-
APECS International Polar Week Photo Contest 2016
Thank you for all the great submissions to the APECS International Polar Week Photo Contest 2016! The three winners were:
1st Prize: Adrian Dahood (George Mason University, United States)
Gentoo penguins porpoising, Antarctic Sound, Antarctica, January 14, 2013
2nd Prize: Nathaniel B Dkhar (The Energy and Resources Institute, India)
Photo was take at East Rathong Glacier, West Sikkim District, Sikkim, India on 25th June 2013. We had gone to support a local government institution start their monitoring of the glacier. Unfortunately, the equipment required was not available with them and we got to know only once we reached the base camp. So the couple of us who had to climb up to 5100 masl had to use cotton rope for make shift "crampons". It helped to get some traction and the best part was we had to use our umbrellas as ice axes. It seems funny now but it wasn't then.
3nd Prize: Francoise Amélineau (University of Montpellier, France)
October 2011, Dumont d'Urville Station, Antarctica
Curious Emperor penguins coming close to my robot fitted with acoustic devices to record their calls.
-
List of other activities during International Polar Week March 2016
Events for Spring Polar Week 2016 Name of Event Description of Event Date/Time Location Dutch Polar Day Lectures and information about The North and South pole, invited speakers, posters and information about APECS.
http://www.pooltotpool.nl/news.html12/05/2016 Leiden, Netherlands Climate Change Science and Communication PEI Master Class International.
Speakers: Paolo Gabrielli, Jason Cervenec, Alessia Cicconi Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center at the Ohio State University (USA)Climatic change is one of the main topics of present-day scientific research but it is also one of the most debatable one in the media with a “not scientific” approach. How can scientists state that climate is changing? And which “time machines” enable them to reconstruct the climate of the past?
23/02/2016 and 25/02/2016 online event "The italian polar explorer Silvio Zavatti. His story, his museum" Speaker: Maria Pia Casarini. Director of Istituto Geografico Polare "Silvio Zavatti". Fermo. Italy The meeting is organized from the group of high school students of the project RESEt : a class at the Svalbard and in collaboration with PEI (Polar Educators International)
18/03/2016 Rovereto. Trento, Italy APECS-Canada - Polar Week in Nunavut Movie nights (15 & 17 March 2016) and poster session at Nunavut Arctic College (18 March 2016). 15-18/03/2016 Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada Curating @RealScientists Sammie, one of the UK Polar Network presidents will be curating the @RealScientists twitter account, talking about polar related science all week. 14-20/03/2016 Online Polar Educators International Polar 5K Run/Walk 2016 Global/Virtual 5K Run/Walk Join the 2016 Polar Run/Walk on the Equinox!
Send a photo on your race day!
@PolarEducators #PolarRun2016
www.polareducator.org19/03/2016 Various Young researchers portraits We ask 5 different classes to create the portrait of 5 young researchers working in different fields. Each portrait will then be published each day of the Polar Week and will allow the researcher to give more visibility on his work in "kids" worlds. 14/05/2016 Online APECS/ BOTES Antarctic Quiz The March Bottom of the Earth Society (BOTES) event will be an Antarctic Quiz, presented in conjunction with APECS Oceania. Open to all those at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). 18/03/2016 Hobart, Australia Remote Wildlife Camera Lessons in Canada's Western Arctic Throughout International Polar Week, adult Inuvialuit and Gwich'in students at the Learning Centre (Aurora College) in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada will get to learn about remote wildlife cameras and their importance to research within Canada's Western Arctic. Parks Canada and Aurora College have teamed up to deliver this exciting project to local learners. During several hands-on lessons, students will get to analyse the images coming from various cameras set up within Ivvavik National Park by "tagging" wildlife (just like facebook!). The wildlife captured by these cameras include Grizzly Bears, Grey Wolves, Red/Cross Foxes and the beloved Porcupine Caribou herd. March 14-17 2016 Inuvik Canada Film Screening: I am a mountain, to measure impermanence by Hanna Ljungh Screening of the Hanna Ljungh’s film work, I am a mountain, to measure impermanence, which features the southern peak of Kebnekaise, where a team of scientists gather samples and measure the effects of the rapidly melting mountain glacier over the course of a single day in 2015. 15/04/2016 Stockholm, Sweden Tweet storm Tweet your polar thesis in 40 xters or less on @ehPECS #PolarWeek ! 14-18/04/2016 Canada Guest Bloggers at Science Borealis We will have two guest bloggers during Polar Week on the Canadian science blog Science Borealis : http://blog.scienceborealis.ca/ 14-18/04/2016 Canada School webinars on polar science All over Canada, in French and English, we will be presenting the polar world as we know it to school classes for Polar Week via classroom webinars. 14-18/04/2016 Canada Arctic Science Summit Week The Arctic Summit Science Week 2016 is streaming parts of their meeting! Check here for future streaming dates and times:
