Sampling oil in ice during an experimental spill off the Canadian East Coast in 1986. Photo: D. Dickins
Funding Agency: Prince William Sound Recovery Center (OSRI), Cordova Alaska
Dickins was selected for a grant award in March 2025 to publish the findings of groundbreaking historical research into oil behavior in ice. The objective is to review the results of fifteen experimental spills in ice conducted over a 50-year period between 1970 and 2009, primarily in the U.S., Canada and Norway, and prepare a peer-reviewed paper for submission to a recognized journal. David Dickins played a key role in six of these projects through the course of his career. In particular, the paper will focus on three Canadian projects (1974-1986) that have never been published outside of brief conference papers.
These milestone studies form the basis much of our current knowledge on how oil behaves in a range of ice conditions. The paper will connect the findings of these past studies to present day oil spill risks such as increasing vessel traffic through the Bering Strait during the ice season.
