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Tundra scientist

Berkeley Engineer Spring 2014
May 1, 2014 by Jennifer Huber
This article appeared in Berkeley Engineer magazine, Spring 2014
Berkeley Lab geophysicist Susan Hubbard studies Arctic permafrost dynamics.
Hubbard and NGEE-Arctic lead investigator Stan Wullschleger measureing soil temperature and active layer depth.
Researchers hit the ground with sledgehammers to produce and measure seismic waves.
Hubbard on a snowmobile pulling geophysical sensors.
Berkeley Lab scientist Baptiste Dafflon collects electromagnetic data.
Line of electrodes in the snow
A camera suspended from a kite.
3D diagram of complex relationships between land surface, active layer and permafrost.
Polar bear in snow
Berkeley Lab geophysicist Susan Hubbard studies Arctic permafrost dynamics.
Susan Hubbard

Susan Hubbard

Geophysicist Susan Hubbard (Ph.D.’98 CEE) leads a research team from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska—the northernmost city in North America—as part of the 10-year Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiment (NGEE). The NGEE is a collaboration between scientists and engineers who are trying to better understand changes in the Arctic tundra, so that they can improve climate predictions. Hubbard studies the structure beneath the subsurface to detect thawing that could lead to the release of greenhouse gasses from organic matter trapped below ground. Despite below-freezing temperatures and the threat of polar bears, Hubbard sends this report back from the field: “The data have been gorgeous. There is so much good energy. So it’s very, very fun.”

Read more: The underground: Studying the Arctic tundra

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