Author: Margie Turrin7

Margie Turrin, is Education Coordinator at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory where she develops and runs science education projects for groups from informal community education, to K12 and undergraduate students. Her projects and publications range from engaging students and the public in the polar regions, understanding our Earth and environment, human interactions and impacts on their environment, Hudson River education, biodiversity, mapping and spatial skills assessments. Visit website »

Weaving the Data Strands Together

Holidays vary around the world with their dates and traditions, so it should have come as no surprise that we would find a holiday in our scheduled Greenland visit. Today, April 26, is “Store Bededag,” which translates as “Great Prayer Day,” brought by the Danish to Greenland when they ventured to this island from their…
An Ice Landing

Ice sheets are large enough that they can create their own weather. Large mountains of ice several miles thick, they stretch into higher elevations and gather the clouds around them. The sunny but cold weather (-21 to -9 degrees C) is a tease to the group ready each morning and waiting for clearance, day after…
Raven Camp

Ravens dominate the Kangerlussuaq landscape. Perhaps it is their deep ebony color and solid frame, or perhaps it is the white stillness of winter with little else but humans moving about, but whatever the cause the ravens are a recognized presence. The towering black hill rising above the glacially carved fjord is aptly named Raven…
Greenland Welcomes Icepod and the 2013 Science Season

Icepod joined the first large wave of science teams headed to Greenland via the NYANG LC130 transport system. Four LC130 aircraft were packed to bursting with pallets of equipment, supplies and science teams anxious to get to their designated research locations.
IcePod Clears Hurdles and Takes to the Air

The morning briefing room was filled with layers of engineers and technicians from the civilian side, matched with pilots, navigators and air support staff from the Air National Guard side. Spanning the middle were the two Systems Project Office (S.P.O.) representatives. Adding new instrumentation and equipment to any aircraft requires intense scrutiny, but on a…
Welcoming a New Instrument for ‘Probing’ the Polar Regions

In 2009 it was just a dream. But creative vision, sweat equity, good partnerships and funding can bring dreams to reality, and 2013 delivered. It was four years ago that a small team of Lamont scientists, polar geophysicist Robin Bell, engineer Nick Frearson and ocean climate physicist Chris Zappa, began discussions of an instrument that…
Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

Greenland is surrounded by a ring of high mountains that work like fingers encircling the ice to hold it in place. Ice sliding from between these “fingers” into the surrounding waters results in a major human impact – Sea Level Rise.
Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…
Clouding our Image

Even in idyllic Greenland some days start to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”, however the turn of events today broke that thread. Over our two weeks in Kangerlussuaq we have ended our evenings with a science and weather report, and the hope of flying the program over both coasts. Each morning we wake up,…

Weaving the Data Strands Together

Holidays vary around the world with their dates and traditions, so it should have come as no surprise that we would find a holiday in our scheduled Greenland visit. Today, April 26, is “Store Bededag,” which translates as “Great Prayer Day,” brought by the Danish to Greenland when they ventured to this island from their…
An Ice Landing

Ice sheets are large enough that they can create their own weather. Large mountains of ice several miles thick, they stretch into higher elevations and gather the clouds around them. The sunny but cold weather (-21 to -9 degrees C) is a tease to the group ready each morning and waiting for clearance, day after…
Raven Camp

Ravens dominate the Kangerlussuaq landscape. Perhaps it is their deep ebony color and solid frame, or perhaps it is the white stillness of winter with little else but humans moving about, but whatever the cause the ravens are a recognized presence. The towering black hill rising above the glacially carved fjord is aptly named Raven…
Greenland Welcomes Icepod and the 2013 Science Season

Icepod joined the first large wave of science teams headed to Greenland via the NYANG LC130 transport system. Four LC130 aircraft were packed to bursting with pallets of equipment, supplies and science teams anxious to get to their designated research locations.
IcePod Clears Hurdles and Takes to the Air

The morning briefing room was filled with layers of engineers and technicians from the civilian side, matched with pilots, navigators and air support staff from the Air National Guard side. Spanning the middle were the two Systems Project Office (S.P.O.) representatives. Adding new instrumentation and equipment to any aircraft requires intense scrutiny, but on a…
Welcoming a New Instrument for ‘Probing’ the Polar Regions

In 2009 it was just a dream. But creative vision, sweat equity, good partnerships and funding can bring dreams to reality, and 2013 delivered. It was four years ago that a small team of Lamont scientists, polar geophysicist Robin Bell, engineer Nick Frearson and ocean climate physicist Chris Zappa, began discussions of an instrument that…
Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

Greenland is surrounded by a ring of high mountains that work like fingers encircling the ice to hold it in place. Ice sliding from between these “fingers” into the surrounding waters results in a major human impact – Sea Level Rise.
Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…
Clouding our Image

Even in idyllic Greenland some days start to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”, however the turn of events today broke that thread. Over our two weeks in Kangerlussuaq we have ended our evenings with a science and weather report, and the hope of flying the program over both coasts. Each morning we wake up,…