Cryosphere and Climate

Department of Geography

Cryosphere and Climate

Research Group

It is well-known that in Calgary, it can snow any month of the year. Combined with our proximity to the Rocky Mountains, this is a fabulous place to study snow and ice. Several faculty members in the Department of Geography work in cryospheric and climate science, including both mountain and Arctic regions. This includes research into permafrost, sea ice, glaciology, and alpine weather and climate.

A cluster of approximately 20 faculty members and graduate students work in this area, including remote sensing, numerical modelling, and field studies in the mountains of western Canada, the Arctic Ocean, the Mackenzie Delta, Greenland, Iceland, Bylot Island, and Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic. Undergraduate and graduate courses offered in the Department support this research focus.

Research Projects

  • Arctic Coastal and Near-Shore Dynamics
  • Arctic Glacier-Permafrost Interactions
  • ArcticNET – Understanding and Modelling Ocean-Sea Ice-Atmosphere Biogeochemical Coupling in a Changing Climate
  • Remote Sensing of Snow Covered Arctic Sea Ice Processes
  • MEOPAR – Safer Shipping in Arctic Waters
  • Churchill Marine Observatory
  • Foothills Climate Array
  • Glacier-Climate Processes
  • Ice Age Climate Dynamics
  • Ice Core Studies in the Canadian Arctic