Back in June I had the opportunity to attend two workshops hosted by NOAA in Boulder, CO. The first workshop focused on bio-chemical-physical processes that affect the Arctic marine boundary layer (the lowest layer of the atmosphere). The boundary layer is important because essentially all interactions between biology, geology, and the atmosphere are mediated by this layer. There’s a certain simplicity to this role – of course the lowest layer of the atmosphere interacts most with things on the top of Earth’s crust – that underlies its importance. The role of the workshop was to get biologists, geophysicists, and atmospheric chemists talking to one another about the different processes in the boundary layer. Many of the researchers who try to model the system, to improve climate projections among other reasons, come from geophysical or applied math backgrounds. The need the help of observationalists; physicists, analytical chemists, and ecologists, to define the model inputs and assumptions and interpret the results.
The second meeting, involving many of the same participants, focused on the concept for a new interdisciplinary research cruise in the Arctic that may take place in the coming years. The cruise is titled the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, or MOSAiC. There’s a little information on it here. I tend to get very excited at these workshops, and in this case was motivated to write up a short summary on the state of Arctic sea ice microbiology (from my biased and incomplete perspective). I found it to be a useful exercise that forced me to take a step back from the every day details of research (like fighting with R, see previous post). Many thanks to the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) for the travel funds to attend both meetings!
For those interested the summary can be found here