https://assw2016.org/assw-news/participate-assw-aos-anywhere-world15-18/04/2016 Online from Fairbanks, Alaska Leeds Climate Festival UKPN will be at the Leeds Science Festival on the Monday 21st March 2016, and running a series of workshops highlighting polar climate change. This is the first time the UKPN have visited Leeds, and we are looking forward to running our workshop and seeing new faces. Our workshop, titled ‘Pole to Pole: Life at the ends of the Earth’ will feature small experiments designed to teach school pupils of all ages about climate change, sea level rise, ocean acidification and albedo. Modern polar exploration clothing will also be available for workshop attendees to dress up in! The workshop will end with a Q&A session, giving the audience a chance to ask the UKPN committee running the event, all the questions they have about living, eating, cooking and sleeping in the snowy climates. 21/03/2016 Leeds, UK Flakes, Blobs, & Bubbles! (Polar Science Lesson with Activity) Celebrate International Polar Week with PEI and APECS, with this science art activity, developed by Dr. Heidi A. Roop & Dr. Dan Zwartz at Victoria University of Wellington. Explore how ice sheets and glaciers form, and learn about why and how scientists study ice. As students learn about ice formation, they will also be creating 'ice' art. Collected art will be integrated into global ice mosaics posted here throughout Polar Week. Members of APECS graciously translated this activity into over 20 languages so we could create a truly global initiative! Download the activity and resources from http://icecoreart.weebly.com (20+ languages available!)
Send all art in pdf format to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and join the community discussion on the PEI website at http://polareducator.org/my-groups/viewgroup/55-flakes-blobs-bubbles (must be a PEI member on the website to join the discussion). If you are already a member, login; click on “Remember Me” when you login. If you have forgotten your username or password, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
4-20/03/2016 Anywhere Antarctica Explorers Club membership drive Apply for FREE membership by completing and sending in the form at http://www.irenelatham.com/AntarcticaExplorersClub/index.html.
Members receive a membership button, a signed bookmark, and their name listed on the webpage.14/03/2016 online (Birmingham, Alabama) Polar week film screening Film screening "Greenland is the melting point" Wednesday 16.3.2016 17:00 and slide show of polar fieldwork photos afterwards. 16/03/2016 Helsinki, Finland Celebrating the International Polar Week At Escola Sant Gregori, we're celebrating the International Polar Week at all educational levels:
- Highschool: talk by Prof. Dr. Jaume Calvet (Antarctic researcher, University of Barcelona) on the Poles.
- Secondary School: observing Antarctic diatoms under the microscope and decorating our class with self-made diatom drawings, plus attending a talk about Antarctica from an APECS-Spain member.
- Primary School: talk on Antarctic benthic invertebrates (science class) and manufacturing an Antarctic benthic community with recycled materials (arts class).10/03/2016 - 01/04/2016 Barcelona, Spain -
Polar Weeks 2016
We celebrated on a global scale by focusing on the science being conducted in the Arctic and Antarctic. Inspired by the many great things that came out of the International Polar Year celebrations, we always hope that the bi-annual Polar Week celebration will link people in polar science and polar education. The polar regions of our planet contain some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. These ecosystems support a rich array of life, both human and non-human, on both ends of the globe. Whether it's in the Arctic or Antarctic, scientists from all over the world are working together to increase our knowledge of the cryosphere and its inhabitants. It is for this spirit of international cooperation and the excitement of scientific discovery that the APECS proudly supports International Polar Week.
International Polar Week is an opportunity for APECS to promote polar science. APECS uses this opportunity to plan & develop polar science related activities alongside teachers, educators and those interested in polar education for the equinoxes of each year. The equinoxes in March and September are the only time when everywhere on earth the day length is 12 hours, a perfect opportunity to celebrate the poles on a global scale!
