PolarTREC teacher spent his summer “under this mass of moving ice”

PolarTREC teacher Michael Lampert at the Engabreen Glacier. All photos: Michael Lampert

Buried two hundred meters below Engabreen Glacier, one of a handful of outlet glaciers that drain northern Norway’s Svartisen ice cap, is the Svartisen Subglacial Laboratory, one of the world’s most unique settings for glaciological research.  Just north of the Arctic Circle, the facility came online in conjunction with a new hydro-electric power plant in 1993. An elaborate network of more than 100 km of subglacial tunnels funnels glacial meltwater through the mountain to turbines at the Glumsfjord Kraftverk power station near the glacier base—and allows researchers direct access to the underside of the glacier.

Living quarters and a science lab are housed within barracks-like structures in a tunnel below the surface near the glacier’s origin. The only light is the eerie yellow glow emitted from sodium vapor lamps and headlamps affixed to scientists’ hardhats.

The Svartisen Subglacial Laboratory houses underground labs and living space.

Michael Lampert, a 2011 PolarTREC teacher* from West Salem High School in Salem, Oregon, who joined PI Neal Iverson (Iowa State University) and team on this year’s field expedition, describes his first impression of the lab:

“A helicopter took us up to the top of [the] glacier where we were to enter the tunnel to the Laboratory. I kept looking for a grand entrance, but when we arrived it was just a post with a doorway. We shoveled out a bunch of snow so we could get the door open then walked about 100m through a corrugated pipe that opened into a large room,” Lampert explains.  “It was a little like being in a sewer – dark, drippy, cold, humid air that is very still. You can always hear water rushing through the tunnels. It’s a very odd feeling. There was this unbelievably strange emptiness. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Svartisen's foyer...

Lampert joined Iverson on the latter’s NSF-funded project to understand how, and how fast, Engebreen Glacier moves. During underground stays of up to three weeks at the subglacial lab, the group works at the glacier-bedrock interface, measuring water pressure and microseismicity, tiny earthquakes associated with glacier movement. Data obtained at Svartisen provide fundamental information about variability in glacier movement, information Iverson hopes will translate to long-term predictions about the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica, and their potential contributions to sea-level change.

Lampert mucks out the tunnel.

“The idea here, the overall goal, is to stimulate a rapid glacier movement event by pumping water under the glacier for an hour while measuring the resulting microseismicity,” explains Iverson. “We measure water pressure in pump tests and embed accelerometers in the glacier to monitor ice acceleration. We then correlate these motion data to seismicity measured in the tunnel and on the glacier surface. We manipulate the system to try to understand it better. We are trying to calibrate motion in a very large-scale laboratory so we can apply results to other glaciers.”

Melting last year's ice.

Donning rubber boots and suits to protect them from mud and water, researchers worked to free instruments left in the glacier ice last summer for maintenance and repairs. To get at the equipment, the team first had to melt free a steel door separating the tunnel from the glacier. Using relatively hot water (sixty degrees) from a fire hose directed at the door for an hour, Lampert , who has a background in physics, got his first up-close glimpse of the Engabreen’s underbelly. In a May 2 PolarTREC journal entry he wrote:

“The very bottom of the glacier is a mix of sediment and debris but there is a sudden line of clear glacier ice, often you see lines like this on icebergs that have calved into the ocean. The blue ice has a magical appearance when illuminated with a flood light.”

The glacier's base is mixture of ice and sediment.

Next, the team melted horizontal and vertical shafts through the ice to expose boreholes in the rock through which instrumentation, cables, and wiring pass from instruments embedded in the glacier to lab computers. During the year, the holes become clogged with ice that must be removed periodically. It’s a constant fight against moving ice, which can close off passageways at rates of 1-2 meters a day.

“Ice [that is] under 200 meters of pressure oozes like toothpaste. [It’s] not brittle like the ice in your freezer,” explains Lampert. “Once the sensors are in the glacier and we stop melting, the ice moves back in. The glacier is moving so the ice will ooze around you in the course of a day. You can see a difference within an hour. It’s kind of creepy. Sometimes I would sit in a space in the ice and close my eyes. I would think about just exactly where I was – under this mass of moving ice and that really put me in touch with Earth’s geology. That was one of the coolest things ever!”

Enjoying the view from outside the lab entrance.

