News Archive

Full resolution photos are now available online for PolarTREC educator Lucy Coleman's 2022 Microbial Interactions in Antarctic Lakes expedition to the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. The expedition took place from October 25th to December 15th, 2022.

APECS (Association of Polar Early Career Scientists) International Polar Week is a traditional APECS event held twice a year during the equinoxes (March and September), that is, the dates when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, making day and night of approximately equal length in the northern and southern hemispheres. This is a celebration of the polar and alpine regions with the aim of increasing interest and knowledge about these regions.

The next international polar week will take place this week (27 March - 2 April 2023). During this time, APECS will host activities to engage students, researchers, educators, and everyone interested in the polar regions to share experiences and curiosities at a series of events around the world.

They are planning to cover several topics during the week including the Arctic, Antarctica and Alpine regions, the importance of polar regions for climate change, polar art, and polar engineering.

To learn more about events happening this week, visit this webpage on the APECS website.

Three PolarTREC alumni teachers found themselves in good company over the weekend! Teacher Sarah Slack (Thwaites Offshore Research, 2020) met up with educators Svea Anderson (Shrubs Snow and Nitrogen in the Arctic, 2018) and Lesley Anderson (IceCube and the Askaryan Radio Array, 2018) while interviewing for an Albert Einstein fellowship. Svea and Lesley, past recipients, were speakers at the event. Good Luck, Sarah!

PolarTREC alumnus Sarah Johnson is returning to the Arctic in late March to assist with the University of Washington's International Arctic Buoy Programme. This program, led by Dr Ignatius Rigor, includes another community science project called Float Your Boat which helps community members and students learn about the Arctic Ocean. We invite you to learn more about Sarah's original expedition in the Virtual Base Camp.

How do you tell the story of Polar Science? Calling Artists, Writers, Educators & Researchers to become part of the Polar STEAM Team. Polar STEAM is a National Science Funded program that facilitates both virtual and in-person collaborations between educators, artists & writers, and research teams in polar environments – the Arctic and Antarctic. More information about the application and different opportunities is on the website. Curiosity thrives at Polar STEAM.

Full resolution photos are now available online for PolarTREC educator Rebecca Siegel's 2022 Harmful Algal Blooms in Arctic Waters expedition aboard the Norseman II in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. The expedition took place from July 17th to August 17th, 2022.

Join PolarTREC Tuesday, 24 January at 9:00 am Alaska time (10 am Pacific, 11 am Mountain, 12 pm Central, 1 pm Eastern), for a live PolarConnect event with educator Bill Henske and the Dry Valleys Ecosystem Study team. Bill will be joined by members of "Team Wormherder" to discuss the research and fieldwork involved in the project, and what it's like to live and work in Antarctica. As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) Program, Bill's presentation will focus on research being carried out in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The Dry Valleys represent a region where life approaches its environmental limits. The overarching goal of this long-term research project is to document and understand how ecosystems respond to environmental changes.

You must register to attend this free event.

Join us for another fabulous STEM-focused webinar with PolarTREC teacher Bill Henske and the Dry Valleys Ecosystem Study team! This event will be held on Tues., 24 January 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Alaska (10 a.m. Pacific, 11 a.m. Mountain, 12 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Eastern) live from McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) Program, Bill's presentation will focus on research being carried out in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The Dry Valleys represent a region where life approaches its environmental limits. The overarching goal of this long-term research project is to document and understand how ecosystems respond to environmental changes. You can read more about Bill's experiences in the field on his expedition page.

The live PolarConnect event with educator Elaine Krebs and the IceCube and Askaryan Radio Array 2022 team on January 18, 2023 is now archived. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is located at the South Pole and records the interactions of a nearly massless sub-atomic messenger particle called the neutrino. IceCube searches for neutrinos from the most violent astrophysical sources: events like exploding stars, gamma ray bursts, and cataclysmic phenomena involving black holes and neutron stars. The observatory is a powerful tool to search for dark matter, and could reveal the new physical processes associated with the enigmatic origin of the highest energy particles in nature.

From all of us here at ARCUS, we wish you the very happiest and healthiest of holidays—and look forward to all that the Arctic research and education community will achieve together in 2023!