Ice algae and darkening feedbacks on the Greenland Ice Sheet (NERC GW4+ DTP Projects 2018-19)

The main aim of this studentship is to investigate the stress response of ice algae to light and nutrient conditions at the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet and how this stress response is associated with the darkening of the ice. The project will advance our technological capabilities for performing variable chlorophyll fluorescence measurements in cryo-environments, and apply these techniques in combination with pigment and metabolome profiling, to characterize the photo-physiology of ice algal communities on GrIS surface habitats, their stress response light and nutrients and consequent impacts to surface darkening. The student will undertake initial laboratory work in collaboration with a leading fluorimeter producer, to develop and test fluorimeters that can be easily deployed in cryoenvironments. Using instruments generated during this phase, the student will conduct extended field work (~ 2 months) either on the GrIS or the Alps to fully characterize the photo-physiology of ice algal communities under in-situ field conditions and collect samples for contextual pigment and metabolome profiling. In the final phase of the project, the student will conduct laboratory simulations to evaluate photo-physiology, pigment and metabolome response to a range of environmental factors that influence ice algae growth to provide a new understanding of the regulation of ice-algal photophysiology.