The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the Winter 2011-12 quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

Topics include:
- Drilling Completed of the WAIS Divide Main Ice Core
- Drilling Completed at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica for Study of Ancient Atmospheres
- Replicate Coring System
- Rapid Access Ice Drill (RAID)
- Intermediate-Depth Drill
- Educational Outreach
- Drilling Support to Science Projects
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

Global and Regional Climate Signals from Ice Cores
2012 SCAR Open Science Conference
16-19 July 2012
Portland, OR

Ice cores provide information about past climate and environmental conditions on time scales from decades to hundreds of millennia, and direct records of the composition of the atmosphere. As such, they are cornerstones of global change research. For example, ice cores play a central role in showing how closely climate and greenhouse gas concentrations were linked in the past, and in demonstrating that very abrupt climate switches can occur. In this session we invite contributions to our understanding of regional and global climate from Antarctic cores, on all time and spatial scales. Presentations on methods of climate reconstruction, and presentations that address the relationship of Antarctic climate with global or large scale regional climate are also welcome.

Meeting Web Site: http://scar2012.geol.pdx.edu/
Abstract Submission: http://www.scar.org/abstracts/submit.html (requires making an account first)
Abstract Deadline: February 15, 2012

IDPO is organizing a Town Hall meeting at the 2011 Fall AGU Meeting entitled "Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions". ANDRILL and SCAR-ACE are co-sponsors of the event. Presenters at this meeting will report on recent planning by the IDPO/IDDO, IPICS, ANDRILL, IODP, SCAR-ACE, SHALDRIL, WAIS, and Arctic Ocean drilling initiatives, and will provide time to discuss current opportunities for community involvement in long-term interdisciplinary planning. The workshop is on Thursday, December 8 room 12:30 to 1:30 PM in the Moscone West, Room 2006. Please check the 2011 Fall AGU Meeting web site for more information
(http://sites.agu.org/fallmeeting/)

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2011 fall quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

Topics include:
- Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions Town Hall Meeting
- Field Support to Antarctic Projects
- Intermediate-Depth Drill
- Intermediate-Depth Logging Winch
- Rapid Access Ice Drill (RAID)
- Replicate Coring System
- Follow Us on Twitter
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2011 summer quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

Topics include:
- Overview of IDPO and IDDO Activities During the Quarter
- Highlight: Multidisciplinary Science on the Greenland Ice Sheet is Enabled by Agile Ice Core Drills
- Highlight: Interdisciplinary Community Workshop Examines the Future for Ice Coring and Drilling
- Education and Outreach: Outreach Support for U.S. Scientists
- IDDO Career Opportunity: Mechanical Engineer(s) Needed!
- IPICS 2012 Open Science Conference
- Long Range Science Plan 2011-2021 and Long Range Drilling Technology Plan
- 2011 Technical Advisory Board Meeting
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

The first Open Science Conference of the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) will be held from 1-5 October 2012 at the beautiful setting of the Belembra club, situated on the border of the Mediterranean Sea in one of the best spots of the French Côte d'Azur.

The objective of the conference is to present, discuss and put into perspective the most recent results of past and current ice core drilling projects (deep drillings such as EPICA, WAIS Divide, NEEM, TALDICE,... but also shallow drillings) in Antarctica and Greenland. Other ice core drilling projects conducted in non-polar glaciers or in other Arctic sites are also welcome. The four IPICS white papers will structure the conference programme. Gathering mostly ice core scientists, the conference expects to also attract researchers working on other paleoclimate archives as well as paleoclimate modelers and glaciologists.

For more information, please visit the conference web site at:
http://www.ipics2012.org/

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2011 spring quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

Topics include:
- Overview of IDPO and IDDO Activities During the Quarter
- Highlight: Deepest U.S. Ice Core Drilled in West Antarctica
- Highlight: New Drilling Technology Enables Study of Ancient Atmospheres
- Highlight: Unique Ice Drilling Technology Developed for Increased Sampling of Key Events
- 2011 Long Range Science Plan :: Request for Community Input/Comments
- Science Planning Workshop Review
- Drilling Support to Arctic Field Projects
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/news/icebits.shtml

Several important deadlines are approaching that we want to bring to your attention:
1. Ice Drilling Science Community Planning Workshop hotel and registration deadlines
2. 2011 Antarctic Research Solicitation (11-532) deadline for requesting ice drilling support

1. Ice Drilling Science Community Planning Workshop hotel and registration deadlines
As a reminder, the Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) is sponsoring an interdisciplinary ice community workshop to identify future Arctic and Antarctic drilling/coring sites, the ice drilling technology that will be needed, and the timeline over the coming decade for conducting scientific endeavors important for advancing science on many frontiers. The workshop will be held at the Washington Dulles Marriott Suites Hotel in Herndon, VA, on April 15 and 16. All are invited to participate.