Instrumentation includes a friction plate, a granite-topped metal disc about a foot in diameter and loaded with sensors that measure the force of the glacier as it slides over bedrock. The plate, the only one of its kind, also contains a water pressure sensor and an acoustic sensor that ‘listens’ to the glacier’s sounds as it moves past. Other sensors include accelerometers in palm-sized capsules that monitor ice motion.

“Some accelerometers have cable tethers that are fed through boreholes in the underlying rock to lab computers.  Some transmit wirelessly through the tunnel. Both types have advantages and disadvantages. There is lots of screwing around with electrical stuff in conditions a degree above freezing and 100% humidity,” Iverson says.

Accelerometer maintenance is serious business.

Once instrumentation is tested and reinstalled, the shafts are left alone so that the ice “heals.” Then water is pumped through the tunnel at the base of the glacier and the team waits for data.

“We know for certain that moving ice produces seismicity and the character of our data seem to indicate motion of ice as opposed water, “ explains Iverson. “We are still working out what our data mean. The signals look like we are recording the basal motion of the glacier as it slides over rock, but we are working through the details as the data can be very noisy.”

Other sampling efforts include ice coring, sediment and geologic analyses.

Miriam Jackson takes an ice sample.

As for Lampert, he’ll bring lots of stories back to his community and classroom this fall.

“The whole thing was out of the world – so totally surrealistic! These scientists are getting at the real fundamentals of science. I want my students to really understand that applying science in the field is the best part. Then there’s the living in a tunnel – there’s a psychological effect with it that I didn’t expect. When we finally walked out from this place of 24 hours of darkness into the 24-hour day of the polar summer, it was wild…quite a metaphor to walk out of total darkness into light, from nothingness to life.”—Marcy Davis

PolarTREC (Polar Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs and managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, or ARCUS. The program aims to give teachers professional development experiences conducting research in the polar regions with career scientists to boost the teachers’ content knowledge and to give them hands-on experience in scientific inquiry. ARCUS is accepting applications through the end of September from teachers and researchers interested in participating in the PolarTREC program during the 2012-2013 research season. Visit the ARCUS PolarTREC website for more information: http://www.polartrec.com/

Comments (1) Sep 16 2011

2011 PolarTREC orientation participants pose for a group photo after dinner. Photo courtesy of Mike League

During the last week in February, thirteen educators from across the United States convened in Fairbanks, Alaska, to participate in the 2011 PolarTREC Orientation and ShareFair. The annual orientation is the kick off for this rigorous and rewarding National Science Foundation-funded professional development opportunity. Now in its fifth year, PolarTREC improves teacher content knowledge and instructional practices through intensive two-to-eight-week research experiences in the polar regions. While working closely with polar scientists across many scientific disciplines, PolarTREC teachers share information about polar science and the polar regions with their students and communities.

National Science Foundation Einstein Fellow, Laura Lukes tries a reindeer antler on for size at the UAF Reindeer Research Station. Photo courtesy of Janet Warburton

Orientation events included presentations from ARCUS staff who described the PolarTREC program, requirements, and technology. Three PolarTREC alumni and one past PolarTREC researcher attended the orientation to share their experiences and words of wisdom with newly selected teachers.

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist, Katey Walter Anthony, clears snow from a small pond to try to find methane bubbles trapped in the ice. Photo courtesy of Zeb Polly

A large part of orientation is preparing teachers for the logistical situations unique to the polar regions. Robbie Score from CPS and Roy Stehle from SRI both attended to ensure teachers had a good understanding of typical procedures and the use of satellite phones. Several additional PolarTREC alumni, researchers, and other experts joined the orientation in-person and virtually to present on their areas of expertise.

ARCUS Website Developer Ronnie Owens helps a small group of teachers learn how to post journal entries to the PolarTREC website. Photo courtesy of Zeb Polly

During the orientation’s communication technology training, teachers learned to post online journals, complete with photos and video, from their field camps and stations. Participants also listened to presentations and discussed ideas for sharing the PolarTREC experience with their classrooms, schools, and communities. Between intensive training and hands-on work sessions the whole group also got outside, explored Fairbanks, and learned a little about the Arctic.

Field trips included a visit to the University of Alaska’s (UAF) Museum of the North, the UAF Reindeer Research Program, the World Ice Art Championships, and a visit to a nearby thermokarst pond where Katey Anthony Walter discussed the role of methane in a warming arctic. Teachers also visited the CPS warehouse where Polar Field Service’s Matt Irinaga performed his popular “dressing for work in the Arctic” fashion show.

