President Obama recently named 102 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Researcher Samantha Hansen, who worked for two field seasons in Antarctic with PolarTREC teacher Brian DuBay will be one
This video clip from from Alabama TV 13 News profiles PolarTREC researcher Dr. Samantha Hansen's work studying the history of landforms in Antarctica. Dr. Hansen will be one of a hundred scientists to be awarded the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.
This lesson was written for the 2012 Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Workshop and was inspired by the research work conducted off the coast of Barrow, Alaska by researchers Steve Okonnen and Patricia Yager with PolarTREC teachers Lollie Garay and Chantelle Rose. Students will engage in a series of exercises to investigate seasonal change in the Arctic ecosystem based on authentic
As the homepage of the website describes, "The beauty of the Arctic, its precious and fragile nature, its critical role in maintaining a stable climate for the planet, and the rapid rate of change that is occurring there must all be conveyed to the general public. Here, through digital story telling, we put a human face on science, life, societies
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
This versatile activity was inspired by my own Antarctic voyage (Lollie Garay, Oden Expedition 07) and The Amazing Race. As my students followed the journey through the Antarctic Seas on a USGS map, I realized what a great opportunity this was for them to "see" where I was in a part of the world so foreign to us
In the Polar Discoveries Section of the Online NewsHour, professional photographer, Spencer Brown, uploaded a photjournal of scientists working as part of the OASIS campaign in Barrow, Alaska in the Spring of 2009.