Scott Polar Research InstituteGrants awarded: 2017
The Gino Watkins Memorial Fund, under the joint trusteeship of the University of Cambridge and the Royal Geographical Society, gives grants towards expeditions that meet its objectives of guiding and inspiring enterprising people towards scientific research and exploration in the polar regions.
The Committee of Managers of the Fund would like to thank the Augustine Courtauld Trust for their generous contribution of £9,000. The members of the Committee who served during the year were Mr D Fordham, (Chairman), Dr I Campbell, Dr L Craig, Professor J Dowdeswell, Mr R Durbridge, Dr D Goodman, Mr N Gwynne, Dr M Humphreys, Professor M Lea, Mr J Muston, Professor R C Schroter, and Dr M Tinsley.
The Committee met on the 25 February 2017 and made the following awards:
| Expedition | Report | Description | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sailing exploration of the East Greenland coast | Final report | To explore the east coast of Greenland from Kangerlussuaq Fjord to Scoresby Sund. | £2,000 |
| Svalbard 2017 | Final report | A multi-disciplinary trip to gather information on the area around the most northerly warm springs in the world. | £1,000 |
| Expedition to Longyearbreen and Scott Turnerbreen, Svalbard 2017 | Final report | To understand the geomorphological and hydrological processes of a glaciated region, on Longyearbreen and Scott Turnerbreen, Svalbard | £2,000 + £2,000 Arctic Club = £4,000 |
| Linking weathering crust drainage efficiency and the supraglacial hydrograph on the Greenland Ice Sheet | Final report | Measure the drainage efficiency of the weathering crust, using cyoconite holes as natural piezometers. Measure the diurnal stream hydrograph. | £500 |
| Measuring snowpack changes in Arctic Russia - second season | Final report | Expedition to collect field data in the Russian Khibiny Mountains to enable the study of spatial and temporal evolution of various snow parameters through the melt season. | £500 |
| N.W. Greenland Kayak climb expedition 2017 | Final report | To explore the kayaks the area North of Upernavik and attempt to climb alphine style new objectives. | £4,000 Simpson Award |
| The Dark Ice Project: North Pole Winter by boat, drift and ski | To reach the North Pole before sunrise by boat, drift and ski from Alaska. | £4,000 + £2,000 Arctic Club = £6,000 | |
| In the footsteps of the Laptevians | Final report | To traverse the Verkhoyansky range to document the Gulag settlements on the banks of Lena | £4,000 |