Team

Meet RAW – glaciers Retreat And fjords Wither project team!

Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Mateusz MOSKALIK, PhD – Leader of the RAW Project, geophysicist and physicist of education, an oceanographer by profession, polar researcher. His research interests focus on functioning and interactions between fiords and glaciers in polar regions and the influence of climate change on this system. Participant in many scientific expeditions to Svalbard and overwintered at the Polish Polar Station Hornsund. He led research projects related to fiords geomorphology, sedimentology, coastal erosion, and oceanographical monitoring system in Hornsund Fiord.

Project participants:

Dagmara BOŻEK, MA – Senior science communication at IGF PAS, author of several books on polar topics. She received a scholarship from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for her project “Polar Women” devoted to women working at polar stations. As an employee of the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, she promotes research in polar regions.
Jerzy GIŻEJEWSKI, PhD – He graduated in geology from the University of Warsaw and took up a job there in the Department of Dynamic Geology. He studied the processes of modern sedimentation in the coastal zone of the sea, in rivers, lakes and dammed reservoirs. He obtained his doctorate in 1974 on the basis of a thesis on sedimentation processes occurring in the Vistula riverbed. In 1991 he moved to the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, where he joined the Department of Polar and Marine Research, conducting research on sedimentation in lakes and fjords in southern Spitsbergen and application of geophysical methods in sedimentology. As a hobby helping his professional work, he practised speleology (state instructor in speleology) and free diving (district instructor according to CMAS standards). He was the first, together with W. Roszczynko, to conduct underwater research on Spitsbergen in 1980. He has twice led year-round expeditions to the Polish Polar Station Hornsund and has worked on Spitsbergen six times during the summer seasons. Since 2011, he has worked in the Institute of Geophysics PAS in educational projects: EDUSCIENCE, EDU-ARCTIC.EU, EDU-ARCTIC.PL and Odyssey.
Oskar GŁOWACKI, PhD – Physical oceanographer, geophysicist, marine acoustician, trying to become a glaciologist. His major interests are physical oceanography of polar fjords and ice-ocean interactions, including especially calving and submarine melting of marine-terminating glaciers. He develops passive cryoacoustics as a new tool in glaciology. Participant in several scientific expeditions to Svalbard and numerous research cruises. He spent 2.5 years working as a postdoc at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, USA.
Meri KORHONEN, MSc – Physical oceanographer focusing on the hydrography of the Arctic Ocean. Particularly interested in mixing and modification of water masses. Her work on the stratification of the upper ocean has led to collaboration in several studies concentrating on biogeochemical properties of the ocean. These studies have further provoked her interest in such topics as nutrient availability and carbon uptake. She has also been involved in developing quality control procedures for hydrographic observations. In RAW she will be responsible for oceanographic measurements and data management.
Bartłomiej LUKS, PhD – Snow researcher and glaciologist, working in the Arctic for almost 20 years. He started as a field assistant on a geological expedition to Bellsund (Spitsbergen), then did MSc on soil pollution in the vicinity of Polish Polar Station Hornsund and PhD on dynamics of snowpack in the SW Spitsbergen. Since 2013 he is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Polar and Marine Research IG PAS in Warsaw. His main research interests are the response of the glaciers to Climate Change, glaciers’ mass balance, snowpack physical properties and snow cover distribution in the coastal environment of Svalbard. He’s been involved in several research projects in Svalbard and Antarctica focused on glacier mass balance, snowpack physical properties and pollutants and microbes deposited in the snowpack.
Vineet JAIN, PhD – Physical oceanographer. His research interests are ocean currents, water masses, mixed-layer processes, and ocean modeling. In RAW, he will be involved in the field expeditions, data analysis/visualisation, and numerical modeling of the processes in the fjords.
Dhruv MANIKTALA – A doctoral candidate at Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, looking at ice-ocean interactions and calving variability of glaciers in the Hornsund fjord, Spitsbergen. I have a background in physical geography, glaciology, snow physics, and remote sensing and am interested in calving styles, time lapse imagery, and underwater passive acoustics to detect calving events at tidewater glaciers. I was on a two month field expedition in Hornsund, Svalbard to get observe and collect data on calving variability on tidewater glaciers in the fjord.
Lavkush Kumar PATEL, PhD – A glaciologist, completed M Sc and PhD in Geospatial Modelling. He has more than 10 years of experience in exploring glaciers using field and satellite techniques. He has extensively explored the glaciers of the Indian Himalayas through field studies on glacier mass balance, debris cover control, glacial lakes and snow hydrology. Overall, He has applied the field and satellite techniques to assess the impact of increasing climatic variability over glaciers in the Himalayas and Svalbard.  His scientific experience includes understanding the impact of increasing climatic variability on glaciological landscapes. His research interest are Glacier mass balance and dynamics, Satellite Remote Sensing, Glacier hydrology, Glacial lake Outburst Floods, and Snow water equivalent variability. In RAW project he will be focusing on the Glacio-hydrological modelling part to estimate the meltwater flux in to the Hornsund fjord, Svalbard.

