Gobi (Graduate student) and Yichen Lin (visiting student) took part in the Saroma Sea Ice School 2026, a specialised winter field course held at Saroma-ko Lagoon in northern Hokkaido, Japan — a unique sea-water lake on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. This interdisciplinary field school brought together early-career scientists from around the world to explore and investigate the complex physical, chemical, and atmospheric processes associated with sea ice.

Over the course of the programme (28 February to 9 March 2026), participants engaged in hands-on fieldwork including sea ice coring, snow and seawater sampling, atmospheric measurements, and observational experiments, alongside expert-led lectures and workshops. The school is designed to deepen understanding of the interactions between sea ice, snow, clouds, aerosols, and the underlying ocean — processes that are critical to both Arctic and Antarctic climate systems.

Gobi’s participation in this immersive winter school provided valuable training in state-of-the-art observational techniques and interdisciplinary research approaches, helping to build skills for future work in polar and cryospheric science.

Hiroki Moriyoshi (Graduate student) took part in the Japanese Antarctirc Research Expedition (JARE66). He took part in oceanographic measurements. 

Yoshihiro Nakayama led a Japanese team to design four moorings, prepare instruments, and deploy them at the Totten ice shelf front. He also led an international collaborative team (e.g., Jamin Greenbaum (Scripps Institution of oceanography)) to conduct helicopter-based oceanographic observations. He also plays a central role in planning ship tracks and CTD/XCTD stations. He also sampled water to measure Helium and Neon measurements for detecting glacial meltwater in collaboration with Oliver Huhn (University of Bremen).  

Movie by Asashi Shinnbun Company (one of the Japanese major new paper company). The movie of helicopter-based AXCTD observation can be found from 00:14 to 00:38.

Shuntaro Hyogo (doctoral student) participated in GO-SHIP observations in the Indian and Southern Oceans. He was in charge of assisting in the processing and analysis of seawater samples collected by the CTD.

Yoshihiro Nakayama was part of a Japanese team to design four moorings, prepare instruments, and deploy them off the Cape Darnley. These mooring observations were designed to capture the descent of Antarctic Bottom Water originating from the Cape Darnley polynya. He also supported Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD), and LADCP measurements and dissolved oxygen measurements. 

Yoshihiro Nakayama participated in German Antarctic Expedition to the Northwestern Weddell Sea. He was part of the oceanography team and the team conducted over 110 CTD measurements.