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On 24 January 2024, the Earth & Environment Research Group welcomed external speaker, Dr Lauren Rawlins, who recently completed her PhD at the Department of Environment & Geography at the University of York. Lauren presented her PhD research investigating the impacts of climate change on the glaciers of Greenland. Through remote sensing of the Humboldt Glacier in northwest Greenland, Lauren observed significant seasonal surface melting extending 80 kilometres inland from the coast. The formation of pooled water and drainage networks on the glacier’s surface lowers the surface ‘albedo’ (meaning its ability to reflect incoming solar radiation) and contributes to more melting. The surface meltwater can also infiltrate down to the base of the glacier where it can speed up the ice sheet’s advance toward the comparatively warmer coast, leading to further melting. Lauren’s talk also took us down to SW Greenland where she performed uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys and some remarkable 3-D mapping of the smaller, Russell glacier, to study the distribution and interactions of surface meltwater with ‘cryoconite’ (dark patches containing algae, black carbon, and other dark coloured particulates that reduce surface albedo).

Lauren’s talk was riveting and, her research, scientifically rigorous. Understanding the sensitivity of the Greenland ice sheet to external factors is critical for predicting future change.

At the end of Lauren’s talk, our own Dr Adrian Dye asked her if she could offer any advice to our PhD and prospective PhD students. Amongst several words of wisdom, Lauren emphasised the importance of having a good rapport with your supervisor, ensuring that the University is a good fit, and, once the PhD project is underway, avoid biting off more than you can chew to avoid burnout.

Lauren’s recent publication can be found here https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/4729/2023/tc-17-4729-2023-discussion.html. For members of the research group who missed Lauren’s talk, you can find the recording on the Teams site.

On 15 November 2023, Teesside University’s School of Health and Life Sciences, spearheaded by its Geoscience cluster, hosted the 3rd Annual Tees Valley Youth Climate Conference. In total, 70 sixth-form students from across the region and their teachers spent the day reviewing the evidence for anthropogenic forcing of climate change and exploring a wealth of options for building sustainable societies in the future.

At the start of the day, Keynote Speaker, Rachel Murtagh, Nature Partnership Manager of the Tees Valley Nature Partnership reflected on significant recent progress in restoring the Tees Valley’s natural environment from the ravages of the industrial era but underscored the need for ongoing and concerted positive action.

“Engaging in nature-based solutions offers numerous opportunities to collaborate with the planet in adapting to and mitigating climate change. Simultaneously, these approaches promote greater biodiversity and enhance human well-being by providing increased access to green spaces.”

Our own TU Earth & Environment Researchers spent the rest of the morning providing the evidence and varied solutions for climate change and, in the afternoon, led sustainability workshops on topics including food systems, renewable energy, and climate change communication.

We welcomed local industry (e.g., Northern Gas Networks, Biffa Waste Management) and charitable trust (e.g., Tees Rivers Trust, Durham Wildlife Trust, Middlesbrough Environment City) representatives who shared their climate-positive agendas with students over lunch. Several TU Environmental Management MSc students presented climate science posters.

The 3rd Annual Tees Valley Youth Climate Conference was highly successful and we look forward to hosting another one next year. If you are interested in booking a place for your students, please contact Kathryn Howard at shlsrecruitment@tees.ac.uk.

On 8 December 2023, our Earth & Environment Research Group joined up with Teesside University’s student-led Environmental Research Society, to host a virtual talk by Durham University’s Professor James Baldini. Professor Baldini’s talk entitled ‘Meltwater, meteors, and volcanoes: the elusive cause of the Younger Dryas Event’ tackled the still hotly debated cause of the Younger Dryas Event (YDE).

Following the Last Glacial Maximum, the Northern Hemisphere was steadily warming until an abrupt return to near glacial conditions around 12,870 years ago. This abrupt cold event is a subject of intense debate with three hotly contested theories: glacial meltwater flooding into the North Atlantic, a meteor impact, and a high-magnitude volcanic eruption.

During the talk, Professor Baldini skilfully navigated through the pros and cons of each potential trigger, providing a balanced perspective, and debunking some common misconceptions about the Younger Dryas Event. Whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast in Earth and environmental sciences or simply curious about our planet’s intriguing history, this talk offers a captivating exploration into not only this, but the many similar events that occurred over the past 80,000 years of Earth’s climate.

The recording of Professor Baldini’s talk is available on our research group Teams site but anyone can catch a similar talk by Professor Baldini on the Northeast Geological Society’s YouTube Channel here https://youtu.be/Gqj0M8DpfoE?si=0IwZKqq7ZJlsdxZA. Don’t miss the chance to unravel the mysteries of the past and gain a deeper understanding of the forces that have shaped our planet.

On Thursday 25 May 2023, members of TU Environment Research Group joined the Yorkshire Geological Society’s webinar featuring Professor Richard Thompson who gave a fascinating account of the global environmental challenges surrounding plastic litter. Professor Thompson OBE FRS was the first to coin the term microplastics in 2004 (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1094559) and he continues to dedicate his career to researching microplastics in the environment, their impact on marine biota, and identifying sustainable solutions to this increasingly urgent issue. For more on Richard and his research, please see his University of Plymouth staff page at https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/richard-thompson.