• Canada
• 2017-2021close
• 2018 close
• 2020 close

Sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean has seen a steady decline since satellite-borne measurements began in the late 1970s. Sea ice supports the growth of ice algae, a fundamental component of the Arctic carbon cycle, providing food to Arctic animals. When sea ice melts every spring, ice algae are released to the water where they are either consumed by pelagic animals, or sink to the seafloor. Gaining an accurate understanding of these pathways for this important energy rich carbon resource represents a major scientific challenge that holds the key to understanding the future of Arctic ecosystems. However, until recently, this has not been possible because of the challenges associated with distinguishing sea ice carbon from other similar sources of carbon, such as phytoplankton. Having recently overcome these challenges in the last 3 years, it is now possible to unambiguously trace the pathway of sea ice-derived carbon. Recent findings have therefore shown that sea ice-derived carbon can be found in Arctic animals year-round. This is believed to be because excess (not consumed during sinking) sea ice-derived carbon that sinks can also become 'stored' within sediments where it can remain available as a food source to animals year-round. Consequently, if this idea is correct, our present assumption of the role sea ice carbon plays in the ecosystem is severely underestimating its importance. This project will bring together the expertise of British, Canadian and American scientists in a new collaborative partnership to assess whether the seafloor (e.g. rock, sand, mud, silt) acts as a 'store' of Arctic sea ice-derived primary production that can be considered available for marine animals to consume. Completion of the project aims relies upon collaboration between Brown's established (Mundy) and new (Iken) links within the assembled team. We will carry out studies on the marine region around Southampton Island, northwest Hudson Bay (Nunavut) which encompasses one of Canada's largest summer and winter aggregations of Arctic marine mammals. By sharing resources with a funded Canadian research project we will access a unique field site to collect primary preliminary data to improve understanding of ecosystem structure and function. Our findings will be relevant to the whole Arctic region and so will stimulate new research interests on an international scale.

PARADIGM will provide a unique framework that enables structured, effective, meaningful, ethical, innovative, and sustainable patient engagement (PE) and demonstrates the ‘return on the engagement’ for all players. Much needed processes and tools for three key decision-making points (research priority setting, design of clinical trials and early dialogue) will be developed by consensus. Building on advances at international level, PARADIGM will integrate the needs, perspectives and expectations of all actors (including vulnerable populations) involved and will also produce a stakeholder-tailored set of metrics to measure the impact of PE. PARADIGM will deliver to the community, recommendations and tools to support the implementation of PE, leveraging pre-existing resources. These will address capacity and capability questions, managing potential conflict of interest, the compensation of individuals and organisations, and the ethics of engagement. A targeted communication, dissemination and engagement strategy will promote the endorsement of the outputs for their integration in existing structures. PARADIGM will develop a strategy for sustaining the long-term implementation of PE resources aimed at structuring and supporting the community. This will be a game-changer, addressing fundamental gaps and creating real assets to ensure the sustainability of the PE ecosystem in the years to come. PARADIGM has a common vision and values-base, and is a highly innovative, consensus-oriented, and experienced consortium, comprising pan-European leaders in patient engagement, academia, SMEs, health professionals, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, pharmaceutical corporate associations, and representatives of competent authorities, all bringing complementary know-how to partner with industry, and a strong commitment to transform patient engagement in Europe.

The loss of Arctic sea-ice is one of the most compelling manifestations of man-made climate change. Profound environmental change is already affecting Arctic inhabitants and ecosystems. Increasing scientific evidence, including many key papers by the PI, suggests the impacts of sea-ice loss will be felt way beyond the poles. Linkages between Arctic sea-ice loss and extreme mid-latitude weather have become an area of increasing scholarly enquiry and societal interest. Yet, significant knowledge gaps remain that demand urgent attention; in particular, the robustness of response to sea-ice loss - and its underpinning physical causes - across different climate models. The Polar Amplification Model Intercomparison Project (PA-MIP) will significantly advance the state-of-the-art in understanding and modelling the climate response to Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice loss. It will enable deeper understanding of the causes and global effects of past and future polar change, and the physical mechanisms involved. PA-MIP is a novel and unique collaboration of UK and international scientists. To promote fruitful collaboration and drive research excellence, this proposal supports two key activities: a secondment scheme and a synthesis workshop, both with direct benefit to NERC-funded science.