PolarTREC (Teachers & Researchers Exploring & Collaborating) has set up its Virtual Base Camp for the 2008 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. At the Base Camp web site, you and your students can follow the progress of the expeditions, ask questions of the scientists and the participating teacher, view photo alums, and access learning resources sorted by grade level, podcasts and video files.

 On board a research vessel or at inland research centers, K-12 teachers are part of scientific projects. Generally, 12 projects are scheduled per year; eight in the Arctic and four in the Antarctic.  Among the expeditions you can visit virtually this summer are:            

Bering Sea Benthic Studies, currently underway, March 27 - May 6.  

Greenland Atmospheric Studies,  June 1 - July 15, Summit, Greenland.

Arctic Tundra Dynamics ‘08, June 8 - July 8, Barrow, Alaska.

 Changing Tundra Landscapes, June 14 - July 10, Toolik Field Station, Alaska.  

Bering Ecosystem Study ‘08, July 3 - 31, Bering Sea. 

High Arctic Change ‘08, July 8 - August 6, Svalbard, Norway.  

Kuril Islands Biocomplexity ‘08, July 11 - August 23, Kuril Islands, Russia.

 Ocean Dynamics Beaufort Sea,  July 16 - August 21, Beaufort Sea.  

Nuvuk Archaeology Studies, July 17 - August 15, Barrow, Alaska. 

PolarTREC  is an educational research experience, funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S., in which K-12 teachers participate in polar research, working closely with scientists as a pathway to improving science education.

The April 7 issue of the journal Nature spotlights a research commentary article warning that we will find reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide harder to do than we have been led to believe. Two scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado in Boulder and an economist from McGill University in Montreal said the technological challenges of reducing carbon dioxide have been “significantly underestimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),”

Specifically the researchers point to the IPCC’s assumption that new technologies would be developed and used, reducing the future growth of emissions even if governments do not act. Recent changes in emissions per unit of energy consumed are higher than predicted because of rapid economic development, which relies on conventional fossil-fuel technologies. Reliance on the old technologies can be expected to continue in areas, such as Asia and Africa, where economic development is growing.

Rather than seeing stabilized carbon dioxide emissions as a result of adoption of new technologies, the authors looked at a set of “frozen-technology” scenarios in which energy technologies will remain at present levels. They conclude: In the end, there is no question whether technological innovation is necessary–it is. The question is, to what degree should policy focus explicitly on motivating such innovation?”

 The IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and by the United Nations Environment Programme. In 2007 it was jointly awarded, with Al Gore, the Nobel Peace Prize. The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences.

In Februrary, we posted about a unique dogsled expedition that sought to document the impact of global warming in the Canadian Arctic. Led by renowed explorer Will Steger, the 1,400 mile trek includes five emerging leaders in the field. The team is sharing the experience through video, images, sounds, and text at the Global Warming 101 site. As described by Steger, the expedition seeks to bring young people to the “front lines” of global warming and to utilize social networks to affect change.

Steger was recently interviewed by Public School Insights, a project of the Learning First Alliance, a permanent, non-profit partnership of 18 major national education associations that collectively represent over 10 million educators, parents, and policymakers. In the 16 minute interview, he discusses how books and images sparked his curiosity and lifelong love of science and how global warming provides a unique opportunity for relevant and challenging science education. At the Public School Insights web site, you can read a post about the interview and expedition, listen to various excerpts from the interview, or listen to the interview in its entirety.

Steger admits that there are challenges in teaching students about climate change, particularly elementary and middle school students. But, as he concludes, educators have a responsibility to educate their students and to prepare them for the future - one, that according to Steger, can be a “great one” if the challenges posed by climate change are met.

In the first weeks of April, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send DC-8, P-3 and B-200 aircraft over the skies of the Arctic carrying instruments to measure air pollution gases and aerosols and solar radiation. In these airborne laboratories, researchers will take a special interest in the formation of the springtime “arctic haze.” The return of sunlight to the Arctic in the spring fuels chemical reactions of pollutants that have accumulated over the winter after traveling long distances from lower latitudes.

 According to a news release from NASA, the new aircraft observations also will help researchers interpret data from satellites orbiting over the Arctic. Interpreting satellite data can be difficult in the Arctic because of extensive cloud cover, bright reflective surfaces from snow and ice, and cold surface temperatures. For example, it’s difficult for researchers to look at satellite data and distinguish between light reflected by clouds and light reflected from white ice cover.  

“The Arctic is a poster child of global change and we don’t understand the processes that are driving that rapid change,” said Daniel Jacob, a scientist with the participating project called the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS).

A second phase of the ARCTAS project takes place this summer from Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada, where flights will focus on measurements of emissions from forest fires.

ARCTAS  is NASA’s contribution to an international series of Arctic field experiments that is part of the International Polar Year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Energy also are sponsoring research flights from Fairbanks this month in collaboration with NASA.

A weeklong marine science course designed for K-12 teachers will be offered June 22-27 at Kasitsna Bay Laboratory near Seldovia, Alaska. The course, titled “Climate Change in Alaskan Estuaries,” includes an introduction to climate change influences on estuarine environments along with field studies and laboratory experiences. This professional development opportunity is offered jointly by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Field studies will include demonstrating the processes and ecosystem components undergoing climate-related changes, and designing community-based monitoring programs. In lab components students will look at historical climate data and use models to compare expected change with recently observed changes. They will be encouraged to design either a regional field or model project that could be applied to where the student teaches or lives.

