2022 Syllabus Outline

2022 Syllabus PDF

All students will enroll in 400-level Earth science credits through either the University of Maine, University of Colorado Boulder, or the University of Alaska Southeast (Alaskan students only). This 400-level designation reflects the overall difficulty of the summer program, not necessarily the level of academic science. Science classes are taught at a 200- to 300-level, depending on what opportunities individual students pursue. We do this to make JIRP accessible to the widest array of undergraduates as possible. We encourage our higher-level students (college seniors, post-baccalaureate, and early-stage graduate students) to take advantage of individual and small-group opportunities with faculty whose expertise interests them. These opportunities are all around us during the field season with rotating shifts of faculty from across the U.S. and around the world. We encourage students to take initiative in pursuing these options and we purposefully design the curriculum this way as training for graduate-level education.

The academic curriculum is built around examining these questions:

Glaciology 

Guiding question: How do glaciers work?

  • Architecture of a Glaciers, Icefields, and Ice Sheets

  • Glacier Energy and Mass Balance

  • Glacier Dynamics

  • Glacier Hydrology

Glaciers in Context 

Guiding question: How do glaciers relate to their surrounding environment?

  • Juneau Icefield-specific Glaciers

  • Glacier Change

  • Glacial Geology, Geomorphology, and Geology/Tectonics

  • Climatology and Meteorology

  • Hydrology

  • Biosphere

    • Ecology

    • Biogeochemistry

Field Methodologies 

Guiding question: How do we study glaciers and surrounding environments?

  • Geomatics and Remote Sensing

  • Geophysics

  • Geochemistry

  • Numerical Modeling

  • Experimental Design

Skills 

Guiding question: What other skills are critical for polar research?

  • Sciences Skills

    • Field Techniques

    • Quantitative Techniques

  • Expeditionary Skills

    • Science Expedition Preparation and Planning 

    • Field Safety

    • Glacier Mountaineering

  • Communication Skills

    • Science Communication

    • Science Policy