SCAR 2020 Workshop “Antarctic Science - Global Connections”

August 11th, 4:45-7:00 GMT

4:45 - 5:00 Welcome to the workshop

5:00 - 6:00 Plenary: Dr. Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere

• “Navigating your career journey in polar research (and why getting a bit lost along the way isn’t a bad thing)”

  Dr. Jessica Melbourne-Thomas is a Transdisciplinary Researcher and Knowledge Broker with CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere in Hobart. Jess’ research background is in mathematical modelling and Antarctic climate change science and she was a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Oceans & Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (2019). A strong advocate for diversity and gender equity in science, Jess co-founded the Homeward Bound project, which took the largest ever all female expedition on a leadership journey to Antarctica in 2016. Jess was one of Australia’s first 30 Superstars of STEM and was named Tasmania's Young Tall Poppy of the Year in 2015 for her excellence in research, science communication and policy engagement. She was also one of 12 female scientists globally to have her portrait featured as a constellation on the ceiling of New York’s Grand Central Station as part of GE’s Balance the Equation campaign. Jess is the 2020 Tasmanian Australian of the Year.

6:00 - 6:30 About APECS: Dr Jilda Caccavo, APECS Ex-Officio

6:30 - 7:00 About SCAR: Dr Eoghan Griffin, SCAR Executive Officer

Outreach can be a foreign concept to grasp for those that have never been involved in these activities before. These sessions bring established science journalists and outreach scientists to talk us through the challenges, importance and which is the most effective way to do it. The first part of each session is led by the journalists that will talk us through how to engage in outreach using an intermediary. Talks will cover the relationship between scientists and traditional media outlets, how to give interviews and how to share your work through social media in an effective way. The second half brings the leads of science outreach programs and initiatives that will show how scientists can engage with the community directly. They will further discuss the importance of such work and quantify the influence scientific outreach has in the community they are inserted.

Convenors: Natalia Ribeiro and Lisa Craw

Research Communication 1 session (8:00-10:00 GMT)

Research Communication 2 session (22:00-24:00 GMT)

August 11th

• 8:00 - 10:00 GMT: Research Communication 1

  8:00 - 8:30 Martha Henriques: BBC Future planet: “When science becomes a story”

  8:30 - 9:00 Daisy Dunne: Carbon Brief: “Tackling climate scepticism with online media”

  9:00 - 9:30 Dr. Adele Wilson, Young Tassie Scientists: “Young Tassie Scientists: Sharing science stories across our island”

  9:30 - 10:00 Niamh Chapman and Olivia Holloway, Edge Radio: That’s What I call Science! “Team-based and diversity driven scicomm”

   

   

• 22:00 - 24:00 GMT: Research Communication 2

  22:00 - 22:30 Chelsea Harvey, EE News: “Writing about science for non-scientists”

  22:30 - 23:30 Katie Aspen Gavenus, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies: “Understanding, honoring, and building from learners’ lived experiences”

   

   

A successful example is the the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) as a part of the Polar Prediction Project (PPP). PPP is a 10-year (2013–2022) endeavour of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) with the aim of promoting cooperative international research enabling development of improved weather and environmental prediction services for the polar regions, on time scales from hours to seasonal. YOPP is the flagship activity of PPP with the aim of enabling a significant improvement in environmental prediction capabilities for the polar regions and beyond, by coordinating a period of intensive observing, modelling, verification, user-engagement and education activities.

The Polar Prediction Project (PPP) is a 10-year (2013–2022) endeavour of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) with the aim of promoting cooperative international research enabling development of improved weather and environmental prediction services for the polar regions, on time scales from hours to seasonal. The  Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) is the flagship activity of PPP with the aim of enabling a significant improvement in environmental prediction capabilities for the polar regions and beyond, by coordinating a period of intensive observing, modelling, verification, user-engagement and education activities.

Convenors: Clare Eayrs and Vicki Heinrich

YOPP 1 Live session of the IcePod (10:30-11:30 GMT)

YOPP SH session (15:00-18:00 GMT)

August 11th

• 10:30 - 11:30 GMT: YOPP 1: Live Session of the IcePod

  The IcePod is the official podcast of the YOPP initiative to improve weather and sea-ice forecasts in the Arctic and Antarctic. Join us for a live broadcast of the IcePod where Kirstin Werner and Sara Pasqualetto from the YOPP International Coordination Office interview the weather observer and psychology PhD candidate Vicki Heinrich.

  

  About Vicki Heinrich: After working within the Australian Antarctic Program as a senior weather observer for the Bureau of Meteorology for several years, Vicki Heinrich is now a psychological sciences PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. Through surveys, interviews and experiments, Vicki’s PhD project examines how, when, and why people use weather and climate information in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic. Vicki is interested in how we may apply metacognition, social, and behavioural theories to better understand people’s weather-related risk perception and decision-making and ultimately assist people in making safer weather decisions. This research is endorsed by YOPP (@UWCIAntarctica). Photo credit: Peter Hargreaves.

