Expert: Jihong Dai

Affiliation: South Dakota State University

Report 1 Title: Overview of Polar Ice Drilling and Ice Core Research in the United States

Time of Presentation 1: 3 June, 9:30 a.m.

Venue: 325, Water Engineering Building, Chaoyang Campus, Jilin University, China

Report 2: A Comprehensive Record of Holocene (11,000 Years) Volcanism from Ice Cores in West Antarctica

Time of Report 2: 3 June, 14:00

Venue: 319 Water Engineering Building, Chaoyang Campus, Jilin University, China

Expert Biographies:

Jihong Cole-Dai is currently a Professor of Chemistry at South Dakota State University, USA, where he conducts research in environmental chemistry and global change, studying the chemical composition of polar ice and snow samples. Research record includes 67 peer-reviewed papers and over 100 presentations. Has led numerous field expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic since 1996 to collect ice cores in NSF-funded projects. and Elaine Wadsworth Research Endowment Award, 2023 Leo and Elaine Spinar Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and South Dakota State University Global Engagement Faculty Award.

Report Summary:

       U.S. scientific research in the polar regions, including Antarctica, is primarily funded and managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF Office of Polar Programs (OPP) supports world-class Arctic and Antarctic scientific research through grants to researchers across the United States, as well as through the provision of polar facilities and operational support. The NSF Polar Program has an annual budget of approximately $500 million. Cutting-edge polar ice core research is part of the Polar Program's Glaciology Project and is conducted by scientists at many U.S. universities and colleges. Researchers use ice cores from Antarctica and the Arctic (Greenland, Alaska, and northern Canada) to study the history of global environmental conditions, including climate, atmospheric chemistry, and interactions among the components of the Earth's climate system, with the goal of understanding how the Earth's climate has evolved over recent geological history and how this knowledge can be used to understand the current climate environment and predict future climate change. The U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP), run by the National Science Foundation (NSF), drills ice cores for research through cooperative agreements. The current IDP is a partnership between Dartmouth College (project direction and management), the University of New Hampshire (digital communications), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (drilling operations support.) The IDP, through its Science Advisory Broad, defines the direction of ice coring and drilling science in the U.S. and identifies the drill bits and drilling techniques needed to conduct scientific research. Drill bits and drilling techniques. U.S. researchers in need of polar ice cores follow established procedures for applying for and receiving ice core drilling support from IDP through the NSF's scientific research proposal process, in coordination with the project office.

Sponsor: School of Construction Engineering, Jilin University Institute of Polar Science and Engineering, Jilin University Centre for Polar Research, Jilin University