Lija Treibergs, research associate for the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI), is headed to Antarctica for three months starting in late November to support the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research project.
During her trip, which will be her second on Antarctica, Treibergs will be conducting field-based research on lakes in the dry valleys and participating in laboratory analysis at McMurdo Station.
The McMurdo Dry Valleys form the largest relatively ice-free area of the Antarctic continent. Funded by the National Science Foundation and collaboratively run by researchers worldwide, the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research project began in 1992 to study the dry valley ecosystems. It is one of 28 LTER sites around the world where researchers are learning how different ecological systems function and change through time. With low temperatures and precipitation and lack of higher-order plants and animals, the Dry Valleys is a unique site in this network.
Treibergs was hired at AWI in March 2020 to help understand how threats, like climate change, impact freshwater systems in the Adirondacks. The project in Antarctica will parallel her work in the Adirondacks in hopes of broadening AWI’s understanding of global lake ecosystems.
While in Antarctica Treibergs is expected to share her experiences and how they connect to the Adirondacks on AWI’s social media channels.
The AWI is making a concerted effort to connect with Paul Smith’s College students and encourage them to follow Treibergs’ posts. Treibergs is hoping her work will help students see the application of techniques and concepts that they learn in their classes in what appears at first glance a completely different environment from the Adirondacks.
The public is invited to learn about polar research with Treibergs at an in-presentation on Wednesday, November 2nd at 6:30pm in the Adirondack Room at the Joan Weill Adirondack Library on the Paul Smith’s College campus. The presentation will also be broadcast on Zoom.
For more information visit the AWI website.
Photo: Lija Treibergs in Antartica courtesy Anna Bergstrom.
Leave a Reply