If you have interest in attending the workshop and haven't registered and/or reserved a hotel room yet you need to do so quickly. The cut-off date for accepting hotel reservations into the workshop's room block is at 12:00 noon on April 1. The deadline for registering for the workshop is April 7.

Please make sure and register for the workshop even if you are from the area and will not be staying in a hotel so that we have a head count for the meeting room setup and lunch.

For more information about the workshop, please visit:
http://www.icedrill.org/science-planning-workshop-2011/

2. 2011 Antarctic Research Solicitation (11-532) deadline for Requesting Ice Drilling Support
The 2011 Antarctic Research Solicitation (11-532) deadline is June 6, 2011. As a reminder, if your proposal requires any kind of ice drilling or ice coring support from the Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) group at the University of Wisconsin you must contact icedrill@dartmouth.edu at least 6 weeks prior to the Antarctic Research Solicitation (11-532) deadline, in this case by April 25.

For more information about requesting ice drilling support, please visit:
http://icedrill.org/scientists/scientists.shtml#nsf .

The Ice Drilling Program Office is announcing the launch of its new education-focused website, http://climate-expeditions.org. The site offers ice core-related lesson plans and resources for middle and high school classrooms, career profiles and links to universities with glaciology research centers for students, and informational articles, reliable resources and multi-media for the public.

If you are a scientist associated with IDPO, there are opportunities for leveraging your university or project's education and outreach efforts through this umbrella site. Please consider linking your education page to our home page, submitting articles published for general audiences that represent your research, being featured in a career profile, and/or sharing video clips, photos or other resources you'd like to see gain a wider audience through IDPO outreach efforts nationally. For feedback and questions, please contact Linda Morris at Linda.m.morris@dartmouth.edu.

Scientific discoveries achieved from, within, and beneath the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets and temperate glaciers are critical to society today, but they are not achieved without significant advance planning. The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) will sponsor an interdisciplinary ice community workshop to identify future Arctic and Antarctic drilling/coring sites, the ice drilling technology that will be needed, and the timeline over the coming decade for conducting scientific endeavors important for advancing science on many frontiers. This workshop will be held at the Washington Dulles Marriott Suites Hotel in Herndon, VA, on April 15 and 16. All are invited to participate.

** Please register for the meeting at: http://icedrill.org/science-planning-workshop-2011/registration.shtml . For the latest information about the workshop, please visit the workshop's web site at: http://icedrill.org/science-planning-workshop-2011/ .

Background Information: The current IDPO Long Range Science Plan for the ice coring and drilling community is available for download on www.icedrill.org ; we update the plan every year in June. This plan drives the associated Long Range Drilling Technology Plan, available on the same site. Both plans drive the budget and our proposals for developing and maintaining ice coring and drilling technology for the research community. As explained in our recent EOS article (Albert et al, EOS Trans AGU, vol 91(39), 2010, p. 345-346), we encourage scientists to work with IDPO to forecast your science plans over the next decade -- this enables IDPO to really get the ball rolling on the ice drilling technology that will be needed to achieve your goals. Results from the workshop will be reflected in updates in the science descriptions, timeline and planning matrices in the Long Range Science Plan and Long Range Drilling Technology Plan, so that we can ensure that the drilling technology will be ready when needed by your science. We hope that you and your colleagues will join us in this planning.

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2010-11 winter quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Winter_FFY11-Q1.pdf

Topics include:
- Upcoming IDPO Science Planning Workshop
- Review of Drilling Support to Science Projects
- Intermediate Drill
- DISC Drill
- Replicate Coring System
- Educational Outreach
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Winter_FFY11-Q1.pdf

Dear WAIS Divide Enthusiast -

We are ELATED to pass along the fantastic news that the WAIS Divide Ice Core project has reached its goal this year of drilling 3,330 meters into the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. We just received notice from the camp that this goal was achieved at 12:24 PM on January 28, 2011 local time (6:24 PM, January 27, 2011 EST), with a final borehole depth of 3,329.956 meters. This is the second deepest ice core ever collected and could not have been achieved without the resources, dedication, commitment, perseverance and comradely of hundreds of people.

We at the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office, on behalf of the science community, want to sincerely thank everyone for their help and support in recovering this monumental ice core. Without you, we wouldn't be at this point today. Please join us now in a toast celebrating this historic accomplishment!

Cheers,

Ken Taylor - Chief Scientist (and currently at WAIS Divide)
Mark Twickler
Joe Souney

Heidi Roop will be hosting a live event from WAIS Divide to the States this Thursday Dec. 16th. Heidi will also host two other live events throughout the WAIS Divide drill season. This first event will focus on basic ice core science. People can phone in and watch a presentation live from the internet. The whole event will probably last about an hour. Last year, over 400 people joined the call to listen and ask questions. Please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested.

