Canada’s Crumbling Arctic Ice Shelves Focus of January 29 Lecture by Trent University’s Polar Expert Dr. Derek Mueller

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Invited to Free Lecture at the Peterborough Public Library

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, Peterborough

Polar scientist and Trent University alumnus Dr. Derek Mueller will deliver a free public lecture entitled “The Impact of Climate Change on Arctic Ice Shelves and Their Ecosystems” on Thursday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Peterborough Public Library.

Dr. Mueller, who holds Trent’s first Roberta Bondar Fellowship in Northern and Polar Studies, will discuss his experiences in high arctic research and the significant environmental changes taking place in the region. Dr. Mueller made headlines last summer following the collapse of several ancient ice shelves which he saw break away from Ellesmere Island.

An expert polar scientist with both Arctic and Antarctic experience, Dr. Mueller’s research explores the impacts of climate change to polar lakes, glaciers, ice shelves and sea ice as well as ice-dependent ecosystems. Dr. Mueller got his start in the field while completing his undergraduate degree at Trent University when he had the chance to do fieldwork on the White Glacier in Nunavut.

In 2002, Dr. Mueller discovered that the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf on Ellesmere Island had split into two halves and that a massive freshwater lake that was retained behind the shelf had drained into the Arctic Ocean. Through his work, Dr. Mueller has brought attention to the loss of 30 per cent of Canada’s remaining ice shelves in the last three years and the affect this is having on ecosystems that depend on ice for their survival.

For further information about Dr. Mueller’s research, please visit www.trentu.ca/iceshelf .

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Please contact Dr. Derek Mueller at (705) 748-1011, ext. 7153 for more details.