With some delays due to road blockages because of the Giro d’Italia in combination with a landslide, 36 students (mainly Ph.D.) and 12 teachers arrived on 21 May in Karthaus, Schnalstal, northern Italy, for the 22th Karthaus summer school on Ice Sheets and Glaciers in the Climate System. The diverse group of students and teachers represented institutes from 15 different countries. For this edition of the school, there were 124 applications, and we inevitably had to disappoint a lot of students.
The students had lectures in various topics within glaciology and some more inter-disciplinary. Topics included continuum mechanics, kinematics, ice rheology, sliding and hydraulics, numerical modelling, polar meteorology, ice-ocean interaction, ice cores, interaction of ice sheets with the solid earth, glacier fluctuations and climate change.
During the first day all students and teachers presented their research interests in 3-minute pitches. This is always an important aspect of the start of the course, because students and teachers get to know each other quickly and a good overview of projects is obtained. In addition to lectures and exercises also computer projects, done in groups of three students, were part of the daily Karthaus programme.
After last years success, the workshop on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in earth sciences was also included in this years pogramme. It was attended by both teachers and students and sparked a lot of discussion.
On Wednesday 29 May, there was a well-deserved break from the theory and computer exercises, and an excursion took place to the Lazaun rock glacier close to Kurzras, located at the end of the Schnalstal valley (in Italian Val Cenales). In perfect weather we hiked up from Kurzras to the Lazaunhutte. Unfortunately, the preceding winter snowfall had not yet completely melted away and we were not able to walk all the way to the Lazaun rock glacier. One of the teachers explained what could be seen in the landscape (see photograph). After this lesson, lunch was taken on the terrace of the Lazaun restaurant. Most of the students and teachers then hiked down to Kurzras, or Vernagt from where they took the bus back to Karthaus, while a few walked all the way back to Karthaus.
On the last day, the outcomes of the student projects were presented by the students in 12 presentations. In the evening, students and teachers enjoyed a last diner together enhanced with music and speeches. On Saturday 1 June everybody left for home after a successful Karthaus summerschool.
The final program and a full list of students and lecturers can be found at the Karthaus-2024 website: http://www.projects.science.uu.nl/iceclimate/karthaus/
Photos: Top left: Group photo 2024, Bottom Right: Teacher lecturing on geomorphology and rock glaciers at Lazaunhutte. Photo courtesy of the Karthaus Summer-school Project.
Highlights:
- Lectures on various (inter)disciplinary topics within glaciology, and on ice-ocean and ice-atmosphere interactions
- Presentations by the students on projects carried out during the course
- Workshop on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in earth sciences
Date and Location:
22 – 31 May 2024 | Karthaus, Italy
IASC Working Group / Committees funding the Project:
- Cryosphere WG
Project Lead
Carleen Tijm-Reijmer (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Year funded by IASC
2024