Matt Irinaga actively describes methods for dressing to work in the Arctic. Photo courtesy of Mike League

Despite the long days, many teachers expressed that the PolarTREC orientation and ShareFair was one of the best professional development workshops they had experienced. At the end of the week they felt well-prepared and enthusiastic about sharing their upcoming experiences.

PolarTREC teachers take photos and record videos as they feed lichen to the reindeer at the UAF Reindeer Research Station. Photo courtesy of Janet Warburton

PolarTREC teachers venturing into the Arctic this year include John Wood, who worked with Susan Natali (University of Florida) studying carbon balance in Healy, Alaska; and Mike Lampert, who is now based at the Svartisen Subglacial Laboratory in Norway with researchers from Iowa State Unversity. Paula Dell is spending April to early June in the Antarctic studying ice fish with Kristin O’Brien from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

In coming events, Jim Pottinger will soon return to Greenland to work with Koni Steffen (University of Colorado) at Swiss Camp, while Jim Miller will visit Barrow, Alaska in June to study microbial activity in thawing permafrost  with David Lipson of San Diego State University.

Teacher expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic will be ongoing throughout the year.

Comments (0) May 03 2011

PolarTREC teacher Claude Larson enjoys Red Square in Moscow en route to her summer field site in Kamchatka. All photos: Claude Larson, courtesy PolarTREC 2010

I challenge you to think about what your amazing adventure would be. Even better, I challenge you to make a part of each day have just a little bit of adventure. It’s sure to make you look forward to something every day. And that would be amazing.—Claude Larson 

Claude Larson is no stranger to adventure. For one, she teaches 8^th grade Physical Science at the Jefferson Township Middle School in Oak Ridge, New Jersey. She’s a mixed media artist. She jumps out of airplanes (for fun!).  Now, she’s a globe-trotting, NSF-grant-funded, PolarTREC teacher.

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) matches K-12 teachers with polar scientists for hands-on research in the Polar Regions. Teachers spend between 2-6 weeks in the field working alongside scientists while reporting on their experience with their students and community via online and satellite technologies.

PolarTREC paired Larson with Greg Korosec and Dustin Keeler (both at  SUNY Buffalo), PhD students involved with the International Circumpolar Collaborative Archaeological Project. For this multi-year, internationally collaborative project researchers study the archaeology and paleoenvironment at three locations including Northern Finland, northern Canada, and 2010’s destination, the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.

Larson’s induction into Arctic science was a whirlwind. On April 16, she accepted the position. On May 5, she attended PolarTREC teacher training in Fairbanks where she learned how to use a satellite phone—this allowed her to update an online journal from her remote field location—and two months later, she was the first of the teachers to leave for the field. Before she left, Larson learned about the project in a pre-field logistics phone conference, watched videos on bear safety, tested gear and clothing, and brushed up on useful Russian phrases. She gave talks to each grade at her school, fit in a trip to Manhattan with her sister, and her daughter’s college freshman orientation.  On July 3, she left North America for the first time.

Hello, bat-phone? Claude practices with the sat phone before leaving for Russia.

“One of the previous years’ teachers told us at the training that our lives wouldn’t get crazy until about two months before we left. It was then that I realized I had exactly two months before I was to leave. She was right—it was a crazy time, but really fun!”

After spending two days exploring Moscow and meeting up with the research team, including several Russian scientists and students, the real adventure began. From Moscow, they flew to Petropovlosk-Kamchatsky, a bustling outpost on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula and their base for final errands before the long ride to their remote field location.

First, the team loads luggage and supplies on a bus for a dreadfully bouncy 81/2 hour ride on a gravel road. Next, the bus backs onto a small ferry for a short trip across a river and the bumpy ride continues to Ushki just as nightfall (and the mosquitoes) descends. Luggage offloaded, sleep. The next day, they load luggage onto another bus and meet up with a Vesdehod, a vintage Soviet transporter with tank-like wheels. On the Vesdehod, they ferry on a barge across a lake to Kultuk (this plan interrupted by a windstorm that forces the group to set up camp at an abandoned house) then travel overland to Stolbevaya.

