UCF Student to Document Climate Change Expedition to Norwegian Glacier

BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History photography student and adventurer, Martin Holland joins an expedition this month to the largest icecap in mainland Europe, Norway in the Jostedalsbreen National Park to monitor the effects of climate change.

The Jostedalsbreen National Park is a landscape shaped by ice and water and was established by Royal Decree on 25 October 1991. It covers 1230 sq. km, with half the area covered by the glacier and 90% of the park above the 800m elevation. The region is almost entirely unexplored, with many of the mountains having never been climbed, but climate change could alter this landscape forever. The regular shape and behaviour of the Tunsbergdalsbreen glacier make it ideal for monitoring climate change.

Martin, who is entering his final year of BA(Hons) Marine and Natural History Photography at University College Falmouth (UCF), has been asked to visually document the expedition, as well train as a leader for future expeditions to the area and will begin the expedition on Saturday 8 August for three weeks. The expedition will be repeated for the next five years so that measurements taken on and around the glacier with mobile satellite technology can record any changes.

The Tunsbergdalsbreen glacier is the largest outlet glacier of the Jostedal icecap in southern Norway. Access is difficult, and will involve the traditional expedition approach of carrying equipment into a base camp from which the real exploration, challenging mountaineering, and vital scientific work can be carried out.

"I can't wait to get going," said Martin. "Being able to combine exploration with scientific research and the media is the reason I came to Falmouth to study. The course offers the kind of opportunities I've dreamed about for years."

UCF is supporting Martin with loans of photography and film equipment that will be used to bring the science of discovery into the public realm. Course leader, Dave Matthews said: "It's fantastic to see one of our students gaining this kind of experience after just two years, and to be able to support him in his endeavours is a real pleasure. We encourage all of our students to engage in key environmental and ecological debates and with the specialists facilities available in the Photography Centre on the Tremough Campus to store wildlife specimens - as well as the very latest in terrestrial and underwater photography equipment - the sky, or the seabed, really is the limit for our students."

The Norway expedition is self-funded, and Martin will volunteer to lead young people on the expedition in coming years. For all those interested in joining or supporting Martin on a future expedition to the glacier, please visit http://www.norway09.com/

Last winter Martin ran six marathons in six months and raised £1500 for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). He also volunteers as an aid worker for international disaster relief charity, Shelterbox and recently returned from filming on the threatened island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean and has written his first book, Rodrigues: Paradise Lost? An environmental photo essay that documents the history of the island, some conservation success stories - including the survival of what was once the rarest bat in the world - and asks what the future holds for this still idyllic drop of land in the Indian Ocean.

Martin is also planning to run his own expedition to Borneo during the summer of 2010 involving students from both the University of Exeter and UCF to begin research into the effects of climate change on the indigenous people and environment on one of the world's last undiscovered frontiers. Anyone who is interested in joining Martin or supporting his scientific exploration to Borneo should visit, http://www.expedition2010.wordpress.com/

To learn more about the expedition to Norway and monitor their progress, please visit http://www.norway09.com/.

For more information about Martin, please visit http://www.mcholland.co.uk/.

For further information about BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/marinephotography, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 213855.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name. It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing. The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2012/2013 that will be unique to the South West.

The College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

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For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email: jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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