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PAGE21 Researcher Profiles: Stefanie Härtel

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Created on Friday, 19 April 2013 09:38

This weeks researcher is Stefanie Härtel from the University of Copenhagen and University Centre in Svalbard.

 

StefanieH2 smallStefanie at work. Photo by Stefanie Härtel.Name:

Stefanie Härtel
 

Institution:

Center for Permafrost (CENPERM), Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Department of Arctic Geology, P in Longyearbyen, Norway
 

Nationality:

German
 

Research Field:

In my PhD project, I study periglacial geomorphology and permafrost cryolithostratigraphy at two high-arctic sites in Svalbard and in Zackenberg (NE-Greenland) located at a steep climatic gradient. Permafrost coring, core analysis and mapping are used to improve our understanding of the heterogeneity of permafrost physical conditions and in relation to the Holocene periglacial history and underlying processes in past, present and future.
 

How is your research affiliated with the PAGE21 project?:

This project delivers stratigraphical data on permafrost physical properties (ice content, grain size, geochemistry etc) from different landforms as well as geomorphological and geocryological maps from two primary sites, used as input and validation data for e.g modelling purposes.
 

StefanieH smallPermafrost cores. Photo by Stefanie Härtel.What is the current challenge within this topic?

The permafrost cryostratigraphy and spatial heterogeneity is not yet well studied or unknown, however, extremely important in order to predict the effects of climate change on permafrost environments.

How did it happen that you became a researcher?

While everybody else fell asleep during in the introduction to soil sciences in grade 7 - I really found this stuff interesting! It seemed to have started early on.

 

Why do you like being the researcher?

Doing things that probably nobody else has seen or done before and working in fantastic environments.
 

What do you like most in being a researcher?

Having a job based on being curious.
 

How a typical working day looks like?

Recently:
  • 1. Driving samples from the freezer storage at CENPERM to the freeze-lab at the Niels Bohr Institute.  
  • 2. Moving the boxes into the basement through 7 magic doors.  
  • 3. Putting on thick layers of clothes, two heads, glowes, goggles and entering the beloved freeze lab at -14 degree.  
  • 4. In the lab, being welcomed by a noisy fan (with real wind chill factor!) and the even noisier band saw.
  • 5. Finding the right cores, put them in the right order, open sampling bags, closing sampling bags, length-cutting cores, scraping cores with chisels and razor blades, encountering beautiful cryostructures, meter-long the same boring pore-ice bonded sand, or having what-the-hell-is-that?-moments, photographing cores, logging cores, sub-sampling the core, drill small holes in the cores to measure thermal properties, vaccuum seal core samples, measure volume... getting cold, getting tired of this monotony, seeing something unexpected and continue.
  • 6. Every hour call in "I am alive".
  • 7. Before leaving the lab, cleaning up nicely.
  • 8. Transport frozen samples back to CENPERM freezer storage to later process in the lab.
  • 9. Daily problems: Saw blade eats itself into the core and freezes tight - only way to deal with it, shisel it free ..., saw blade jumps off ..., saw blade is blunt and needs to be replaced but new saw blade can´t get fixed ... oh, I run out of saw blades ... shisels blunt, fingers cold, getting a cold, forgotten something, drill bit broke, battery is empty, camera strikes, stepped against the tripod etc...
 

Funniest response ever when you told somebody that you are a "polar researcher"?

"Isn´t it a quiet dangerous job with explosive methane all around?"
 

StefanieH1 smallAt the Lab. Photo by Stefanie Härtel.What are your plans for the upcoming three / five years?

Getting cool results, published.
 

Which expeditions do you participate this year (2013)?

  • April/May - Svalbard: Shallow hand-drilling campaign at 10 sites/landforms as input data for geocryological maps, core sharing WP2 and WP3
  • End of June/Early July - Svalbard - geomorphological mapping and permafrost excavation on plateau mountain
  • August/September: Zackenberg (NE-Greenland): Shallow hand-drilling and geomorphological mapping, river cliff exposures
 

What do you usually miss the most when being on the field?

In the field is in the field is in the field ... well warm feet sometimes
 

Biggest challenge?

Time is running
 

Nicest experience so far on expedition?

Brine geysir during drilling in Adventdalen
 

Worst experience so gar?

Not to be allowed to drill where you think it is most interesting and relevant
 

What has been the most interesting experience so far on expedition?

Its all pretty interesting!
 
 
 
 
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