Achievement

The introductory IGERT core course stresses the formulation of good research questions based on core theory from specific disciplines. This exercise begins with material familiar to the individual student. Building from these individual questions, the group connects their ideas to larger scale and more interdisciplinary questions addressing feedbacks that drive rapid environmental change in the polar regions. These classroom-derived questions are revisited by the IGERT trainees when they are in Greenland for the field seminar. Bringing a diverse group of students together in the field to critique previous conceptions about polar systems and then to reframe their research ideas around direct observations is a critical educational accomplishment for young researchers.