Seminar

Seminar – 8 May – The Effects of Environmental Controls on Epigenetic Ice-Wedge Cracking.

Gabriel Karam will be presenting The Effects of Environmental Controls on Epigenetic Ice-Wedge Cracking.

Date: 8 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Ice-wedge polygons are a widespread periglacial feature in the continuous permafrost regions. To better understand the mechanical aspects of their formation, the extended finite-element method was employed to simulate the cracking process. Four case studies will be presented, which evaluate the effects different environmental controls and explore the growth of wedges over multiple years.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – 1 May – Advancing Arctic coastal erosion measurement and monitoring through UAV-SfM and object-based image analysis.

Andrew Clark will be presenting Advancing Arctic coastal erosion measurement and monitoring through UAV-SfM and object-based image analysis.

Date: 1 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Arctic coasts are vast and exhibit some of the highest rates of erosion in the World due to the presence of permafrost. Rates of erosion are expected to increase with warming air and water temperatures, reductions in Arctic sea ice extent and duration, sea level rise, and increased storm severity and frequency. This presentation will describe the use of emerging technologies (UAV-SfM and OBIA) to further our understanding of Arctic coastal processes, specifically, volumetric erosion, and broad scale delineation of multiple shoreline proxies for monitoring and quantification of erosion.

Andrew Clark
By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – 17 April – Climate change induced increases in maintenance costs for Yukon highways, 1994–2022.

Astrid Schetselaar will be presenting Climate change induced increases in maintenance costs for Yukon highways, 1994–2022.

Date: 17 April 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Transportation networks in Canada’s North are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising ground temperatures and permafrost thaw have been a cause of road damage as the bearing capacity of the ground is significantly reduced. Hydrological changes may further induce hazards, such as landslides, washouts, and icings (aufeis). Astrid’s presentation will outline a retrospective assessment of climate change-induced maintenance expenditures for highways in Yukon. Changes in costs are linked to climate, physiographic, conditions and underlying permafrost.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar video – SIKU: the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network as a tool for Indigenous-led research and meaningful research engagement with Indigenous communities.

The NSERC PermafrostNet seminar video on SIKU is now available.

Sophie Crump presented her seminar on SIKU: the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network as a tool for Indigenous-led research and meaningful research engagement with Indigenous communities. Sophie presented examples of how SIKU is being used to document permafrost in the environment and opened up the discussion on using the platform for both knowledge sharing and monitoring of permafrost.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

New seminar videos – Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands and Compacting snowbanks to lower ground temperatures.

Two new NSERC PermafrostNet seminar recordings are now available.

Alexandre Chiasson presented his seminar on Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands across the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost, central Mackenzie Valley.

Pat Jardine presented his seminar on Field experiments investigating snowpack compaction as a method of lowering ground temperatures.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – 31 May – Field experiments investigating snowpack compaction as a method of lowering ground temperatures.

Pat Jardine will be presenting the next NSERC PermafrostNet seminar on Field experiments investigating snowpack compaction as a method of lowering ground temperatures.

Date: 31 May 2023
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Pat will present his work on a field experiment to assess ground surface temperature by snowpack compaction alongside two Yukon highways. This simple method can reduce the risk of damage from thawing permafrost to highway embankments.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – 19 April – Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands across the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost, central Mackenzie Valley.

Alexandre Chiasson will be presenting the next NSERC PermafrostNet seminar on Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands across the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost, central Mackenzie Valley.

Date: 19 April 2023
Time: 12:00-13:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Alexandre’s work focuses on peatland morphological variations through the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost in the central Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories and will specifically highlight the unique characteristics of dendritic peat plateaus (DPPs). Using statistical, remote-sensing, and mapping analyses, Alexandre will explore the differences in peatland morphology and how these peatland landforms responses have changed over time depending on a combination of climatic factors and environment settings. This webinar promises to provide valuable insights into the fascinating world of peatlands by highlighting new peat plateau landforms and their responses to global warming.

StoryMap on dendritic peat plateaus

By Tristan MacLean, ago
Emilie Stewart-Jones inspecting rock temperature

Seminar – 5 April – Rock walls of western Canada: Evaluating the relationships between permafrost, topography and climate.

Emilie Stewart-Jones will be presenting the next NSERC PermafrostNet seminar on Rock walls of western Canada: Evaluating the relationships between permafrost, topography and climate.

Date: 5 April 2023
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

In this seminar Emilie will talk about the research she has been conducting for her Masters project. She will be presenting the results from a new method for modelling ground/rock temperatures in remote locations and will be demonstrating its potential for evaluating rock fall events.

You can now also see February’s seminar – Exploring the interactions between permafrost, ground ice and soil organic carbon. by Samuel Gagnon on our seminar series webpage.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – Exploring the interactions between permafrost, ground ice and soil organic carbon.

The February 2023 PermafrostNet seminar will be presented by Samuel Gagnon on Exploring the interactions between permafrost, ground ice and soil organic carbon.

Date: 22 February 2023
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

In this seminar Samuel will discuss his past projects and how his work has been mostly focussed on two main themes: carbon and ground ice. He’ll show how the two can interact together, discuss some of the links with work with PermafrostNet’s Theme 1, and share insights from his work on those two main topics. 

You can now also see January’s seminar – Permafrost and mercury: revisiting a global hazard assessment at the regional scale in the Hudson Bay Lowlands by Adam Kirkwood on our seminar series webpage.

By Tristan MacLean, ago