To register for the event and to receive instructions on how to join, go to:
http://www.polartrec.com/polar-connect/register

For those who will be at AGU, it will be run as a full session at the Marriott Hotel, Sierra Room K. Stop by and watch the presentation on a big screen!

If you can't make it to the call and are interested in the presentation, it will be archived on the PolarTREC website.

EVENT 1: Ice Core Science 101
PolarConnect Event with Heidi Roop and the Ice Core Drilling in West Antarctica 2010 Expedition
DATE: Thursday, 16 December 2010 TIME: 11:15 AM AST (12:15 PM PST, 1:15 PM MST, 2:15 PM CST, 3:15 PM EST) Note: We will be broadcasting this event live from the San Francisco Marriott, Sierra Room K at the American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco, California.

EVENT 2: Life on an Ice Sheet- what is it like to live in the deep field in Antarctica?
PolarConnect Event with Heidi Roop and the Ice Core Drilling in West Antarctica 2010 Expedition
DATE: Friday, 7 January 2011 TIME: 9:00 AM AST (10:00 AM PST, 11:00 AM MST, 12:00 PM CST, 1:00 PM EST)

EVENT 3: Reaching Our Icy Goals: a summary of the last main drill season at WAIS Divide
PolarConnect Event with Heidi Roop and the Ice Core Drilling in West Antarctica 2010 Expedition
DATE: Friday, 21 January 2011 TIME: 9:00 AM AST (10:00 AM PST, 11:00 AM MST, 12:00 PM CST, 1:00 PM EST)

The IDPO Science Advisory Board identified in the IDPO Long Range Science Plan a priority need to acquire an intermediate-depth drill for the U.S. ice coring program that is sufficiently portable that it can be used for coring at a wide variety of sites with production drilling in two field seasons or less, and be able to retrieve core from depths of interest for a variety of science goals. From discussions with the research community and discussions with IDDO staff, IDPO proposes the attached science requirements for community comment or agreement.

Please look over the attached, and let us know whether you are in agreement with these requirements, and/or have any comments.

The draft science requirements can also be downloaded at:
http://icedrill.org/documents/view.shtml?id=425

Please send an email with your comments to IceDrill@Dartmouth.edu. Comments received before Dec 22 will be most helpful, but we welcome comments at any time.

We are planning to have IDDO produce a plan for drill development and cost that will be ready by mid-spring.

Colleagues,

Does your science require ice cores, access holes through glaciers / ice sheets, or ocean sediment cores? Everyone is invited to come to the AGU San Francisco Town Hall meeting to hear interdisciplinary planning updates and to learn how to get involved in science planning for future endeavors:

Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions
Wednesday Dec 15, 2010 at 12:30-1:30
Moscone 3005

Ice sheets and ocean sediments hold important evidence on past cryosphere-ocean-atmosphere systems that are key to understanding current climate change. The need for national and international collaboration on both the science and logistics for scientific drilling in these remote regions requires strategic coordination between science, technology, and logistics, along with proposal pressure from the research community. This town hall will report on recent planning by the IDPO/IDDO, IPICS, ANDRILL, IODP, SCAR-ACE, SHALDRIL, and WAIS initiatives, and will provide time to discuss current opportunities for community involvement in long term interdisciplinary planning.

See you there!
Mary

Mary R. Albert, Ph.D.
Professor of Engineering
Executive Director, Ice Drilling Program Office
Thayer School of Engineering
8000 Cummings Hall
Dartmouth
Hanover, N.H. 03755
tel: 603-646-0277
email: mary.r.albert@dartmouth.edu

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2010 fall quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Fall_FFY10-Q4.pdf

Topics include:
- IDPO and ANDRILL Town Hall Meeting at AGU
- National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Outreach
- Field Support to Antarctic Projects
- Replicate Coring System
- Intermediate Drill
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Fall_FFY10-Q4.pdf

IDPO is partnering with ANDRILL to hold a town hall meeting at the 2010 Fall AGU Meeting entitled "Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions". Presenters at this meeting will report on recent planning by the IDPO/IDDO, IPICS, ANDRILL, IODP, SCAR-ACE, SHALDRIL, and WAIS initiatives, and will provide time to discuss current opportunities for community involvement in long-term interdisciplinary planning for coring and drilling, including access to resultant boreholes. The workshop is on Wednesday December 15 from 12:30-1:30. Please check the 2010 Fall AGU Meeting web site for more information (http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm10/).

