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More than 30 scientists from 11 states and four countries, led by Hamilton College Geosciences Professor Eugene Domack, will embark in January 2010 upon one of the most complex interdisciplinary Antarctic expeditions ever funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). During the two-month trip the scientists will be addressing a significant regional problem with global change implications, the abrupt environmental change in Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf System. The expedition is part of the NSF’s International Polar Year (IPY) program.

The National Science Foundation-funded LARISSA project, for which Eugene Domack is principal investigator, was the focus of an article, titled “New scientific mode - LARISSA represents one of the biggest IPY projects,” posted on Sept. 18 in The Antarctic Sun. The article detailed the project’s next expedition, beginning January 2010, which will bring together more than 30 scientists.

The Patagonia region of Chile has some of the highest wind potentials in the world, peaking at nearly 200,000 megawatts of power and sweeping by at five or 10 meters per second. Natalie Elking ’12 and Isabelle Cannell ’11 began to develop an interest in this obvious but overlooked source of energy after writing a group paper on what they believed was the proper approach to wilderness conservation in Patagonia. J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Geosciences Eugene Domack taught the course, and expressed interest in editing their paper and trying to get it published. As the topic moved more into the realm of wind and tidal power issues, Domack suggested a trip to Chile to investigate the matter. Elking and Cannell agreed, and enthusiastically accompanied him this past May.

Eugene Domack, the J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Geosciences, attended the 16th International Symposium on Polar Sciences in June in Incheon, Korea, where he presented an invited talk titled “Larsen Ice Shelf System (LARISSA): A Multi-disciplinary Earth Systems Approach to Antarctic Environmental Change.”

Eugene Domack, the J.W. Johnson Family Professor of Geosciences, Lab Manager/Research Assistant for Antarctic Research Megan Crocker, EMSI Instrumentation Technician Bruce Wegter and Instrumentation Specialist Greg Rahn recently attended the 15th annual Continuous Flow-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (CF-IRMS) conference at Cornell University.

Eugene Domack, the J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Geosciences, and Hamilton students Natalie Elking '12 (geoscience) and Izzy Cannell '11, (environmental studies) are spending part of the summer in South America to fact-find issues related to energy development in Chilean Patagonia.

The LARISSA team met at National Science Foundation for a Principal Investigators meeting on May 5 and 6 in Washington, D.C. LARISSA is a National Science Foundation-funded initiative that joins an international, interdisciplinary team together to address a significant regional problem with global change implications, the abrupt environmental change in Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf System. Lead Principal Investigator (PI) and Project Director Eugene Domack, the J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Studies, and Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Biology Michael McCormick attended along with several representatives from National Geographic Magazine.

Eugene Domack, the J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Studies, presented an invited talk titled "Collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Climate Forcing, Sediment Record, and Biotic Consequences" to the Geological Survey of Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia, on Tuesday, May 27.

Hamilton College is participating in the International Polar Year (IPY) via Larsen Ice Shelf System – Antarctica (LARISSA), a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded and Hamilton College supported initiative. The program has been launched and has established a Web presence. LARISSA brings an international, interdisciplinary team together to address a significant regional problem with global change implications.

The published work of Eugene Domack, the Joel W. Johnson Family Professor of Geosciences, was cited in the recently released IPCC Climate Report, The Physical Science Basis, (Chapter 6 Palaeoclimate). The IPCC is the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that issues state of the earth's climate reports based upon the recent scientific findings, greenhouse gas emissions and predictions for the future of the earth's climate. The final report of the organization was issued on November 17. Jonathan Overpeck '79 is a coordinating lead author for the Palaeoclimate chapter. A scientist at the University of Arizona, he was one of the international body of climate scientists who authored the first IPCC report.