APECS organized two International Polar Weeks in 2016:
- 14-20 March 2016
- 19-26 September 2016
You can find a summary of the Polar Week highlights of that year below:
Polar Week Highlights - September 2016
-
Polar Week Figure Competition
Thank you to everyone who entered a figure into our Fall Polar Week figure competition!
Congratulations to all!
1st place: Noémie Ross and the 'A Frozen Ground Cartoon' team
‘A Frozen-Ground Cartoon’ is a scientific outreach project presenting permafrost research conducted in the field with thematic comic strips. It is coordinated by a core group of Permafrost Young Researchers from Canada and Europe and is funded by the International Permafrost Association (IPA). This poster is realized by Noémie Ross, a professional young artist from Montréal, Canada. For more information click here.
'A Frozen-Ground Cartoon' Team: Project Leader: Frédéric Bouchard Collaborators: Bethany Deshpande, Michael Fritz, Julie Malenfant-Lepage, Alexandre Nieuwendam, Michel Paquette, Ashley Rudy, Matthias B. Siewert, Ylva Sjöberg, Audrey Veillette, Stefanie Weege, Jon Harbor2nd place: Mathieu Casado, University of Paris, Saclay
Acquisition of the isotopic composition signal in Polar Region: first, during evaporation, the clouds are depleted in heavy isotopes by the cumulated effect of equilibrium fractionation at the phase transition and kinetic fractionation; second, the cloud isotopic composition is depleted at each precipitation events as the heavy isotopes are preferentially found in the condensed phase; finally, in remote polar region, due to the low amount of precipitation and it is necessary to take into account post-deposition processes in the isotopic budget of the snow.
3rd place: Ruth C. Heindel, Dartmouth College
Conceptual framework for understanding the role of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in the West Greenland landscape. Starting in a high productivity stable state (shrub and graminoid tundra), wind disturbance can remove soil and vegetation, exposing loess and glacial till. After biocrust development, the role of the biocrust either as a permanent landscape cover or a successional facilitator determines whether the landscape remains in a low productivity stable state or returns to the initial high productivity state. Concept from Bowker et al., 2007.
-
Sharing Science with the Virtual Polar Film Fest
During Polar Weeks, which are week-long polar events held around the solar equinoxes, APECS members get creative about sharing science with their communities and the broader public. These events are often informal and meant to highlight the most fascinating aspects of polar science and the broader themes that make the subject globally relevant. This year, the USAPECS Board piloted a Virtual Polar Film Fest to harness the power of inspiring and exciting educational videos that are already available online and repackaged them for Polar Week in September 2016.
Video nominations were crowd-sourced from the polar research community. We received more than 100 submissions (already posted on Vimeo and YouTube) of both amateur and professional videos of varying lengths, some of which covered serious topics and others that were more light-hearted (e.g., “Happy Feet”). Videos were reviewed and organized into four themes, each of which was highlighted on a day of the Film Fest: Frozen Worlds, Partly Frozen Mostly Cute, Climate & Connections, and People at the Poles.
During Polar Week, APECS members hosted in-person and virtual watch parties where groups gathered to watch selected videos and/or playlists and discuss what they were watching with APECS experts. In-person watch parties were held in Boulder (CO), Fairbanks (AK), Orono (ME), Whitehorse (YT), Potsdam (DE), and Cambridge (UK). Virtual watch parties were hosted by Alice Bradley, Mia Bennett, Morgan Seag, and David Schutt on Twitter using the #PolarFilmFest hashtag. Playlists were also widely disseminated to APECS members, APECS partners (including Polar-ICE), and over social media.
Overall, Polar Film Fest videos racked up over 24,000 views, contributing an average of 8% to the total views on the films featured on the playlists. There were 184 tweets using the #PolarFilmFest during the week, with participants from around the world contributing. We hope to run the Virtual Polar Film Fest again, creating new playlists, including more languages besides English, and working with partners to host more exciting events that bring together the arts and sciences!
The 2016 Virtual Polar Film Fest was organized by Allen Pope, Alice Bradley, Ariel Morrison, David Schutt, Olivia Lee, and Alex Thornton with further help from the USAPECS Board and APECS members. If you would like to get involved in future events like this one, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
-
APECS Oceania Social Media Presentation
This Polar Week (Fall 2016), communication was in the spotlight for APECS Oceania. On Monday 19 September (1300 AEST), Indi Hodgson-Johnston from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (Hobart) presented an introduction to "Social Media for Marine and Antarctic Scientists." Tune in to a recording of the talk to learn about the various social media platforms, how to use a hashtag, networking effectively online, and ways to promote your research.