Ekaterina RETS, PhD –14 years’ experience in Hydrology, Glaciology and Civil Engineering. PhD in Hydrology since 2013. Current research interests have been focused on functioning of river catchments and response of hydrological systems to climate change across different scales from small alpine catchments to mountain systems and vast regions. Implemented a wide range of investigative tools and methods from mathematical statistics and GIS to experimental field measurements, isotopic/chemical traces’ methods and hydrological modelling. Re-established and led field hydrological investigation in the Djankuat Alpine Research Catchment during 2007-2022. Developed the AMelt energy-balance model of snow and ice melt in alpine areas. Co-developer of the grwat R-package for the automatic hydrograph separation and hydrological time series analysis. Contributing author of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report (WGII, Chapter 4: Water). In RAW project she will develop Gasbreen and Hansbreen glacial runoff and sediment yield model, establish hydrological and suspended sediment concentration measurements in the basins.

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Prof. Jacob C. YDE – Glaciologist, glacial geomorphologist, glacial biogeochemist, Project Partner Leader. His research focuses on natural and societal impacts of climate-forced glacier changes. He has lead and participated in many research projects in Greenland, Svalbard, Iceland, Norway and Chile.

Project participants:

Siri ENGEN – Research assistant and geology and geohazards student at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She is interested in climate-driven effects on glaciers and landslides. Her role in the RAW project is to assist with fieldwork and in the laboratory.
Marthe GJERDE, PhD – Post-doctoral researcher at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She is a Quaternary geologist mainly interested in glacial dynamics and glacial deposits, as well as quantifying earth surface processes. Her role in the RAW project will focus on investigating runoff from the glacierised catchments, understanding, and quantifying sedimentological processes as well as source-to-sink sedimentological investigations.
Prof. Andrew HODSON – Glacial biogeochemist, glaciologist. His research considers release of nutrients from ground thaw, snowmelt and ice met into runoff. He also studies the processes of nutrient release on microbial ecosystems. In RAW he will mentor early-career researchers and provide expertise on glacial biogeochemical processes.

Institute of Oceanology of Polish Academy of Sciences

Karol KULIŃSKI, PhD (Project Partner Leader)

Project participants:

Anna DĄBROWSKA, PhD – The Arctic protists are her profession and her passion. As a taxonomist and ecologist, she explores the world of microscopic marine creatures, making the invisible visible. She focuses on the diversity and functioning of protists in the Svalbard waters, piece by piece looking for the answer to what will be their fate in the warming Arctic.
Katarzyna DRAGAŃSKA-DEJA, MSc – Ocean physicist (physical oceanographer). She studies the effect of glacial melt on water transparency and color with implications for underwater light availability and particle size distribution. Participant of many scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen.
Małgorzata KITOWSKA, PhD – Physical oceanographer (physicist of education), researcher in the Physical Oceanography Department, IO PAS, in the Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory. Her research interests focus mainly on the influence of mesoscale factors on wind wind in the Svalbard coastal region and the influence of wind on the water flow in polar region. She has participated in Arctic research cruises and has been involved in several international projects.
Katarzyna KOZIOROWSKA, PhD – Researcher in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Biochemistry of IOPAN, in the Marine biogeochemistry Laboratory. She has a broad range of field, laboratory and analytical experience in the areas of carbon cycling. Her research interest focuses mainly on marine biogeochemistry, C, N, P cycling in the marine environment and marine acid-base system in the polar regions, especially the Arctic fjords. 
Joanna Stoń-Egiert, PhD – Researcher at the Department of Marine Physics of the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences. She is involved in the study and modelling of marine ecosystems supplied with energy through photosynthesis. Her main interests are related to phytoplankton pigments, their photosynthetic and photoprotective role in the processes of light distribution in the water and its use in the primary production of organic matter in the sea.
Marlena SZELIGOWSKA, PhD – Marine ecologist studying the dynamics of Arctic coastal waters influenced by glacial discharge. Her research is focused on combing field studies, remote sensing and numerical modelling in order to describe the functioning of marine plankton in different regimes of particulate matter delivery with meltwater.
Beata SZYMCZYCHA, PhD

Emilia TRUDNOWSKA, DCs – PhD at Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences (Marine Ecology Department). Highly experienced in field, lab and analytical studies of zooplankton, particles and marine snow along various environmental gradients in the Arctic. Mostly interested in their distribution, composition, size spectra, food web interactions, roles in carbon cycle and how all these relate to the effects of climate change.

Other contractors

MSc Natalia GACKOWSKA, University of Gdansk – a student of oceanography at University of Gdansk. Her interests include bioluminescence and microbiogeochemistry of bottom sediments in extreme environments. Finalist of the Polar Mission competition organized by EDU-ARCTIC.PL program. She participated in chemical cruises with research teams working on Baltic pockemarks and biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen in the Baltic Sea depths.
Dr. Łukasz STACHNIK, University of Wrocław – Assistant professor specialising in terrestrial biogeochemistry and cold region hydrology. His works deal with an impact of land-based glacier recession on water and nutrient cycles in polar regions on a multidisciplinary approach (geochemical modelling, SEM/TEM analyses, trace element chemistry, geophysical methods). As PI and co-investigator, he participated in several international research projects in environmental chemistry conducted in e.g. Svalbard, Siberia, and Greenland. In the RAW project, he will be responsible for dissolved micronutrients chemistry, iron speciation and suspended sediment geochemistry in marine ecosystems affected by glaciers in Svalbard.

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