Centre for Earth Observation Science

Centre for Earth Observation Science

The Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS), housed in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources, is a leading research centre at the University of Manitoba focusing on understanding how the Earth will respond to climate change. Since its founding in 1994, CEOS has always been multidisciplinary and collaborative, drawing on researchers from different areas and faculties. CEOS researchers conduct their field work all over the world; however, the Arctic marine system has always been a unifying focus of activity because climate change affects this region more acutely than anywhere else in the world.

Faculty and Staff
CCGS Amundsen idling in a sea of ice

Centre for Earth Observation Science

Featured News & Research

Müller Ice Cap Project

The deepest Canadian ice core has reached bedrock! The research team successfully reached their goal, drilling a 613 m deep ice core from top to bedrock though the Müller ice cap on Axel Heibergs Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Read daily reports from the field

The East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) 

In 2016, an international research team, including UM Professor and Canada Research Chair, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, began drilling into the North Greenland Ice Stream to better understand ice stream dynamics and their role in sea level rise. The project, which ended last year, has already yield ground-breaking results.

Learn more about their recent discovery in Science

The Churchill Marine Observatory

On August 27, 2024, the UM Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) celebrated the grand opening of the Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO), led by Project Lead Dr. Feiyue Wang and Co-Lead Dr. CJ Mundy.

The Churchill Marine Observatory: A new national marine research base on the shores of Hudson Bay

CEOS researcher Dr. Karen Alley is featured in a virtual field lab about Thwaites Glacier and Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

Vital Signs of Thwaites, the "Doomsday Glacier", Episode 3

CEOS-led study projects polar bear populations will no longer be viable in Southern Hudson Bay with 1.6-2.1°C global warming or in Western Hudson Bay with 2.2-2.6°C global warming.

Localized extinction of Hudson Bay polar bears predicted if Paris Climate Agreements breached
 

GENICE II: Diesel Experiments at SERF

In March 2024, CEOS researchers conducted remote sensing experiments at the Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF). Microwave scatterometers were used to monitor sea ice formation, followed by the injection of diesel oil underneath the ice.

Learn more about the GENICE II Project

Green2Ice

The European Research Council project, Green2Ice led by Professor Dorthe Dahl-Jensen will investigate some of the oldest and deepest ice cores from Greenland to determine the age the Greenland ice sheet. The University of Manitoba is among the international partners collaborating on the project.

Updates from the Field

Drilling team
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen - EGRIP Project
Grand opening of Churchill Marine Observatory
ice shelf in Antarctica
polar bear with two cubs
Collage of SERF activities
Green2Ice Camp

What we offer

Research impacts and outputs

  • 600+

    peer reviewed publications in the past 10 years

  • 250+

    graduate students trained at CEOS

  • 200+

    research grants in the past 10 years

  • 50+

    authored policy documents, reports, and books in the past 10 years

News and stories

View more news and stories
A researcher installs equipment as the main crater vent of Fagradalsfjall erupts in the background.
Photo by Samuel Scott

Field stories

Students in CEOS conduct research that contributes to the global conversation on climate change and its effects on our planet. From their field research, they write stories and bring photos back from their experiences.

Explore student field stories

Our team

  • Faculty, staff and researchers

    Meet our acclaimed faculty, researchers and staff. Learn more about their contributions to climate science and how they are broadening the conversation about climate change and its impacts on us all. 

    Explore faculty, staff and researchers

Joining CEOS

Any faculty member or research associate with affiliation to the University of Manitoba is welcome to join CEOS where there is good fit in research expertise, and there is a desire to positively contribute toward the development of proposals and the subsequent research in support of CEOS activities. Students supervised by CEOS members are encouraged to join CEOS.

Membership application

Current opportunities

Our founder

  • Dr. David G Barber

    Dr. David G Barber founded the Centre for Earth Observation Science in 1994. Through his leadership, CEOS has grown into an internationally recognized multidisciplinary and collaborative centre studying the complex inter-relationships between the different systems on Earth. He was a visionary researcher, a scholar with an entrepreneurial spirit, and a generous mentor.

    Find out more about his legacy

  • David Barber

Contact us

Centre for Earth Observation Science
535 Wallace Building
125 Dysart Rd.
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada

ceosinfo@umanitoba.ca
204-474-7602
204-272-1532