  

  More about The IcePod: The IcePod is the podcast about polar science and the people. It is the official podcast for the Year of Polar Prediction and has been initiated in support of the Arctic MOSAiC one-year ice drift campaign. Kirstin Werner and Sara Pasqualetto talk to scientists who went on board Polarstern, the German research icebreaker, for the biggest research expedition in the Arctic. The IcePod is produced in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute and Radio Weser.TV. Access The IcePod on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Castbox.

• 15:00 - 18:00 GMT: YOPP 2: Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere (YOPP-SH)

  The YOPP-SH session offers an overview of some of the key activities associated with the YOPP in the Southern Hemisphere (YOPP-SH) efforts. The presenters will introduce a variety of YOPP-SH activities and provide an opportunity for ECRs to find out how they can use weather and ice forecasts for their research, what kind of meteorological data are available, and ways to contribute to YOPP and PPP.

  15:00 - 15:05 Welcome

  15:05 - 15:20​ YOPP-SH Overview: David Bromwich, YOPP-SH Task Team leader.

  David will give and overview of YOPP-SH and the Polar Prediction Project.

  15:20 - 15:35 YOPP Communications: Sara Pasqualetto. 

  Sara will describe how the International Coordination Office works together with the participating Members of the Polar Prediction Project and other international programs to disseminate Polar Prediction stories and activities.

  15:35 - 15:50 SIPN South: François Massonnet

  François will provide an update on sea-ice prediction in the Southern Ocean and how realistic prediction exercises are being aligned with YOPP’s Special Observing Periods. François leads the Sea Ice Prediction Network South (SIPN South) initiative.

  15:50 - 16:05 AntClimNow: Tom Bracegirdle.

  The Near-term Variability and Prediction of the Antarctic Climate System (AntClimNow) that aims to answer fundamental science questions (as identified by the SCAR Horizon Scan), relating to Antarctic Climate variability.

  16:05 - 16:20Antarctic AWS system: Taylor Norton, Sophie Orendorf, and Matthew Lazzara

  Annual activities and status of the Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC) and Automatic Weather Station (AWS) and how these contribute to the YOPP Special Observing Period in the Southern Hemisphere.

  16:20 - 16:35 Sergi Gonzalez

  “Gone with the Wind - Providing Forecasts to the Polar Windsled Expeditions” - describing the atmospheric observations taken across the data-poor Antarctic Plateau using a zero-emissions Windsled, and how weather guidance was used to plan and develop the expedition.

  16:35 - 16:50 ASPeCT observations: Marilyn Raphael

  ASPeCT sea-ice program and how this program complements and contributes to YOPP and other international science programs. 

   

  16:50 - 17:05 YOPP Data Portal: Siri Jodha Khalsa

  YOPP Data Portal and information on how to link and access data sets collected across the YOPP projects.

  17:05 Session closure

In these times of global upheaval and climate change, we need to work together to reduce the footprint that anthropogenic activity has on the sensitive environments that we work in. Polar science is only made possible through incredible feats of logistics, yet there is always room for improvement. Currently, research ships go out with empty berths, and surplus samples sit for years in storage. The streamlining of logistical operations to reduce these problems is one such way in which we can reduce our collective impact, but this will only be possible through communication- through forging global connections. This is a chance to do that: an opportunity to share opportunities, a chance to talk and work together to achieve more science with less consequence.

This session will feature speakers discussing how and why logistical collaboration is essential in delivering cross-disciplinary, cross-national field projects as well as speakers highlighting ways individual researchers can reduce their own footprints through collaboration.

Convenor: Jack Buckingham

Session 1: August 12th, 08:00 - 10:00 GMT

Session 2: August 13th, 07:00 - 09:00 GMT

• Logistical Collaboration 1

  08:10 - 08:15  Welcome

  08:15 - 08:45 Dr. Madeline Green: Co-founder of Otlet: A global, open-access platform to share and source biological samples.

  08:45 - 09:15 Prof. Terry Callaghan: Scientific Coordinator of INTERACT: The value and necessity of net-working researchers.

  09:15 - 09:45 Dr. Anja Sommerfeld: MOSAiC Project Manager: The logistics of delivering a large-scale cross-disciplinary project.

  09:45 - 10:15 Representative from the European Polar Board (speaker tbc):The Action Group on Environmental Impacts of Polar Research and Logistics.

   

• Logistical Collaboration 2

  07:10 - 07:15 Welcome

  07:15 - 07:45 Dr. Craig Cary: Co-chair of the SCAR ANTOS Group (Antarctic Nearshore and Terrestrial Observation System): The logistics of delivering a large-scale cross-disciplinary project.

  07:45 - 08:15 Dr. Pip Bricher: Data Officer of SOOS: The DueSouth database.

  08:15 - 08:45 Dr. Antonio Quesada: Project Manager of the COMNAP Efficiency Taskforce Peninsula 2019/20 project: Logistics to reduce our collective footprint.

  08:45 - 09:15 Dr. Cath Waller: SCAR Plastics Action Group: Why collaborative logistics are necessary to reduce our plastic footprint at the poles.