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2010 summer quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Summer_FFY10-Q3.pdf

Topics include:
- Long Range Integrated Planning
- Planning Improvements to Agile Drilling
- Planning for New Capability
- Drilling Shallow Cores
- WAIS Divide Deep Ice Core
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Summer_FFY10-Q3.pdf

The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) announces that the 2010 spring quarterly update of IDPO and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) activities is available at:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Spring_FFY10-Q2.pdf

Topics include:
- Draft Long Range Science Plan
- Update of Field Drilling Support (January - March, 2010)
- Development Highlights (January - March, 2010)
- Requesting Ice Drilling Support

To download the newsletter, please go to:
http://www.icedrill.org/docs/IDPO_newsletter_2010-Spring_FFY10-Q2.pdf

We want to bring your attention to the updated Draft Long Range Science Plan for ice coring and drilling produced by IDPO and the Science Advisory Board (SAB). We are making this Draft available on our web site (see link below) to solicit community input on the Long Range Science Plan for the ice coring and drilling community. This document is meant to be the forward planning path for our sciences. We encourage everyone to review the document and send comments, questions, additions, etc to icedrill@dartmouth.edu. This is your chance to have your say about the future of ice drilling science. On June 1, 2010 we will incorporate the information we receive and produce the final 2010 Long Range Science Plan. This plan will be revisited and revised as appropriate each spring. We thank you in advance for your input.

Dear All,

As you know, the Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) was established to coordinate long-term and short-term planning in collaboration with the greater US and international ice science community, and to be the principle supplier of ice drilling and ice coring support and expertise for NSF-funded research; www.icedrill.org . IDPO is in the process of developing its education and outreach efforts. As Education Program Manager, I'd love to know how we can best make use of my expertise in formal and informal education and save you time in conducting outreach! One of our early targets is to create quality turn-key presentation materials and associated activities for you to use in your outreach to teachers and schools. We can also help coordinate that and work with your teacher or informal educator colleagues. To help guide this development or to suggest alternative ideas, please complete the attached questionnaire, and return the file to me at your earliest convenience, preferably by February 15th.

With appreciation,
Linda Morris
IDPO Education Program Manager
linda.m.morris@dartmouth.edu

A draft version of the U.S. 5-year Science Plan outlining ice drilling and coring research has been posted to the web site at: www.icedrill.org.

Please look it over and send updates or recommended edits to IceDrill@Dartmouth.edu now or before June 8. This plan will articulate the science driving planning of U.S. ice coring and drilling technology development and maintenance, and will be updated yearly.

Thanks for your input!
Mary, Mark, and Charlie

1. Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) and Ice Drilling Design and Operations group (IDDO)
2. Call for members for Senior Advisory Board of IDPO
3. Call for U. S. ice drilling project white papers

1. Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) and Ice Drilling Design and Operations group (IDDO)
The U.S. Ice Drilling Program comprises scientists seeking to better understand evidence of the past archived in and under polar ice sheets and high-latitude glaciers, along with drillers who enable the science. Discoveries about changes in climate and the environment, using evidence from glaciers and ice sheets, inform environmental policy. The Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) is funded as a cooperative agreement with NSF to coordinate long-term and short-term planning for the greater US ice science community, and to oversee the Ice Drilling Design and Operations group (IDDO), to ensure that the drilling technology will be there when needed by the science. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112909&org=OPP&from=news

Cooperative Agreements with Dartmouth College, University of Wisconsin and University of New Hampshire established the collaborative IDPO. A Cooperative Agreement was also signed with University of Wisconsin for the establishment of the IDDO. We will be releasing our web page in early April. In the meantime you may contact the IDPO by sending an email to icedrill(at)Dartmouth(dot)edu (Please put "Icedrill" in the subject line of the email to help eliminate spam).

2. Call for members for Senior Advisory Board of IDPO
The IDPO is currently seeking members from the U.S. ice drilling community to serve on its Senior Advisory Board (SAB). The IPO will work closely with the SAB (and with other groups, organizations, and individuals) to develop comprehensive long term and short term science plans for the US research community. SAB members should have extensive experience in an area of science that requires ice coring or drilling. The plans will be used to guide development of coring and drilling equipment. To nominate yourself or someone else for the SAB, please contact Ed Brook at brooke(at)geo(dot)oregonstate(dot) edu. Nominations are needed by March 8, 2009.

3. Call for U. S. ice coring and drilling project white papers
The initial plans developed by IDPO will factor in existing white papers that have been developed by the ice coring and drilling communities. If your research community has white papers, documents or plans that you intend to pursue in the near-term or long term future, please send a copy to: Icedrill(at)Dartmouth(dot)edu. In your email, please identify the person associated with each white paper who will serve as the point of contact for IDPO.

Thanks for your time. We look forward to working with you!

Mary Albert
Executive Director, IDPO

Charlie Bentley
Director of Drilling Technology, IDPO

Mark Twickler
Director of Communications, IDPO