIFY THE COPLEX PHISICAL PROCESSES

THAT ARE DRIVING CHANGES IN THE NATURE OF THE MARINE ENVIROMENT IN THE LAPTEV SEA

• ASSES COSEQUENCES OF A CHANGING PHISICAL ENVIROMENT FOR ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS AND COMMUNITIES

1. Project “Global Change in Eurasians Arctic Seas:

frontal zones and polynyas in the Laptev Sea”

Laptev Sea Flaw Polynya

Kapitan Dranitsyn: Laptev Sea, 1995MAJOR DELIVERABLES

• Elaborate a conceptual model of the complex estuaries-seas-Arctic Basin-atmosphere system

• Creation of models of marine systems as the basis for diagnosis and long-range prediction of the change in the state of the Arctic Seas.

2. Terrestrial project

“Samoylov Island Laboratory: Hydro-biological investigations in the Lena Delta and polygonal

lakes”

Main goals: • Hydro-biological investigationsin the Lena Delta and polygonal lakes(AARI, LDR) • Geomicrobiology in Periglacial Regions:Carbon Dynamic and Microbial Communities• Sensitivity of the permafrost systemunder a changing climate• A multiscale perspectivecarbon cycle in polygonal lakesnitrogen cycle and microbial processes

Ice complex, Lena Delta, 2000

Paleoclimate projectMain goal:

Paleoclimate investigation

of l’gygytgyn Lake in Chukotka

Goals• to promote the progress of research and closer

cooperation with scientists from Russia and Germany

• to develop analitical base for analyses of water, soil and biological samples

• to support highly qualified Russian scientists in polar and marine science

• to educate studets (POMOR-program) and young scientists organizing summer-schools, training work-shops, science meetings

• to initiate and coordinate international research projects

3. GERMAN-RUSSIAN OTTO SCHMIDT LABORATORY FOR POLAR

AND MARINE SCIENCES1999

2000

2006

• In 2000, the OSL was opened at the State Research Center of the Russian Federation the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in Saint Petersburg.

• It is named after the Russian polar researcher Otto Yulievich Schmidt, who conducted several polar expeditions during the 1920s and 1930s.

• The Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Research (OSL) is a milestone in Russian-German cooperation in the field of Arctic research.

STRUCTURE OF OSL

• To fulfill its tasks in research and education, the

OSL is equipped with a state-of-the-art laboratory for

polar and marine research, computer workstations

incl. periphery and an international library.

• Meetings and workshops of up to 15 participants

can be accommodated.

•The OSL project is funded by the German Federal

Ministry of Education and Research, the Russian

Ministry of Education and Science, the Arctic and

Antarctic Research Institute, the Alfred Wegener

Institute for Polar and Marine Research, and the

Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR).

More information: www.otto-schmidt-laboratory.de

LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

Analytical work:Sublimation, hormonization; geochemical analysis Spores and pollen analysis ; the macrofossil analysis;Identification of biogenic elements ;analysis of carbon and nitrogen content and so on

Analytical equipment:IonochromotographAutoanalyzer for nutrients, SKALAR,System Microscope, OLIMPUS SZ-9, System Microscope, OLIMPUS BX-60, C/N Analyzer Laboratory Fluorometer TD – 700 And others (more than 15)

Computer center

12 Computers 3 Laptops 2 Servers 2 Multimedia Projector Plotter Printers Fax Scanners

Library Books

Journals

E-library resources

OSL ACTIVITY

• RESEARCH PROJECTS • OSL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM• LABORATORY STUDY• EDUCATION, MEETINGS, COURSES • COLABORATION

Joint projects, Expeditions

OSL Fellowship Program

The scientific subject has to be focused on the problems related

to the Russian-German joint scientific projects.

The fellowship program pairs master students, graduated

research assistants, and postdoctoral fellows with experienced

mentors and challenges them to participate in ongoing research

projects.

