On selected Friday evenings, climate scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society lead visitors through sections of the Salgado exhibition related to each scientist's field of study, explaining the climate conditions and environmental threats particular to the geographic regions documented in the photographs.
Marine geologist Trevor Williams will guide visitors through Salgado's pictures as he describes his many research expeditions to the Antarctic. "Antarctica is one of the world's only unexplored places," Trevor explains, "and scientists are very lucky to be some of the few people who get to explore this land of extremes. The part of Antarctica we're going to in December has only been visited one or two other times in history. That's in part because its a very harsh environment in which to workthe glaciers we'll visit are essentially a 30-mile wide river of ice. Although Antarctica is remote and a place many people will never visit, it's important to understand that as it continues to warm and sea levels begin to rise, the effects of the changes in Antarctica will be felt globally."
Trevor J. Williams, a marine geologist and research scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is interested in the evolution of Antarctic ice sheets. His research often involves pulling cores of ancient mud from beneath the ocean floor to learn how the Earth responded to climate change millions of years ago, and how it may react to future warming. Williams has participated in twelve research expeditions, four of these to Antarctica or Antarctic waters. His fifth trip to the continent is scheduled for December 2014, when fieldwork will take him to the remote Foundation Ice Stream as part of a project to understand the stability of Antarctic ice under warm conditions of the geological past.
This walkthrough takes place during voluntary admission hours in the Museum.
This event is part of the Fall 2014 programming series ICP Talks: Climate Change. For a complete listing of series events, click here.
ICP gratefully acknowledges our partnership with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society of Columbia University | Earth Institute, The Climate Group and Climate Week NYC, and The Human Impacts Institute, Brooklyn, in developing and presenting public programs to accompany the exhibition Sebastião Salgado: Genesis.
