The Explorers Club New England Chapter is pleased to announce the first Speaker Series of 2026 with Lee-Gray Boze, MN ‘23. The talk will be held online only on Wednesday January 21, 2026 7:00-8:30pm.
This presentation focuses on critical research involving caves and polar karst systems found along the coast of Greenland during Lee-Gray’s 2024 and 2025 expeditions aboard the Ponant icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot. These trips laid the groundwork for a complete coastal inventory for caves, developing the technology, creating connections, and beginning to survey known coastal cave systems. The trip was able to document for the first time remote Norse and Inuit ruins so that they can be studied and preserved as the arctic rapidly changes.
Lee-Gray’s talk will be followed with a Q&A and his talk will be hosted by Board Member and Publications Chair Rhonda Moniz.
This event is open to members, guests and the public.
Please sign up below. (This is an online event only)
This presentation presents and expedition to map out polar karst systems along the coast of Greenland. Karst outcroppings, where most caves are formed, comprise approximately ~15% of the Earth's surface, and represent significant but under-researched methane sinks, with virtually no documentation existing for polar caves and shelters. The research employs drones equipped with thermal imaging to conduct aerial reconnaissance of potential cave systems. As sites are identified we can priortize field work and surveying in harsh terrain. The multi-tiered investigation includes site surveying and mapping, atmospheric chemistry sampling to measure methane and carbon dioxide concentrations with isotopic analysis, and paleontological inventory of vertebrate specimens preserved in cave environments.
This science approach, conducted in partnership with Ponant aimed to understand polar environments while providing unprecedented access to geologic and paleontological resources that have received minimal human documentation. Our work also included first inventory of Inuit and Norse cultural sites providing invaluable data for preservation efforts.
Lee-Gray Boze is an ocean scientist at the United States Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he focuses on methane hydrate and surface methane flux biogeochemistry. He has developed numerous pieces of scientific equipment advancing laser spectroscopy applications and isotope biogeochemistry. Boze previously conducted professional research in Greenland onboard the Swedish IB Oden in collaboration with Stockholm University and has made multiple trips to Greenland as part of the Explorers Club – Ponant partnership. Prior to his current position he worked for the National Park Service conducting cave research. As an expedition trip leader, surveyor, cartographer, and scientist, he has spent thousands of hours in large cave systems across the world. He holds degrees in geology and wilderness studies, an advanced degree in business management, and is currently a PhD candidate at Northeastern University in public policy for ocean policy. Originally from Alaska, Boze is a member of the Explorer's Club and advocates for expanding the organization's inclusivity toward non-traditional exploration, particularly from the Global South.