Shining Examples
Emily Thiem
Research collaborations with faculty can take Lawrence University students to amazing places. For Emily Thiem ’08, it was literally to the top of the world.
As part of her Senior Experience Thiem accompanied Marcia Bjørnerud, professor of geology and Walter Schober Professor of Environmental Studies, to Svalbard, Norway (600 miles south of the North Pole) for geology research. Part of an expedition organized by geologists at the Krakow University Institute of Science and Technology, Thiem’s expenses for travel and gear were supported in part by grants from Lawrence’s Eloise Frick Cherven ’76, Memorial Fund and from the Monticello College Foundation.
Under difficult living conditions they gathered data, took photographs and collected specimens related to three different research projects. Thiem’s research focus was repeat photography of glaciers and ice fields on the high arctic island of Spitsbergen that had previously been photographed by Bjørnerud in the mid-1980s. Thiem’s new series of photographs, combined with Professor Bjørnerud’s photos and older aerial photographs and historical documents (including a series of lithographs from a French expedition to the area in the 1830s), provided visual data documenting the effects of climate change on this icy region. Thiem analyzed the data during an Independent Study course in Spring Term 2008, working to estimate the rate of mass loss from glaciers in the area at decade-to-century timescales. Her analysis helps quantify climate change processes in the high Arctic latitudes that are widely regarded as the “canary in the mine” for global climate conditions, providing valuable insight into how our planet’s climate is changing - and how quickly.
With encouragement from a passionate mentor like Bjørnerud who shined a light on the art and science of geology, Thiem discovered a level of interest and enthusiasm that led to a major in geology…a perfect example of the transformations that result from student-faculty collaboration, individualized learning, and international travel opportunities - all of which are made possible by donors like you.
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