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Radford University Expedition to Alaska for Arctic Sea Ice Research

Radford, VA (02/21/2024) — Over a two-week period in late February and early March, a small group of Radford University student and faculty researchers will brave bone-rattling temperatures in Utqiagvik, Alaska, to carry out a research legacy into the Arctic sea ice that began there in 2006.

The group, led by Radford Professor of Physics Rhett Herman, has been working since September, 2023, on their individual research projects. Most have designed, built and developed their own tools in order to complete the research, which will occur in not-so-ideal conditions. In Utqiagvik this time of year, temperatures regularly dip below zero and feel much colder, with the wind chill plunging to a teeth-chattering 30-35 below 0 Fahrenheit.

Joining Herman this year will be nine Radford students - eight physics majors and one from geology. Two students from Southwest Virginia Governor's School, who are enrolled in the Physics 325 course Herman teaches, and a teacher from the school, Greg Riffe, will be part of the research team. One Radford student will stay in Alaska for the trip's two-week duration. Some will go the first week - they will leave Radford on Friday, Feb. 23 - and return to Radford, while a few others will call Utqiagvik home for the second week.

Herman is available to speak about the trip this week on Thursday, Feb. 22, between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Some students may also be available.

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