SU research team members (l to r) Alaa Shams, GIS specialist; Michael Stubblefield, vice chancellor, office of research and strategic initiatives; Jacquole Landry, senior, civil engineering; Pamela Brue, program coordinator, CEES; Lionel Lyles, director, Ph.D. program in public policy; Revathi Hines, assistant professor, public policy; and Mykel Delandro, junior, mechanical engineering.

Southern University first HBCU to visit Bering Glacier research site

SU faculty researcher Lionel Lyles and John Joshburger, Michigan Tech Research Institute, prepare a site on the Bering Glacier where a seismic sensor was buried to record movement in the tectonic plates. Significant seismic readings indicate the rate at which the Bering Glacier is undergoing melting and retreat.

The Bureau of Land Management invited a team of SU researchers to examine the rapid melting and calving of the Bering Glacier in coast south central Alaska. The Bering is the largest (5200 sq km) and longest (190km) glacier in North America and contains approximately 20 percent of Alaska's total glacier ice.

"The Bering Glacier is one of the North American Continent's most magnificent geographical features," says Lionel Lyles, director, public policy doctoral program, and research professor for the SU Center for Coastal Zone Assessment and Remote Sensing (CCZARS).

Transported by helicopter, the SU research team, led by Michael Stubblefield, vice chancellor for research and strategic initiatives, mapped the leading edge of the glacier and determined that the Bering Glacier retreated 0.52 miles from 2006 to 2007. Such ice calving is causing sea levels to rise along the coast of Louisiana and other low-lying regions.

"Daily, 30,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) of freshwater are emptied into the Pacific Ocean," says Lyles. "This situation, if not reversed could lead to the permanent inundation of major American cities such as New Orleans, Houston and Manhattan..."

SU students Mykel Delandro and Jacquole Landry with SU faculty researcher Revathi Hines preparing for the helicopter ride to investigate the surface condition of the Bering Glacier..

In addition to Stubblefield and Lyles, the SU research team included Jacquole Landry, senior, civil engineering; Mykel Delandro, junior, mechanical engineering; Alaa Shams, GIS research specialist; Revathi Hines, assistant professor, public policy; and Pamela Brue, program coordinator, Center for Information Technology Innovation (CITI).

"Southern has always ventured upon the path less traveled. This Alaska adventure presented such an opportunity for our researchers and students - the first HBCU to visit the Bering Glacier research site," Stubblefield said. "I look forward to working with our new partners as we extend this important global environmental topic of glacial melting and its impact on sea level rise and the Louisiana Gulf Coast."

The Bering Glacier is located in coastal south central Alaska bounded in the north by the St. Elias Mountains and in the south by the Gulf of Alaska. The glacier is an ecologically and culturally valuable area with unique plants and animals that have evolved because of the dynamic conditions and rugged terrain. It also comprises six percent of Alaska's land area.

The Bering Glacier expedition was the result of ongoing research by four CCZARS faculty, including Lyles and Hines, to study the relationship between the deteriorating wetlands long the Mississippi River Basin and the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Stubblefield says the recent expedition, funded by SU NASA CCZARS, will have a tremendous impact on the research currently underway at Southern University.

An aerial view of the Bering Glacier.