Larson reports in her July 14 journal entry:

“The vehicle starts off with a loud clatter and settles into a bone-rattling roar. It whines as it takes on hills and accelerates on straight-aways – which are rare. The machine seems to eat tall grass, shrubs and even small trees. I decided to start the trip on the top of the vesdehod . . . With a death grip on the small railing that is atop the beast, I clung on through pitches and dives that had us leaving our seats on several occasions. Along with holding on to the rail and trying to stay in a somewhat seated position, you must also watch out for branches that hang over the road. The basic procedure is to drop forward as low as possible to let the branch pass over you… This was for the most part, pretty effective; however there were times when you just got beat.”

At last, after traveling eleven days, through sixteen time zones, five airports, two ferries, two busses, and a Vesdehod, the research team finally reached their destination on the Bering Sea coast. The next step was to set up a camp with access to fresh water and high enough to be safe from tsunamis (Kamchatka is the most volcanically active place in the world).  A cooking area, tent city, lab tent, and latrine came next.

For the next two weeks, Larson’s daily commute was an hour hike through the tundra looking for clusters of circular depressions that are the foundations of 3000 year-old houses. Once found, the team logged locations on a GPS, and took a sample soil core.  Larson had the honor of being the first to locate one of the pit houses.

When a little depression is a good thing. Larson stands in front of the shallow depression indicating her find.

Next, the team measured out a meter squared for a controlled excavation where they cleaned the soil in 10 cm increments by scooping it up and putting it through a screen, gathering artifacts.

‘Once we found a cluster, the best part was the digging and finding things. It was a treasure hunt. My first projectile point, I was dancing around this depression – everyone was looking at me like oh-kay, but I was SO happy!”

Larson also worked with geologists from the University of Washington digging soil pits to date tephra layers—layers of volcanic ash—which will help them date the settlements more precisely. Artifacts come from two distinct time periods, one about 6000 years ago and the other, about 3000 thousand years ago.

Larson sifts through soil looking for artifacts.

“It’s interesting that there are two sets of artifacts because the scientists can compare them to see how the two cultures differed and how the technology changed between cultures. These people lived along the coast and now their settlement has been uplifted 40 meters so it’s interesting that people lived in the area through earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.”

During her three-week trip, Larson saw six erupting volcanoes and learned a lot about group decision-making and collaboration. Her experience also gave her a new appreciation for what she sees in museums because, she says, “I know now how much time and effort and planning it takes to get all those things we see in a museum.”

On August 3, Larson returned home, enjoyed her first hot shower and fresh produce in quite a while, but nostalgic for her tent home on the tundra. When we asked her if she would apply to be a PolarTREC teacher again she replied with an enthusiastic ‘YES!”—Marcy Davis

PolarTREC is managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States. Visit their incredible website to meet more PolarTREC teachers: http://www.polartrec.com/

Comments (0) Nov 08 2010

Build bridges between your science, K-12 students, teachers, and the public 

Members of the Lake El’gygytgyn research project have some fun while laying over in Pevek, Russia on the way to the field site. Photo courtesy ARCUS

PolarTREC – Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating is seeking applications from researchers who are interested in hosting a teacher on their polar research project during the 2011 summer and 2011-2012 winter field seasons. 

Galvan takes a break from sampling to pose with two tranquilized polar bears. Galvan worked with researchers Merav Ben-David, Henry Harlow, and John Whiteman studying the behaviors of in land and ice-bound polar bears. Photo courtesy ARCUS

Why host a teacher on your polar research project? By incorporating a teacher in your field work, you gain an enthusiastic team member that assists with research and camp activities, helps get the word out about your research project to students and public audiences, and isn’t afraid of an adventure out in the cold or with numerous mosquitoes!Most importantly, PolarTREC helps you share your excitement for science and important knowledge about the polar regions with the next generation of scientists and citizens.
  

Background Information 

A program of the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) and funded by the National Science Foundation from 2010-2013, PolarTREC is currently beginning its fifth year of matching teachers with researchers for 2-6 week teacher research experiences in the Arctic and Antarctic. PolarTREC teachers and researchers are matched based on similar science interests. 

Selection Process

Selected researchers will interview top applicants and choose which teacher will join their team. While in the field, teachers and researchers communicate extensively with their colleagues, communities, and students of all ages across the globe, using a variety of interactive tools, which are part of the online PolarTREC Virtual Base Camp. 

