
Andy’s research largely takes places in Svalbard and Antarctica, but he has also worked in Greenland and northern Sweden. His work considers the implications of ground thaw and ice melt for the release of water, sediment and nutrients into runoff. Particular attention is given to glacier hydrology and how the sensitive ecosystems found at the ice margin are influenced by meltwater dynamics. He also looks at the microbial ecosystems within the ice itself, since there are fewer habitats more vulnerable to the impacts of climate warming than ice and snow.
Current Projects
CryoScope
02/25 – 01/29, UNIS lead
CRYOsphere Science Concluding in new Observations and Productive Exploitation. Lead Institution: FMI (Helsinki). EU HORIZON-CL5-2024-D1-01 (No. 101184736).
We examine the impact of glacier retreat upon fluid migration, including how groundwater and gases (especially methane) and their movement towards the land surface. For this purpose, and following from the GlaciGas Project, we have established a new glacier forefield observatory which will be incorporated into the ELMER/ICE modelling framework in collaboration with Thomas Zwinger (CSC, Finland).

GlaciGas
01/24 – 12/26, Project Leader
Climate-driven methane outgassing at terrestrial and marine-terminating glacier margins. Research Council of Norway (NFR, Project Number: No 343293).
We examine the processes and fluxes of methane escape at the immediate margin of retreating glaciers in Svalbard. We study both land-based and marine-terminating glaciers and aim to understand the sources, fluxes and likely future changes of the gas emissions from these rapidly changing environments.
Metallica
07/23 – 06/26, UNIS lead
Meltwater release of heavy metals from glacier to ocean in a Changing Arctic. Lead Institution: University of Tromsø. Research Council of Norway (NFR, Project Number: No 334596).
My role is to examine the impact of the glacier forefield upon nutrients and metals exported from glacier basins by runoff, which forms the basis of Leo Magerl’s PhD (at UiT).
Recent projects


TerraSeep
01/22 – 12/23, Project Leader
A Terrestrial methane seepage observatory.
SIOS Innovation Award
We develop new techniques for monitoring methane dynamics at seeps in Svalbard through the instrumentation of the Lagoon Pingo seep.
CLIMAGAS
03/19 – 12/22, Project Leader
Climatic forcing of terrestrial methane gas escape through permafrost in Svalbard. Research Council of Norway (NFR POLARPROG, Project Number: 294764).
We examine methane release associated with groundwaters that exploit glacier forefields, faults and unfrozen sediments in the permafrost landscape. The sources of both the groundwaters and the gases are also being established across the whole of Central Svalbard.

BIOICE
02/19 – 12/22, Project Leader
Blue Ice Oases of Life on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Research Council of Norway (NFR FRINATEK, Project Number: No 288402).
We examine blue ice ecosystems in the vicinity of Troll Station, Antarctica, revealing far greater nutrient, water and microbe resources associated with preferential melt pools that form around near-surface debris within the ice.
Recent Key Publications
Commissioned Report:
Hodson, A., Kleber, G., Platt, S., Kalenitchenko, D., Hengsens, G., Irvine-Fynn, T., Senger, K., Tveit, A., Øvreås, L., ten Hietbrink, S., Hollander, J., Ammerlaan, F., Damm, E., Römer, M., Fransson, A., Chierici, M., Delpech, L.-M., Pirk, N., Sen, A., & Redecker, K. (2025). Methane in Svalbard (SvalGaSess). In SESS report 2024 – The State of Environmental Science in Svalbard – an annual report (pp. 106–137). Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14425572
Journal articles:
Nowak, A., Isaksson, E., Sunde, Ø., Elvevold, S., Sandven, H., Moholdt, G., Hudson, S.R., Urset, A., Edwards, A., Rassner, S.M. and Pearce, D., Hamre, B. and Hodson, A. 2024. Antarctic Blue Ice Areas are hydrologically active, nutrient rich and contain microbially diverse cryoconite holes. Communications Earth & Environment 5(1), 345.
Dayal, A., Hodson, A.J., Šabacká, M. and Smalley, A.L., 2023. Seasonal snowpack microbial ecology and biogeochemistry on a High Arctic ice cap reveals negligible autotrophic activity during spring and summer melt. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 128(10), e2022JG007176.
Hodson, A., Kleber, G., Johnson, J., Lonardi, M., Petroselli, C., Dixon, T. and Bottrell, S., 2023. Effects of glacier retreat upon glacier-groundwater coupling and biogeochemistry in Central Svalbard. Journal of Hydrology 624, 129894.
Jones, E.L., Hodson, A.J., Redeker, K.R., Christiansen, H.H., Thornton, S.F. and Rogers, J., 2023. Biogeochemistry of low‐and high‐centered ice‐wedge polygons in wetlands in Svalbard. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 34(3), 359-369.
Kleber, G.E., Hodson, A.J., Magerl, L., Mannerfelt, E.S., Bradbury, H.J., Zhu, Y., Trimmer, M. and Turchyn, A.V., 2023. Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic. Nature Geoscience 16(7), 597-604.