Martin Sharp is a glaciologist with particular interests in interactions between glaciers and the climate system, and in hydrochemical processes in glacial environments. At present his research program is structured around field studies conducted at John Evans Glacier, Ellesmere Island, and combined field and remote sensing studies of the ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada. Martin's group runs the Glacier Hydrochemistry Lab (walk in freezer and analytical facility) and is extremely well equipped for glaciological fieldwork (radio echo sounder, ice coring equipment, differential GPS and total station survey equipment, automatic weather stations and stream monitoring stations, digital borehole inclinometer). Recently, it created an unparalleled archive of imagery of the ice caps of the Canadian high Arctic (>10,000 aerial photographs, Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery, >200 Aster images, ERS1/2 and Radarsat SAR imagery (including interferometric coverage) and AVHrr and scatterometer imagery.
The primary research focus in Martin Sharp's group is quantification and explanation of glacier changes in the Arctic and assessment of their implications for global sea level. Currently there are opportunities for student projects dealing with:
Applications are encouraged from students with backgrounds in Glaciology, Geomatics, Remote Sensing, Atmospheric Sciences, Physical Geography, and Geophysics. Most projects involve fieldwork in the Arctic as well as remote sensing and/or numerical modeling.