A cold morning last December, nine women woke up with the view of a glacier that was coming before them, shining from orange under the rising sun. These scientists had spent the life studying the crispfera, the frozen part of the earth, but most had never found it in person.
The members of this group were selected as the first cohort of Hindu Kush Himalaya HKH women on ice expeditionan initiative recently released by the International Mountain Development Center (Icimod). ICIMOD is an NGO based on Nepal -based on the conservation and sustainability of mountain regions in Asia. For this expedition, the women from five countries traveled to the Ponkar glacier in the Gandaki river basin in Nepal.
There is a My dear 54,000 glaciers in the Himalayas Hindu Kush, which covers 60,000 square kilometers and serve as a vital source of fresh water for the rivers of the region. Now, these glaciers are being reduced substantially earring to climate change. The Women On Ice team set out to explore the impacts of climate change on the Ponkar glacier, which has a term At 3,651 meters (11,978 feet) and is one of the most massive glaciers in the area.
Guided by criosphere experts with extensive experience in the field, participants conducted interdisciplinary field work projects to learn about glacial characteristics and surrounding human communities.
Inspiration: bring more women to the science of crosphere
The science of cryiosfera has been a historically dominated by men discipline. In the 1980s, when Icimod’s senior scientist Miriam Jackson He began their glaciers investigation in England, women were not allowed to go to Antarctica through the British program.
In 1987, Jackson managed to get a place in an expedition to Greenland through the State University of Ohio, where she was the only woman in a group of 10. “There was definitely a genre, and also a little power: Impbalance,” Jackson told Glacierhub.
Robin BellColumbia’s professor Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory And the former president of the American Geophysical Union, had a similar experience on a research trip in 1989.
When the opportunity came to work at Antarctica, she grabbed her and became the only principal investigator in McMurdowhich operates throughout the year and is the largest American station on the continent. The following year, Bell brought two more women for the trip, a student and a technician.
Since then, Bell has prioritized inclusive science in his work. “I have worked on trying to make science open for everyone,” said Bell. “Sometimes we don’t think about bringing everyone, but understanding is that our science is better with more people at the table.”
Bell also emphasized the power of inclusion in general. “The research shows that more diverse groups make better decisions,” he said.
Despite some global efforts to invite women to the science of glaciers, such as Girls in ice and Science adventureJackson said the gender imbalance that she and Bell experienced in the 1980s remain frequent, particularly in Asia. There, many women participate in jobs based on offices such as glacier modeling and remote sensing, but rarely do field work.
Hindu Kush Himalaya women in the ice expedition aimed to change this. “We wanted to train these women to return to the community and also lead the community,” said the expedition organizer Sunwi MaskeyAn associate of Crosphere Research in Icimod.
The final team understood nine women, ranging from university students to postdoctoral students, covering disciplines from geosciences to international relations and from Bután, India, Nepal, Pakistan and China.
Walking on ice: preparations and challenges
“The preparation began the day we announced to the participants,” said Maskey. Long before gathering in person, leaders held virtual meetings so that participants could know and learn to prepare, physically and mentally. On December 4, after months of preparation, the team accumulated in Jeeps in Katmandu and left for the glacier.
Despite the cultural, religious and disciplinary differences between them, the participants joined quickly. Aishwarya Sanas, who is currently winning his Ph.D. In international relations and governance studies at Shiv University in India, he originally worried that she was the “strange” as the only participant who does not study natural or physical sciences. However, gathering in person a few days before the trip, turned off his anxiety. “The way everyone joined and helped each other is what stood out,” said Health. “The dynamics of the team was incredible.”
In addition, facing large altitudes and steep land, they encouraged a strong collaboration among the participants, many of whom fought with the altitude and extreme climatic conditions despite the rigorous preparations prior to the magazine. Silian Pan, a Ph.D. Student in Germany at the University of Leibniz specialized in Microbiology of the Arctic Permafrost, recalls a day when he walked for 10.5 hours, arriving at the camp late at night in less 18 degrees Celsius climate. “I suffered a lot,” he said.
Even so, for bread, seeing the beak and glaciers made pain worth it. “When you see the image of 10 or 20 years ago, and how the mountain was seen, and compare it, you find the meaning of your work; it has changed a lot,” he explained.
The aesthetic beauty and recreational opportunities in the region were another source of motivation for the participants. The television and geo-information analyst, Finu Shrestha, said: “Every day was beautiful. The mountains are so close that you cannot keep your eyes away from them.”
Tuba Farooq, a Pakistani participant who recently completed his Mphil title in Environmental Sciences of the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, found satisfaction in connecting with his classmates beyond the level of being associates of research. “At night, when we returned from Trekking, we played many games. Sometimes we also danced. That was the best part,” Farooq said.
For healthy, an important conclusion was that glacial science is intricately connected to physical preparation and the mental ability to do the job. “You have to take care of your health,” he explained, “and at the end of this, [with] Whatever the life that stays, you do your research. “
Share knowledge: research and lessons
As a result, participants had a lot of life to conduct research throughout the trip. They were divided into three areas of group approach: glaciers, permafrost and social and economic factors.
Sanas participated in the third group, interviewing goalkeepers, guides, mountaineers and local. He learned that many locals want a path to relieve the process of transporting the products that tourists demand. For example, Sanas explained: “Tourists want coffee. The locals do not consume coffee. It is not part of the culture.”
After completing their project, Sanas recommended that the villagers join to form what she described a “code of conduct” between them and tourists to encourage respect and sustainability. For PAN, recognizing the impacts of climate change in the region reminded him of the importance of research. “Now, the glacier lake is gone, the water there is very small,” he explained. “Local people … They need to walk 30 minutes to get water for daily use. That’s why we study this.”
Another unusual aspect of the expedition was the use of porters women. Shrestha explained that female goalkeepers are rare, because they cannot generally support the same physical burden as men. Pan learned through the interview of these loaders that many were housewives for those who transport luggage is one of the only ways to generate income. She explained: “They want to walk. Many people like to walk, but they don’t have the opportunity; it is too expensive for them. They cannot come as tourists, [but] As workers, they can “.
Experience transformed how participants will conduct research in the future. “When you go to the field, there are many other things that enter life,” Farooq explained.
Before the expedition, Farooq had not traveled to another city, much less to another country, without his family. She advised other women to take advantage of such opportunities when they arise. “Be brave,” he said. “Whatever the opportunity you have, you must take advantage of that.”
Farooq also pointed out the importance of having a diverse group. “We were all looking at the same image, but from different angles,” he said.
The initiative leaders hope to return the program in the coming years. They have already begun to make a rain of ideas for the next expedition, continuing with the “ice roof” and towards inclusion and greater opportunities for women in the sciences of the crish.
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