Tuition will include university registration, fees and materials, and room, board, and insurance fees totaling about $500. Students will pay approximately $75 for transportation between Homer, Alaska, and the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory. Modest financial support may be available to help a small number of students.

Participants are required to register through University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Sessions or contact Susan Sugai.

Kasitsna Bay Laboratory is a unique marine research and teaching laboratory located across Kachemak Bay from Homer, Alaska. It is owned by National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, a program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated in partnership with the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

In March, researchers from  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)  performed sea ice and underwater acoustic surveys in preparation for a return trip in March 2009  to make the first direct measurement of Pacific Ocean water flowing into the western Arctic in winter. This flow plays a role in maintaining the Arctic ice cap .The researchers are working in the Chukchi Sea off Point Barrow, Alaska. In this region, huge volumes of sea ice are formed, helping to shield and protect the polar ice cap. 

The problem for researchers is that the process occurs under the ice in winter. Their solution is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with strategically placed acoustic transponders. The AUV will do much of its work out of transponder range, using only internal navigation to find its way back home to an ice hole. 

Other equipment the researchers are checking out in preparation for their tasks are snowmobiles, sleds, ice-augers, tents and heaters. Also on the list is a human look-out for the polar bears who are always curious about tents on their ice.

The role of permafrost will be the subject of a one-credit summer course for K-12 teachers June 25-27, 2008, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Held in association with the Ninth International Conference on Permafrost, The course will familiarize teachers with how the degradation of the permafrost will impact Alaska’s society, ecology, and hydrology.

Students will take field trips around the Fairbanks area to observe and photograph evidence of permafrost degradation and its original formation during the last glaciation. The emphasis will be upon simple measurements and observations.

Participants may earn one credit by registering with University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Sessions. The cost is expected to be $60.

The Ninth Annual Permafrost Conference will be held June 29-July 3, 2008, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It is sponsored by the  International Permafrost Association, which was formed in 1983 to foster the dissemination of knowledge concerning permafrost and to promote cooperation among persons and national or international organizations engaged in scientific investigation and engineering work on permafrost.

National Public Radio and National Geographic are broadcasting a series on the impacts of climate change called Climate Connections. The series, part of Weekend Edition Sunday, looks at signs of climate change in the polar regions and other parts of the world, including sections on adaptations, causes of climate change, and profiles of people past and present who have been influential in studying the issues.

Recent stories have examined the impact of climate change on the Adelie penguins of Cape Royds,  “Penguins Helped and Hurt by Changing Climate,”  and the impact of the beauty of the southernmost continent on .recent visitors, “Antarctica’s March of the Tourists.”  For a journalist’s look at the U.S. research station at the South Pole, choose “A Bright Spot of Life on the Icy Continent” by Daniel Zwerdling. He’ll tell you about the dining hall windows that look out on the simple metal pole stuck in the snow , the well-equipped gym, and the greenhouse, but he also explains how the people who work there are “actually part of a giant geopolitical chess game.” Videos and slide shows accompany some of the articles. .

Articles are available as web pages, in audio, and as RSS feeds.

The International Polar Year will be emphasized in the national conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science(SACNAS), to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 9-12.

The conference will focus on global change– particularly climate change and its impact on all fields of science, ecosystems, and populations from the poles to the desert Southwest.

Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the SACNAS conference represents an opportunity for the minority scientific community to have a voice in the direction and application of research affecting the health of the planet and people.

Sessions and keynote speakers will explore how the health of the poles is held in delicate balance with global environmental practices, how all scientific disciplines can impact and are impacted by global change, and traditional ecological knowledge and the participation of tribal communities in understanding global change.

Travel scholarships to support lodging and travel expenses to the conference are available for college students and K-12 teachers. The deadline for travel scholarship applications is May 1.

For further information and to register for the conference, go to http://www.sacnas.org/confNew/confClient/current/highlights/. Or contact Dawn Contreras at contreras@sacnas.org

The mission of SACNAS is to encourage Chicano/Latino and Native American students to obtain the advanced degrees necessary for science research, leadership, and teaching careers at all levels.

Working with National Science Foundation-funded researchers, two high school graduates have built an underwater, camera-equipped “rover” to observe fish in Antarctic environments.

Ryan Garner and Amanda Wilson, both female graduates of Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, California, began working with marine biologist Gretchen Hofmann of the University of California, Santa Barbara, when they were high-school seniors. The students were previously part of a school team that placed high in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) design competition.  After the competition, Hofmann encouraged the two to design a rover suited for polar waters. The women worked closely with her laboratory’s graduate students to design and build the vehicle.

The vehicle, named M’RAJE (and pronounced mirage), made roughly ten successful dives between October and December 2007. The vehicle also competed in a 2006 international ROV competition. The 2007 ROV competition challenged students to design and build ROVs for use in polar environments. In addition, the competition was designed to increase student knowledge of the polar regions and the impacts of climate change.