Research projects (RP) are selected and approved by OSL

Advisory Board (OAB) and financially supported by BMBF. An

individual RP are accomplished by a principal investigator and 1

or 2 young scientists (Ph.D. students or students). Additionally

the Russian experts can be granted in order to work out some

specific problems in frame of the RP. These grants provided by

OSL will help to involve the leading scientists into the

Laboratory’s work.

The issue of the grants is considered by OAB during its annual

meetings. The grants have one-year duration. This time can be

prolonged up to tree years for the executors of the RP.

The existing bilateral projects in polar and marine sciences

already provide an excellent base for the laboratory.

OSL Fellowship-2010 Totally 16 proposals have been applied for competition and 40

members.

According to competition results 13 teams (Principal Investigator + 2 PhD students or students) and 3 individual projects have been granted from:

• State Hydrological Institute, St.Petersburg• St.Petersburg State University• Moscow State University• Paleontological Institute RAS, Moscow• P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS, Moscow• VNIIOkeangeologia, St.Petersburg• Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of Roshydromet• V.I.Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute FEB RAS,

Vladivostok• White Sea Biological Station, Zoological Institute RAS,

St.Petersburg Rekant P., Tumskoy V., Khasanov, P.: The offshore permafrost evolution in Laptev Sea after

the Holocene transgression. A combination of the high-resolution seismic and onshore drilling approaches.

Taldenkova, E., Stepanova, A., Ovsepyan, Y.: Late Holocene climate variability in the Laptev Sea area: Do benthic assemblages document it?

Polyakova, Ye., Klyuvitkina, T., Razina, V.: Microfossil records from the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sediments of the Laptev Sea: Summary of results.

Kirillov, S., Makhotin, M., Novikhin, A.: Long-term variability of environmental properties in the Laptev and East Siberian seas shelves caused by the recent changes of the large-scale atmospheric circulation over the Arctic.

and others.

Work with young Scientifics Summer School Training courses (analytical equipment) E-library course POMOR master program

International MeetingsConferences

Visits of VIP

Ministry bilateral meetings

• More then 250 scientists from 16 research institutions and universities in Kazan, Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Yakutsk participated in the OSL fellowship program since 2000.

• Fields of research: meteorology, oceanography, marine chemistry, biology, and geosciences.

• More then 300 scientific articles have been published and 600 talks and posters have been presented at scientific conferences.

• 70 fellows participated in the visiting scientists program.

• From participants of the OSL fellowship program by this time 3 are examined on second doctor's degree and 18 PhD theses, 5 are examined on magister dissertations, 17 continue training in postgraduate study.

• S.Berezovskaja in 2001 as the best graduate of HIGH SCHOOL, has received the grant of the President of the Russian Federation for one year for improvement of professional skill in Germany.

• A.Stepanova in 2003 has received a gold medal of the St.-Petersburg state university for the best degree work.

• T.S.Kljuvitkina in 2008 has received the research grant of the President of the Russian Federation (№ МК-827.2008.5) for support of young Russian scientists for the project on a theme «Evolution ice-hydrological and sediment conditions in the seas of east sector of the Russian Arctic regions (Laptev, East-Siberian, Chukchi Seas) in the conditions of global climatic changes and sea level fluctuations». Funding • Russian and German Ministries for Educationand Science, AARI, AWI, IFM-GEOMAR

Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar andMarine Research 2000-2009

What happened in the Arctic Summer 2007?

North Pole, 01.08.07

Motivation

Were is she?

On the North Pole in winter?

In the Barents Sea in summer?

(in Kerr et al., 2002)

The Arctic Ocean ice

Cover in summer 2050

The Arctic Ocean without ice cover?

Major areas of oil and gas development and potential

development in the Artic, and major shipping routes and

possible new routes through Arctic waters [AMAP, 2006]

What may happen with the

Arctic infrastructure?

Coupled climate models predict a dramatic decrease of the ice cover, which could result in a nearly ice

free Arctic Ocean at least during summer at the end of this century.

Thank you