News Archive

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!

Applications for Inspiring Girls* Expeditions programs in the United States and Canada are now OPEN!  All application materials for Inspiring Girls* Expeditions in the United States and Canada are due January 30, 2023, at 11:59 AK time.

The Inspiring Girls* Expeditions Europe application will open soon. All application materials for Inspiring Girls* Expeditions Europe are due February 24, 2023. 

Each summer, Inspiring Girls* Expeditions to lead tuition-FREE expeditions for high school girls* that interweave field science, art, and backcountry travel. Expedition teams are selected through an application process. Inspiring Girls* Expeditions welcomes cisgender girls and transgender, agender, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex, and genderqueer youth. Check out the website for more information about this opportunity.

Antarctica Day is an international holiday recognizing the anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. It is celebrated on December 1st each year. Along with Midwinter Day, it is one of Antarctica's two principal holidays. Celebrate Antarctica Day with us! A live event from the Dry Valleys of Antarctica was held with PolarTREC teacher Lucy Coleman. The presentation focused on the history of the Antarctica Treaty and how it relates to science conducted in Antarctica, in particular with the project Lucy is part of Microbial Interactions in Antarctic Lakes. This event took take place on 1 December 2022 and is now archived.

PolarTREC Teacher Sarah Slack has won the 2022 MƒA Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education. MƒA says that Slack was chosen for the award for the exceptional ways that she has influenced the teaching profession. The organization added that Slack was selected because she constantly strives to learn new knowledge and new approaches to learning, as well as being a model of true leadership. Congratulations to Sarah!

Student applications are now open for the Juneau Icefield Research Program 2023 field season. Application materials are due December 18th for priority consideration. Applications submitted after the due date will be considered on a rolling basis.

The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) offers a summer field course for students interested in undergraduate-level Polar sciences with a focus on glaciology, climate processes, glacial geomorphology, periglacial ecology, and interactions between these systems. JIRP is also appropriate for graduate students with limited experience in these topics. Students learn through academic and research interactions with rotating faculty from around the world. Workshops, field trips, and lectures focus on the primary topics listed above but also cover Alaskan geologic history, geomatics, and remote sensing, geophysics, scientific literacy, and science communication. In addition, the program capitalizes on the expertise of rotating faculty members to cover current questions in science.