The research will be focused on the impacts of the climate change on permafrost environments and the related ecosystems in polar areas and alpine mountains. Here permafrost is thawing almost everywhere ,changing deeply the landscape and triggering surface instability that interacts with the evolution of the ecosystems and with the CO2 and CH4 fluxes. The research could be developed in Alaska where Insubria has a base and in the Italian Alps. This comparison will be important because both the areas are suffering the more intense warming in the planet. The research fits with the PNR 2021-27 within the general topic of Climate, Energy and Sustanaible Mobility and more in particular with the frame of 5.5.2 Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaption. In detail the research here proposed can contribute to several subtopics ("articolazioni") like: 5.5.2.1 because the reserch will try to investigate potential sources of GHG like CO2 or CH4 from degrading permafrost and 5.5.2.2 because it will be contribute to the monitoring and to the understanding of the relationships between Climate and Earth System. Moreover the research can contribute also to the 5.5.2.4 because the analysis of the risks related to the permafrost degradation especially in the alpine environment or in the coastal polar environment can contribute to the improvement of the modelling of the future scenarios of impacts on the infrastructure and on the popolations and economy at local scale.

The candidate should have basic knowledge on the climate change, on the climate change impacts on the cryosphere and on the ecosystems of periglacial environment. Basic knowledge on GIS and statistical analyses are also welcome. Basic knowledge on gephysics is also welcome. The candidates should be ready to work in a dynamic, international context with an important field work activity in polar and alpine environment.

This PhD will be part of Climate Change Research Center of Insubria University where it will be possible work in a multidisciplinar team iwithin the CRyosphere Lab (PI. M. Guglielmin) with a Researcher (S. Ponti, expert in remote sensing), one Post Doc (A. Longhi, expert in soils) and twp PhD S. Picone (expert in debris flows and permafrost hydrology) and V. Chaturvedy. (expert of CH4 emissions modelling and remote sensing). This group interacts with the Botany and Climate Change Lab (Resp. N. Cannone) where other experts of vegetation and terrestrial ecology of alpine and polar areas are working. The team interacts with the University of Alaska and other international institutions.