ARC Funded Project
Successful applicants/Reports
List of successful applicants for 2026
| Name | Affiliation (within Hokkaido University) | Project Title |
|---|---|---|
| FURUYA, Masato | Faculty of Science | Remote sensing and field investigation of ground deformation in post-wildfire permafrost forest areas |
| NOMURA, Daiki | Faculty of Fisheries Sciences | International collaborative research with the University of Alaska on sea-ice biogeochemistry along the Arctic coast |
| PODOLSKIY, Evgeny | Arctic Research Center | Technical support for specimen production at the Hokkaido University Museum; Director of Chise Association; Representative of BONY WORKS (specimen and replica production) |
| SAUNAVAARA, Juha Mikael | Arctic Research Center | The Second Asia-Arctic Conference (AAC) of Asia-Arctic Network for Research and Education (AANRE) |
| MATSUNO, Kohei | Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere | Clarifying the progress of subarcticization in zooplankton communities of the Pacific-side Arctic Ocean |
| HATTORI, Michitaka | Slavic-Eurasian Research Center | Export of strategic resources from the Russian Arctic amid war and sanctions |
| ONISHI, Fujio | Arctic Research Center | Graduate School Common Course: “SDGs Practicum:Northern Region Fieldwork – Atmosphere, Ocean, Land, Environment, and Society in the Arctic (NJE3)” |
| GREVE, Ralf Gunther | Institute of Low Temperature Science | Simulations of the Greenland ice sheet under future global warming scenarios within the international ISMIP7 initiative |
| ISHIKAWA, Mamoru | Graduate School of Environmental Science | International research meeting toward establishing a sustainable research base in the southernmost permafrost zone of Eurasia |
| UENO, Hiromichi | Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere | International collaborative research on heat content variability in the Chukchi Borderland of the Arctic Ocean |
| TSUYUZAKI, Shiro | Graduate School of Environmental Science | Promotion of conservation activities through a collaborative environmental education program linking secondary schools, universities, and local communities, centered on Sphagnum bog restoration |
| UETAKE, Jun | Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere | Analysis of snow and ice algae involved in glacier darkening: Establishing a Japan–Czech international research foundatio |
| THIEBOT, Jean-Baptiste | Faculty of Fisheries Sciences | Using miniaturized GPS data loggers to track the use of dynamic marine habitats by little auks in northwestern Greenland. |
| HIRATA, Takafumi | Arctic Research Center | Hosting an international joint session at Arctic Frontiers 2027 |
| MORI, Taro | Faculty of Engineering | Disaster prevention and energy-efficient operation of data centers on northern-region university campuses: Comparative regional surveys and stakeholder collaboration |
| TOMIYASU,Makoto | Faculty of Fisheries Sciences | Fisheries resource management activities through citizen science with Greenland Indigenous communities |
List of successful applicants for 2025
Masato Furuya
Affiliation: Hokkaido University
Project Title: Is post-fire thawed permafrost recovering after several decades?
Report:
The high-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere are located within the “continuous permafrost zone,” where permafrost extends approximately one meter below the ground surface. It is estimated that permafrost contains more than twice as much organic carbon as the atmosphere, and there are concerns that its release into the atmosphere as a result of permafrost thaw could further accelerate global warming. While permafrost thaw can proceed gradually due to global warming, it can also occur abrupt as a result of disturbances to the ground surface. Forest fires are a prime example of such a factor, and reports indicate that the frequency and scale of fires themselves are on the rise due to global warming. Therefore, it is important to investigate the actual rate at which permafrost thaws due to forest fires; however, quantitative assessments have been lacking so far. This study investigated ground deformation at forest fire sites in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada over the past 50 years by analyzing satellite radar images. Although the radar image data were acquired over the past decade or so, the images include burned sites from various time periods. Therefore, by examining post-fire ground deformation, it is possible to investigate how permafrost thaws and recovers on a timescale of several decades. The figure shows ground deformation since 2017 (right) at burned and un-burned sites (left) from 1986, 2004, and 2017. While the 2017 fire scar is subsiding rapidly, the 2004 fire scar is slowly rising, strongly suggesting that thawing is progressing at the former and permafrost recovery is occurring at the latter. This series of processes is thought to be governed by the loss and recovery of surface vegetation. Additionally, while the 1986 fire site appears to be nearly stable, the non-fire site also shows slow subsidence.
