Collaborative Research: NNA Research: Global changes, local impacts: Study of glacial fjords, ecosystems and communities in Greenland

航行新北极(NNA)是NSF的十大想法之一。NNA项目解决了快速变化的北极地区汇聚的科学挑战。北极研究需要为国家、更大区域和全球的经济、安全和韧性提供信息。NNA增强了从地方到国际的新的研究伙伴关系，使下一代北极研究人员多样化，加强正式和非正式教育的努力，并在适当的情况下整合共同创造知识。该奖项通过在以下NNA重点领域解决社会系统、自然环境和建筑环境之间的相互作用来实现这一目标的一部分：北极居民、数据和观测、预测和全球影响。峡湾是连接冰川覆盖的土地和海洋的狭长海湾。冰川融化的水和沉积物的释放使这些水域营养丰富。这些条件支持健康的海洋生态系统，拥有高密度的海鸟、海洋哺乳动物和鱼类。因此，许多靠捕鱼和狩猎为生的北极定居点位于冰川峡湾附近。北极变暖正在推动冰川的消退，导致海水变暖，从而降低了峡湾生态系统的繁荣。此外，商业捕鱼、资源开采和旅游等人类活动对沿海地区的影响越来越大。对北极沿海边缘变化的研究主要集中在冰盖变化的影响上，对周围峡湾系统的重视相对较少。更少的研究试图综合自然和社会制度变化对峡湾的影响。这个项目的目标是了解这些变化的综合影响如何影响由冰、峡湾、海洋生态系统和依赖它们谋生的当地社区组成的更大的峡湾系统。这一目标将通过一个由海洋学家、冰川学家、气候科学家、环境历史学家、渔业和生态系统专家组成的跨学科团队对格陵兰峡湾的物理、生物和社会系统相互作用进行详细研究来实现。这项研究的重点是格陵兰的两个不同的峡湾，以了解它们的独特特征如何影响冰-峡湾-海洋生物-当地人民系统。信息将传播给美国和格陵兰政府、社区和其他利益相关者，以制定适应战略，以在不断变化的北极维持峡湾系统。该项目的目标是提高对维持冰川峡湾生态系统的物理和生物过程的理解。这将通过综合分析历史数据、收集新数据和模型预测来实现。具体的研究活动包括：i)对前往格陵兰两个峡湾的游轮进行抽样，以获得物理、生物和化学海洋学测量结果；ii)海洋系泊设备，测量这些系统的季节性变化；iii)收集鱼卵和幼体，用于测量和模拟峡湾系统的迁移；iv)遥感和区域尺度建模，以评估峡湾地区的冰川变化；v)利用气候和冰盖模型得出未来的预测；vi)通过与格陵兰合作伙伴开展的档案和实地研究，核对和分析当地的社会历史。结果将被纳入对影响地方和国家生态系统可持续性的气候、生态系统和社会力量的详细比较分析中。美国和格陵兰研究人员之间的合作将产生可用于制定适应性战略和可持续实践的信息，从而使社会受益。本科生和研究生的培训为社会带来了额外的好处，研究生将获得更多的成果，这些成果不仅将通过大学教学和学术出版分享，还将通过普通语言出版物、新网站、电影和其他多媒体作品、公开讲座和新的国际合作伙伴与美国和格陵兰的更广泛的公众分享。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) is one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas. NNA projects address convergence scientific challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic. The Arctic research is needed to inform the economy, security, and resilience of the Nation, the larger region, and the globe. NNA empowers new research partnerships from local to international scales, diversifies the next generation of Arctic researchers, enhances efforts in formal and informal education, and integrates the co-production of knowledge where appropriate. This award fulfills part of that aim by addressing interactions among social systems, natural environments, and the built environment in the following NNA focus areas: Arctic Residents, Data and Observations, Forecasting, and Global Impact.Fjords are long narrow inlets that connect glacier-covered land to the ocean. The release of meltwater and sediments from the glaciers makes these waters nutrient rich. These conditions support healthy marine ecosystems with high densities of seabirds, marine mammals, and fishes. As a result, many Arctic settlements whose livelihoods depend on fishing and hunting are located near glacial fjords. Arctic warming is driving the retreat of glaciers, resulting in a warming of the ocean waters that has decreases the prosperity of fjord ecosystems. In addition, human activities such as commercial fishing, resource extraction, and tourism increasingly influence coastal regions. Research on changes in Arctic coastal margins has focused primarily on the impact of changing ice sheets, with comparatively less emphasis on the surrounding fjord systems. Fewer studies still seek to integrate the impacts of changing natural and social systems on fjords. The goal of this project is to understand how the combined impact of these changes affect the greater fjord system comprised of the ice, the fjords, the marine ecosystem, and the local communities that rely on them for their livelihood. This goal will be achieved through a detailed study of physical, biological, and social system interactions in Greenland fjords by an interdisciplinary team of oceanographers, glaciologists, climate scientists, environmental historians, fisheries, and ecosystem experts. The focus of this study will be on two different fjords in Greenland to understand how their unique characteristics influence the ice-fjord-marine life-local people system. Information will be disseminated to US and Greenlandic governments, communities, and other stakeholders to develop adaptive strategies to sustain fjord systems in a changing Arctic.The goal of this project is to improve understanding of the physical and biological processes that sustain ecosystems in glacial fjords. This will be achieved through an integrated analysis of historical data, collection of new data, and model projections. Specific research activities include: i) sampling cruises to two fjords in Greenland to obtain physical, biological, and chemical oceanographic measurements; ii) ocean mooring to measure the seasonal variability of these systems; iii) collection of fish eggs and larvae for measurement and modeling of transport in fjord systems using particle tracking models; iv) remote sensing and regional-scale modeling to assess glacier changes in the fjords; v) use of climate and ice sheet models to derive future projections; and vi) collation and analysis of local societal histories through archival and on-site research with Greenlandic partners. Results will be integrated into a detailed comparative analysis of the climatic, ecosystem, and societal forces influencing ecosystem sustainability at the local and national level. The collaboration between US and Greenlandic researchers will benefit society by generating information that can be used to help develop adaptive strategies and sustainable practices. Additional benefits to society result from the training of undergraduate and graduate students, and a postgraduate fellow Results will be results will be shared not only through university teaching and academic publishing but also with the broader public in the USA and Greenland through plain-language publications, new websites, a film and other multimedia productions, public lectures, and new international partnerships.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.