Cruise Report for the R/V Sikuliaq August 25-September 18, 2017, prepared by Dr. Carin Ashjian, Chief Scientist, and the SKQ201713S Science Team for the time PolarTREC teacher Lisa Seff was aboard and working on Upwelling and Ecology in the Beaufort Sea.
Article written for the East Hampton Star Newspaper on September 7, 2017, featuring teacher Lisa Seff aboard the R/V Sikuliaq in the Beaufort Sea studying Upwelling and Ecology in the Bering Sea.
Article run in the East Hampton Star Newspaper on February 16, 2017, about teacher Lisa Seff's participation in the expedition "Upwelling and Ecology in the Bering Sea" aboard the R/V Sikuliaq in the Beaufort Sea.
PolarTREC teacher Lisa Seff and the "Upwelling and Ecology in the Beaufort Sea Research Team" discuss the many research projects being carried out aboard the R/V Sikuliaq. This event was broadcast live on 14 September 2017 from the research vessel located in the Beaufort Sea.
PolarTREC teacher Jacquelyn Hams' expedition is featured in Foundations: the Newsletter of the Geo2YC division of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers.
Teacher Betsy Wilkening and researchers publish an article in the Journal of Geophysical Research stemming from their work on the PolarTREC OASIS project.
Students will use marshmallows to simulate toxins in the environment. Concentrations of these toxins will be modeled and calculated as they bioaccumulate up the food chain. Methylmercury and POPs are substances that bioaccumulate in the Arctic food chain. OASIS scientists studied these in Barrow, Alaska. (See Ocean Atmosphere Sea Ice and Snow (OASIS) Project at www.polartrec.com)
Students will discover how a simple action such as turning on a television will lead to toxins in our food supply. Many of these toxins concentrate in the Arctic because of long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. Scientists in the OASIS project (http://www.polartrec.com/ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice-and-snowpack-interactions) study these pollutants in the Arctic. Students will learn about actions that they can take to
Students will develop research questions that will help them develop an ecosystem profile (species/conditions etc.) of a local pond. Their results will be compared with data from the McMurdo Dry Valley Lakes in Antarctica. Discussions about climate and energy dynamics will be conducted as conclusions are drawn. A map and key for the local pond (species/locations/conditions) will be