IC3 Centre

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IC3 Centre

Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate (iC3). Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate (iC3)

Working out of the world's northernmost university, iC3 drives global efforts to quantify how ice sheets influence Earth´s carbon cycle, climate and ocean ecosystems in the past, present and future.

21/05/2026

"We thought glaciers were sterile and chemically unreactive. We assumed they didn’t connect to Earth’s carbon cycle or influence ocean life. That’s completely untrue."

"Glaciers are alive, full of microbes metabolizing carbon and catalyzing chemical reactions that dissolve rock, producing gases and nutrients that flow into the atmosphere and oceans."

"iC3 is an opportunity to build a large research group in northern Norway to study how glaciers and ice sheets influence life beyond their borders and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It’s exciting because we can now study these processes at scale, reducing uncertainties about the effects of glaciers on ecosystems, fisheries, and even global carbon cycles."

"Science is full of challenges, from securing funding to managing complex field logistics. I think of it like traversing a mountain range: sometimes you’re on the peaks, and everything is amazing; other times, you’re stuck in a bog. The key is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Determination and persistence are essential, as is looking sideways for unexpected solutions."

👉Read the full interview with iC3 director Jemma Wadham here:
https://ic3.uit.no/news/glaciology-ice-sheets-biogeochemistry-carbon-life

20/05/2026

“A decade into an academic career, the challenge is often no longer finding opportunities – but choosing among them. Mid-career is not a plateau, it is a pivot,” our colleague Mohamed Ezat writes in a Nature Careers column.

👉Here are his guiding principles for evaluating potential new commitments:

• Is this responsibility aligned with my long-term identity as a researcher?
• Is this the right time for this project?
• Does it serve my students and collaborators well?
• Does this commitment or collaboration align with my long-term goals?
• Does this opportunity harmonize with my group’s scientific direction or create a distraction?
• Will this project produce the kind of research outputs that reflect the scientist that I want to become?

👉Read the full column here (no paywall):
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04077-2

APECS Canada Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) APECS Norway

Aacademia

19/05/2026

"The retreat of ice sheets could alter subsurface fluid migration, impacting groundwater, ocean ecosystems, and carbon release. Groundwater release could affect the biosystem of the ocean, while destabilized gas hydrates could release free gas into the Arctic Ocean, influencing the total carbon budget."

"To better understand our past and model our future, we need to identify the feedback mechanisms involved."

"Most of my work involves analyzing geophysical data, like seismic data and borehole logs, which means I spend a lot of time processing data on the computer. For example, I work with seismic data collected using air guns and hydrophones."

Read the full interview with iC3 researcher Peter Giertzuch here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/ice-sheets-subsurface-fluid-migration-gas-hydrates-geophysics-seismic

15/05/2026

"Ensuring sustainable data storage solutions in polar science is key for data legacy"
🎙️Interview with iC3 Data manager Fabio Sarti

👉 "Managing polar data presents challenges due to the multidisciplinarity involved, especially at iC3. Each discipline has specific metadata requirements, making it a complex task to unify everything. Another challenge is the involvement of multiple institutions, which hampers the implementation of standardized recommendations."

👉 "Looking ahead, I see the need for robust and sustainable data storage solutions. Testing different options is crucial, especially as costs for such services are no longer covered by institutions. My goal is to find solutions that can last beyond the centre’s term, ensuring the legacy we build is preserved."

👉"Success in data management for me would mean establishing a unified platform or system for sharing and accessing data. While this is a challenging goal, it’s important to aim high."

👉 Read the full interview here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/data-legacy-management-storage-polar-science-fabio-sarti

UiT The Arctic University of Norway Norges forskningsråd

14/05/2026

"The new PlasmaLab will focus on isotope and trace metal research in the polar regions"
🎙️Interview with iC3 PlasmaLab engineer Charlie Compton-Jones

👉 "I’m excited to set up a new geochemistry facility, the PlasmaLab, that will benefit researchers within iC3 and hopefully also outside the UiT Geosciences department. The lab will focus on isotope and trace metal research, helping trace Earth system processes like ocean nutrient cycling and climate change."

👉 "The new facility is crucial for reconstructing past climates and understanding how the planet responds to warmer temperatures."

👉"Our lab will expand on the current geochemistry capabilities at the department by adding trace elements and isotope ratios across various sample types (water, ice, sediments, plants, etc.) to our toolkit."

👉"We’ll add high-resolution trace element analysis with ICP-MS, and the ability to measure both stable (e.g., B, Fe, Si) and radiogenic isotopes (e.g., Sm-Nd) with a multicollector ICP-MS."

👉 Read the full interview here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/plasmalab-isotopes-trace-nutrients-geochemistry-climate-charlie-compton-jones

UiT The Arctic University of Norway Norges forskningsråd

13/05/2026

"Understanding processes at the interface of subglacial sediments is critical for the climate system"
🎙️Interview with iC3 postdoc Philip Pika

👉 "Interfaces are where the most interesting processes occur. They involve interactions across different spatial and temporal scales, and they bring together environments and ecosystems with unique physiological and biological adaptations."

