Experiential Learning for Undergraduates in Greenland

An experiential learning opportunity enlisted students from the University of Michigan, Virginia Tech University and the University at Albany for a ten-day expedition to Greenland in June, 2019. The expedition included the opportunity to do authentic scientific measurements in an area of high interest in climate research and included four male students and nine female students. It also offered the opportunity for the students to interact with representatives from Greenland who introduced the cultural heritage of the area and described their efforts to make the Kujataa area of Greenland an UNESCO World Heritage location.

Participants made atmospheric measurements near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland including measurements of radiation flux, upper-atmospheric rawinsonde, pilot balloon, solar photometer, stream flow, drone mapping and aerosol concentrations. We were able to camp for two nights near the face of Russell Glacier and to hike out onto the ice sheet at Point 660. We also visited Summit Camp to see some of the experiments being conducted at that high altitude site.

The expedition also rediscovered the camp of William Hobbs, a Unversity of Michigan research who established some of the first measurements of the Greenland weather and climate in his 1926-1927 expeditions. This area was mapped using drones for its historical significance and the students were asked to read the reports from that expedition to compare with their own experiences. Ultimately the student experiences will be compiled into a "Teach-Out" and offered online so the lessons learned can be shared with a wider population.

This presentation will overview the steps we followed to organize the expedition, how the expedition was organized to maximize experiential learning opportunities, the instruments students used to make experiments and representative results of the expedition including drone-based visualizations of the Russell Glacier terminus. Moreover, the presentation will include the voices of the students recounting their experiences and their assessment of the impact the opportunity had for them.