Collaborative Research: REU Site: Svalbard REU: Holocene and Modern Climate Change in the Norwegian High Arctic

Since 2003, the PIs have been administering an REU site in the Svalbard archipelago for motivated geoscience undergraduate students, directly involving them in important climate change research and exposing them to the challenges and rewards of
conducting high latitude research. Funds are provided to continue the Svalbard REU program for another year, based on the success of the program. Student research focuses on the climatic and surficial processes that operate in rapidly changing
glacial, lacustrine, and fjord systems that may, in turn, archive the signature of anthropogenic changes in the high Arctic. Students define their research questions and design specific testable hypotheses throughout the program, complete their
research projects at their home institutions during the following academic year and present their results at a professional conference. Most alumni of the program have gone into graduate programs better prepared for fundamental research.