Here we explore Dr. Melissa Ward Jones’ research on permafrost systems in the continuous permafrost zone of the Arctic and permafrost-agriculture interactions primarily in the discontinuous permafrost zone of Alaska
Melissa Ward Jones is a Research Assistant Professor in the Water and Environmental Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She completed her B.Sc. (2012), M.Sc. (2016) and Ph.D. (2020) in the Department of Geography at McGill University, Canada. Melissa is a permafrost scientist and geographer interested in the causes (system components such as climate and land cover) and system responses (e.g., thaw subsidence) of permafrost landscapes.
Her work focuses on permafrost systems in the continuous permafrost zone of the Arctic and permafrost-agriculture interactions primarily in the discontinuous permafrost zone of Alaska.
She utilizes a mixed-methods approach to her research, combining field observations and measurements, sensor networks, remote sensing, GIS, statistical analysis and more recently, surveys and interviews.
Melissa has extensive field experience, including remote winter and summer camping, and has completed over 15 arctic field expeditions in places such as Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere Islands, Canada, Svalbard, Norway, and throughout Alaska, USA. Melissa is an advocate for making science and fieldwork more family-friendly and has been doing fieldwork with her daughter since her daughter was two months old.
Melissa has worked with Arctic logistic companies to increase access to housing and transportation opportunities for researchers with childcare responsibilities during fieldwork. Recently, she championed the creation of the US Permafrost Association Family Care Program, which will launch in 2024 to provide caregiver grants to permafrost researchers.
The Permafrost Grown Project
Melissa Ward Jones leads the Permafrost Grown Project, a five year, 3 USD million project funded by the US National Science Foundation. This project is composed of over 25 people, bringing together a research team from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and local Alaskan farmers based in the Tanana Valley (Interior Alaska), Bethel (southwest Alaska) and Anaktuvuk Pass (Arctic Alaska).
This transdisciplinary project utilizes a variety of methods, including a sensor network to monitor ground and weather conditions, agricultural experiments, satellite-, airborne- and drone-based remote sensing, ground penetrating radar, ground drilling, tree coring, soil surveys, economic modelling, surveys, interviews, and workshops to meet project objectives.
The Permafrost Grown Project objectives:
- To better understand the interaction and feedback between permafrost and agriculture,
- To understand legacy effects of cultivation over the last ~120 years,
- Evaluate socio-economic tradeoffs and provide decision-making tools,
- Provide education and outreach materials and activities to advance public and farmer knowledge.
Permafrost Grown is generating knowledge and creating resources to increase food security and economic resiliency in Alaska.
Resources and further reading
- Ward Jones, M. K., Schwoerer, T., Gannon, G., Jones, B. M., Kanevskiy, M. Z., Sutton, I., St. Pierre, B., St. Pierre, C., Russell, J., and Russell, D. (2022). Climate-driven expansion of northern agriculture must consider permafrost. Nature Climate Change, 12, 699-703. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01436-z.
- Ward Jones, M., and Bendixen, M. (2022). It’s time to make science in remote places family friendly. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02048-5.
- Ward Jones, M. (2023). Assessing Ice Wedge Micro-Topography Interactions with Environmental Parameters in Alaska through Family Friendly Science. Witness Community Highlights. Arctic Consortium of the United States (ARCUS). Access: https://www.arcus.org/witness-the-arctic/2023/8/highlight/1