PolarTREC Teacher, Cristina Galvan from California, gives two enthusiastic thumbs up while on board the US Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Sea in October 2009. Photo courtesy ARCUS

More Information:  

A one-hour informational webinar (web seminar) will be held specifically for researchers interested in hosting a PolarTREC teacher on their polar research project on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 at 10:00 am AKDT (11:00 am PDT, 12:00 pm MDT, 1:00 pm CDT, 2:00 pm EDT). Please register for the event at: http://www.polartrec.com/about/researcher-webinar by Monday, 30 August 2010. 

Apply Online: http://www.polartrec.com/researchers/application 

PolarTREC researchers must be at U.S. Institutions. Applications from researchers on NSF-funded projects will receive priority in the selection process. Researchers should have secured funding for their research project prior to applying; if funding is pending and you would still like to host a teacher or if you are unable to meet this deadline, but would like to participate, please contact PolarTREC at info@polartrec.com or 907-474-1600 to discuss your situation. Researcher Application Deadline: Friday, 1 October 2010 

–Kristin Timm, ARCUS

Comments (0) Aug 30 2010

Photo: Claude Larson, courtesy PolarTREC 2010

“Another stylish item that is a must for your wardrobe would be the bug shirt. It allows airflow, to keep you looking and feeling great in your insect swarmed environment, while keeping bugs at bay. Round out the outfit with a pair of fashionable leather gloves and you are ready for a day at the peninsula.”

So writes PolarTREC teacher Claude Larson (Jefferson Township Middle School in Oak Ridge, New Jersey). She’s preparing to join NSF-funded anthropologist Ezra Zubrow (SUNY-Buffalo) for a month-long trip to the Kamchatka Peninsula region of Russia, to collect information on how past human settlements have adapted to abrupt climate change in the Arctic.

As part of CH2M HILL’s support to the National Science Foundation’s arctic research program, Polar Field Services sends specialized clothing and communications gear to PolarTREC teachers before they leave for field work. We’ve grown accustomed to the odd assortment of gear we provide, so it’s refreshing and funny to view polar fashion through the eyes of one who hasn’t been shuffling bug shirts and bunny boots lo these many years.

Larson is one of a dozen or so teachers selected this year by the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) to accompany researchers on field trips, the better to return to the classroom and convey the essence, importance, and excitement of polar research to their students. Make a habit of checking the PolarTREC Web site for updates.

Comments (0) Jun 15 2010

Pictured outside the University of Alaska Museum of the North, the 2010 PolarTREC teachers and alumni (left to right), Jeff Peneston (Icebreaker Oden-2008), Jim Pottinger, Josh Dugat, Cheryl Forster, Chantelle Rose, Mike Lampert, Keri Rodgers, Karl Horeis, Tina Sander, Michele Cross (McMurdo Station-2009), Craig Beals (Summit-2008), Anne Marie Wotkyns, Bill Schmoker, Lesley Urasky, and Claude Larson. Unless otherwise noted, photos by Kristin Timm, Arctic Consortium of the United States, for PolarTREC

It’s that time of year again! Janet Warburton and Kristin Timm of the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) are preparing K-12 educators from across the United States for upcoming field experiences in the Arctic and Antarctic.  Twelve teachers who spent a week in Fairbanks, Alaska, in April for the PolarTREC Orientation and ShareFair, an intensive week-long introduction to the professional development experience.

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating), now in its fourth year (and with a recent NSF funding renewal through December of 2013), is a professional development program for K-12 educators focused on improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Through teacher-researcher collaborations and hands-on field experiences, teachers become an essential bridge between cutting-edge polar science and the public. By working closely with selected PolarTREC research teams through application review and teacher interviews, researchers and teachers are matched across a wide range of scientific disciplines to ensure that teachers’ interests are aligned with science project goals. After much training and preparation, teachers spend 2-6 weeks in the field with their research team. During their time out, teachers share their experiences through webinars, multimedia journals, and bulletin boards on PolarTREC’s interactive Web site.

Ann Harding and Rachael Orben prepare to take blood samples of captured birds, Kap Hoegh, Greenland. Photo by Mary Anne Pella-Donnelly (PolarTREC 2007), Courtesy of ARCUS

PolarTREC’s mission includes increasing teachers’ knowledge of polar science along with their ability to teach pertinent science concepts. The program allows teachers to improve their instruction by participating in a new and exciting research experience, exposing them to new ideas and incorporating technology both in and out of the field. Teachers also develop new curricula, which is disseminated through the PolarTREC site. PolarTREC wants their teachers to inspire students to become more aware of the Polar Regions and explore opportunities to further their education and explore occupations in STEM areas.