Social Media for Marine & Antarctic Scientists from APECS Webinars on Vimeo.
APECS Oceania’s Indi Hodgson-Johnston talked about:- The value of a social media presence
- Working out what you want to achieve from dipping your toe into social media
- How to set up social media accounts (with an emphasis on Twitter)
- How to promote your research sensibly (and avoid those trolls)
- How much time does it take?
- How to find other scientists in your field
- Etiquette, visualisation, professionalism etc.
- Honest reflections of several years working with companies, organisations and other researchers in social media
- And so on…
Why social media?Employers are increasingly demanding outreach and communication skills of their employees. A solid social media presence provides scientists and other researchers with precious contacts, networking and outreach opportunities that are beyond those found in traditional research institutions. But it’s a bit scary when you hear about trolling, multiple platforms etc, so that’s why we’re going to tell you all about how to set up accounts, what to say, what not to say, who to follow and so on. It’s aimed at a wide audience, from those wanting to start up an account, to those that want to refine their audiences.To view a recording of the presentation on the APECS vimeo channel, click here.
-
List of other activities during International Polar Week September 2016
Name Date Location Description Movie night 19/09/2016 - 25/09/2016 Potsdam, Germany Movie night with Arctic/Antarctic movies APECS France webinars 03/10/2016 - 07/10/2016 Various A series of webinars organized by APECS France. APECS Webinar: Understanding the ecological power of communication: Culture & nature tourism contexts 22/09/2016 Online APECS Webinar: Understanding the ecological power of communication: Culture & nature tourism contexts Presented by A/Prof Tema Milstein - University of New Mexico? Thursday, Sept. 22, at 2 p.m. (US Mountain Standard Time) Polar Film Festival 20/09/2016 Cambridge, UK An evening of short films (thanks US-APECS!) about the polar regions in celebration of International Polar Week. Arctic Science Ministerial Side-Event: Arctic Science as a Vehicle for STEM Education and Citizen Empowerment 27/09/2016 Washington, DC, USA In collaboration with Arctic Portal, Arctic21, the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), PoLAR Partnership, EDU-Arctic, and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, ARCUS hosted a special side-event to the 2016 Arctic Science Ministerial meeting at the ARCUS office in Washington, D.C. on 27 September, 2016. Scheduled to take place immediately before the opening events of the first White House Arctic Science Ministerial (September 27th - 28th), this special event was intended to engage the international community of Arctic stakeholders in a constructive dialogue around one of the four key themes of the Arctic Science Ministerial: "Arctic Science as a Vehicle for STEM Education and Citizen Empowerment." It also provided a key opportunity for leaders participating in the Arctic Science Ministerial to engage with the wider Arctic stakeholder community and media on these topics before the closed meetings of the Arctic Science Ministerial begin. Beginning at 9am EDT on 27 September, two 1-hour panel discussions by an international group of Arctic leaders explored opportunities for advancing the use of Arctic research and education activities to inform worldwide audiences about the changes happening in the Arctic and to help empower Arctic residents most impacted by the complex dynamics shaping the region. An introductory plenary by Mark Brzezinski, Executive Director of the U.S. Government's Arctic Executive Steering Committee kicked-off the conversation. The public was invited to attend the event presentations via online streaming. Marine Institute Research Open House 19/09/2016 St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada Join the Marine Institute for an International Polar Week Open House on Monday, September 19 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Stop by the MI Gym to meet representatives from the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research (CFER), the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Resources (CSAR), OceanNet and the Centre for Centre for Applied Ocean Technology (CTec) who will be on hand to chat about their work in the Arctic. There will be interactive displays, videos and you'll even get to meet some Northern sea creatures. Reddit Ask me anything (Polar week) 22/09/2016 Online/UK Following on from previously successful reddit AMA's during polar week, the UK Polar network is hoping to host an event from 7-9pm GMT on "Ask me anything for polar scientists". Polar Film Fest: APECS Canada Watchparty in Whitehorse! 21/09/2016 Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada Watchparty for the Polar Film Fest!
