College of Marine Sciences & Maritime Studies

Texas A&M-Galveston Researchers Secure $650K NSF Grant To Advance Arctic Ocean Science

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP) has awarded a $650,000 research grant to Drs. Rainer Amon and Karl Kaiser, esteemed professors of marine and coastal environmental science in the College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies at Texas A&M University at Galveston. This major investment will support groundbreaking research into the carbon and freshwater dynamics of the Arctic Ocean, a region critical to understanding global climate systems.

OPP supports innovative scientific research focused on Earth’s polar regions and their global connections. It facilitates access to the Arctic and Antarctica, providing logistical support through partnerships with the U.S. military and other federal agencies. Today, OPP operates year-round research stations, field camps and research vessels across both polar regions.

With this funding, Amon and Kaiser will participate in three scientific expeditions to the Arctic, where they will develop a high-resolution dataset — including biomarkers, optical properties and water isotopes — to investigate ocean circulation and stratification. Their work will also contribute to validating advanced numerical models developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, offering new insights into how the Arctic Ocean is changing over time.

“The Arctic Ocean is unique in that it has a frozen layer on the surface, then a cold, but fresher, layer underneath called the Halocline, which acts as a barrier to another warmer, saltier layer below,” explained Amon, the lead principal investigator. He added, “Our research has three main objectives: to understand how the stratification of the Arctic is maintained, to identify sources of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean and to evaluate how these factors have changed over the past 20 years.”  

Amon has conducted research in the Arctic Ocean for much of his career, and he and Kaiser will utilize both new and historical data to examine long-term changes. 

While Amon and Kaiser’s work is in the Arctic Ocean, the implications are far-reaching, with local impacts on the Gulf Coast. 

“This issue affects local, regional and global communities. It impacts erosion, subsistence and commercial fishing, weather patterns, navigation and the global heat budget,” Kaiser said. “Changes in the Arctic region can affect cold-weather events even in Texas, such as the Winter Storm Uri in 2021. The nature of the research is quite fundamental and will contribute to our understanding of regions most susceptible to climate change and processes shaping the global carbon and freshwater cycle.”  

Dr. Debbie Thomas, associate provost of Texas A&M University, founding dean of the College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies, executive associate vice president for Academic Affairs and chief academic officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston, expressed her enthusiasm for the NSF-OPP grant and extended congratulations to the research team for their achievement. 

“Drs. Amon and Kaiser are two exceptionally accomplished faculty members and leaders in their field, and this grant reflects their leadership in an incredibly competitive funding landscape,” said Thomas. “This research is going to transform our understanding of the changing Arctic Ocean environment and I am so excited to see the work progress!”

Amon and Kaiser are collaborating with a distinguished team of international scientists, including Dr. Benjamin Rabe, Dr. Walter Geibert and Dr. Sinhué Torres-Valdés from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Dr. Dorothea Bauch from Christian Albrechts University; Dr. Igor Polyakov from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Dr. Wilbert Weijer from Los Alamos National Lab.

Amon joined Texas A&M University at Galveston in 2003. He holds two doctoral degrees, one in Limnology/Ecology from the University of Vienna, Austria, and another in Marine Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Science in Zoology/Marine Biology and Bachelor of Science in Zoology/Marine Biology, both from the University of Vienna.

Kaiser has been with Texas A&M University at Galveston since 2012. He earned his Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina. Additionally, he holds both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Johannes Kepler University.