Christian Haas

Christian Haas, University of Alberta, Alberta Ingenuity Scholar
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research – Sea-Ice Physics

Dr. Haas is a sea-ice geophysicist with a strong research interest in the role of sea-ice in the climate system and in its interaction with the biosphere.

Dr. Christian Haas and his team of two Master’s students are studying the climate system both in the Arctic and Antarctic, hoping to reveal the underlying causes for the recent, strong sea-ice retreat. Research data is obtained from in-situ measurements and airborne and satellite remote sensing and modeling. The team’s main goal is to understand the global changes of the environment and the biosphere and whether they come about naturally or as a result of human influence.

Dr. Haas created a breakthrough monitoring device, the EM Bird, while at the University of Alberta, now one of only three institutions in the world to have access to this cutting-edge technology.

Since coming to Alberta in 2007, Dr. Haas and his team have built an ice-thickness sensor and have visited the Arctic Ocean twice. On their latest trip, they obtained ice-thickness information over the Norwegian, Danish, Canadian and U.S. Arctic sectors – the first Arctic ice-thickness snapshot ever.

“Haas’ efforts have established him as ’the acknowledged expert in the field’ of sea-ice measurement.” Dr. Peter Wadhams, Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group, University of Cambridge