👉 "Now, we know these environments are vibrant ecosystems with many biogeochemical processes occurring and hold significant implications for planetary science and climate research."

👉"Methane release from glaciers, for instance, is a critical area of study because massive amounts of methane hydrates are stored under the ice, and we need to understand what happens to them."

👉 Read the full interview here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/biogeochemistry-sediment-carbon-glacier-antarctica-philip-pika

UiT The Arctic University of Norway Norges forskningsråd ULB - Université libre de Bruxelles

12/05/2026

📣Researchers are building a much clearer picture of how an Arctic fjord really works by monitoring Kongsfjorden on Svalbard through the full annual cycle.

👉These efforts by iC3 researchers are challenging the old assumption that Arctic marine ecosystems only matter in summer, and provide a fuller understanding of how light, sea ice, glacier melt, ocean inflow and biology interact across the whole year.

👉Teams carried out weekly measurements at a central fjord site, seasonal surveys along the full fjord, eight Norwegian Polar Institute transects, bi-monthly water column measurements by Indian partners, and extra work by Arctic Field Grant researchers.

👉These observations covered plankton, protists, microbes, nutrients, biogeochemistry, hydrography, optical properties and hydroacoustics. Together, they make it possible to compare what happens at one point in the fjord with what happens across the wider system, from the glacier-influenced inner fjord to waters more strongly shaped by Atlantic inflow.

👉Read the full story here:
https://ic3.uit.no/news/kongsfjorden-monitoring-arctic-fjords

Norsk Polarinstitutt Norges forskningsråd

11/05/2026

"Understanding how microbial communities change helps us understand how entire ecosystems may respond to climate change"
🎙️Interview with iC3 postdoc Aurélie Labarre

👉 "Microbes - like algae, bacteria, and protists - form the foundation of polar ecosystems, and I study how changes in ice systems, such as melting glaciers or sea ice loss, reshape microbial communities and influence ecosystem functioning."

👉 "Polar regions are warming faster than the rest of the planet, and this is transforming ecosystems very rapidly. Microbes respond quickly to environmental change, so they act as early indicators of ecosystem shifts."

👉"My research combines fieldwork, laboratory analyses, and computational methods. During polar expeditions we collect environmental samples such as seawater, sea ice, or sediments. In the lab we extract DNA and RNA from these samples, and then we analyze the genetic information using bioinformatics and statistical tools to understand community composition and ecological interactions."

👉 Read the full interview here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/microbes-arctic-antarctic-msca-postdoc-climate-ecosystems-bioinformatics-dna-genetics-rna

UiT The Arctic University of Norway Norges forskningsråd Norsk Polarinstitutt

08/05/2026

"Studying the transport of nitrogen in deglaciated valleys helps us to understand the impact of retreating glaciers on biogeochemical cycles"
🎙️Interview with iC3 intern Amélie Patillaut

👉 "Because of global warming, the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen is disrupted. This can impact ecosystems like lakes and fjords. I'm studying how this compound is transported from deglaciated areas to rivers and fjords. Understanding this movement of nitrogen is important for anticipating the trajectory of these ecosystems in the face of accelerating environmental change."

👉 "We have sampled river water, snow, and soil at different locations in the Steindalen Glacier valley. In the field, I filtered water samples and prepared soil and snow samples for analysis."

👉 "The Steindalen's glacier has changed significantly over the past 50 years due to global warming. Studying this area helps us understand how retreating glaciers affect the nitrogen cycle and the environments downstream."

👉 Read the full interview here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/nitrogen-cycle-biogeochemistry-fjords-valley-glacier-warming-retreat

UiT The Arctic University of Norway Norges forskningsråd

07/05/2026

📣 A new study shows how light, sea ice and ocean circulation together shape a strong seasonal rhythm in protist plankton communities in the northwestern Barents Sea.

👉 The study led by PhD student Lucie Goraguer from the iC3 Polar Research Hub and Norsk Polarinstitutt reveals that very different communities dominate Arctic waters in spring, summer and winter.

👉“The seasonal turnover was striking. Each part of the year hosts a distinct community with different ecological strategies.”

👉“These organisms respond quickly to environmental conditions,” Lucie explains. “By looking at plankton communities, we can see how physical changes in the ocean shape Arctic ecosystems.”

👉“As the Arctic becomes more Atlantic-influenced, we expect plankton communities to change,” Lucie says. “Understanding today’s seasonal patterns helps us anticipate how Arctic ecosystems may evolve in the future.”

ℹ️ Read more here: https://ic3.uit.no/news/plankton-arctic-biogeochemistry-barents-sea-community-seasonality

Norsk Polarinstitutt UiT The Arctic University of Norway Norges forskningsråd

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