PolarTREC educator Monica Nunez and researcher Dr. Craig Tweedie discuss the many projects that UTEP is involved in across the Barrow Peninsula. Collectively, these projects are helping to advance our knowledge of terrestrial, aquatic, coastal and marine ecosystem structure and function and how these systems are responding to arctic change. This event was broadcast live from a research boat outside
The PolarTREC expedition places the teacher in the role of student. All aspects of the expedition ask the teacher to stretch her mind and reach beyond her comfort zone. This stretch presents itself to the teacher in having to learn new technology, new science, new presentation formats, and meet, live and collaborate with
Data collected from experimental manipulations of ecological processes can help us understand the natural world, and perhaps even help scientists predict how complex systems may change. At CiPEHR, (Carbon in Permafrost Heating Experimental Research) located near Denali National Park, scientists have collected and analyzed seven years of data to learn how increases in soil temperatures influence the carbon
Researcher Elizabeth Webb discusses her experiences working in the field with a PolarTREC teacher. She worked with John Wood in 2011 and 2012, and Tom Lane in 2013, on the Carbon Balance in Warming and Drying Tundra expedition near Healy, Alaska. (She primarily discusses her time with John Wood since this interview was taken in 2013, before Tom Lane's expedition.)
Soil decomposers, such as some bacteria and fungi, obtain energy needed for life from dead and decomposing plant and animal remains, known as soil organic matter. Soil organic matter is important to local ecosystems because it affects soil structure, regulates soil moisture and temperature, and provides energy and nutrients to soil organisms. It is also important globally, because
Exploration of the Antarctic continent did not occur until the late 1800’s, and the South Pole was first reached on December 14, 1911. Courage, planning, and technology have been the main components of Antarctic exploration from the earliest days. This classroom activity is designed to highlight the historical elements of the past 100 years of exploration in Antarctica and
Antarctica is the coldest, driest place on Earth with a fairly limited number of native species which have adapted to these extreme conditions over millions of years. As a result, it's not very likely that a non-native species would survive there . . . right? Actually ever since exploration and exploitation of the Antarctic region began in the 1800's
This story in Discover magazine profiles the work of the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling) project team and the challenges faced by drilling thousands of feet into the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to reach a lake buried for millennia.
Article about earth science and environmental science teacher Mike LeBaron's expedition to Antarctica as part of the WISSARD project (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling) at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.