During the PolarTREC orientation teachers learned background science content, how to communicate successfully from the field, and how to develop polar science education and outreach plans and ideas. Hands-on breakout sessions include digital photography, journaling methods, using educational technologies, and bringing science into the classroom. PolarTREC teacher and research alumni as well as representatives from CH2M HILL Polar Services (CPS) were also on hand in-person and virtually to share experiences and address teacher questions and expectations.

Following a presentation from Roy Stehle of SRI Communications (part of CPS), teacher Anne Marie Wotkyns practiced using the satellite phone by calling home from the Westmark Hotel parking lot. Wotkyns will work with scientists on the Icebreaker Oden in November.

PolarTREC Alumni, Craig Beals (Summit-2008), offers advice to the new group of teachers. Three PolarTREC alumni were on hand during orientation to share information and lessons learned about their field experience, maintaining collaborations with the research team, and taking PolarTREC back to the classroom.

Matt Irinaga of Polar Field Services (part of CPS) explains the science of cold weather dressing: layer, layer, layer! Photo: Robbie Score

We’ll be checking in on PolarTREC teachers during their field experiences – stay tuned! 

Comments (0) May 19 2010

Despite language differences, PolarTREC Teacher Tim Martin works with an international research team at Lake El’gygytgyn in Northeast Siberia. All photos courtesy ARCUS

PolarTREC – Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating, a project of the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. funded by the National Science Foundation – matches K-12 teachers with polar researchers to participate in polar research, as a pathway to improve science education. The program integrates research and education to produce long-term teacher-researcher collaborations, improved teacher content knowledge and instructional practices, and broad public interest and engagement in polar science.

Through PolarTREC, primarily K-12 teachers spend two to six weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic, working as an active and integral part of the science team. While in the field, teachers and researchers communicate extensively with students across the globe, using a variety of tools including online journals, forums, and interactive webinars that often reach hundreds of students at a time. Researchers report that the outreach activities provided through PolarTREC help bridge their science and the public and makes broader impacts fun, rewarding, and easy.

PolarTREC Teacher, Tom Harten, a.k.a. the “Murre-minator,” prepares for another day’s work marking sea birds in the Pribilof Islands.

“I have a much stronger belief in the work I do now that I know that there are people out there who value my work,” one researcher said after participating in PolarTREC. “The experience I gained in working with both PolarTREC and their top-notch teachers taught me how to communicate my research better and even how to more effectively plan my research program so that it can be embedded into larger interdisciplinary problems.” According to initial evaluation data, other PolarTREC researchers reflected similar satisfaction with their participation in the program. Many also added that both their research and the scientific process benefit from including a teacher on their team. The need to explain their research and “boil it down to the raw essence” helped the research teams see how their work fits into a “bigger world picture” and how they can present their science effectively to a broad audience.

PolarTREC Teacher Simone Welch works with researchers slicing and preparing ice cores for analysis back in the lab.

PolarTREC applicants (teachers and researchers) are thoroughly reviewed by a selection committee of their peers, and initial matches are based on similar science interests. Researchers selected to participate in PolarTREC receive about eight best match teacher applications, have the opportunity to interview three of them, and then make the final selection. Selected teachers participate in an intensive orientation and are trained extensively prior to the field season. Working with their researchers before the field season, teachers also acquire any needed equipment training, build their science knowledge, and get to know the team they will be working with. After the field season, teachers and researchers have sustained their relationships through co-presenting at scientific meetings and to schools and community groups, participating in data workshops, jointly creating classroom lesson plans, and writing proposals for future work together.

Working with a team of archaeologists and undergraduate students in Finland, PolarTREC Teacher Michael Wing clears vegetation at the Hiidenkangas Site.

Apply Now!

PolarTREC is currently accepting applications from researchers for the fourth year of teacher research experiences. Researchers are invited to submit an application to host a PolarTREC teacher in the 2010 Arctic and/or the 2010/2011 Antarctic field seasons. More information and application forms are available at: http://www.polartrec.com.

Funding is pending for PolarTREC during the 2010 Arctic field season and the 2010-2011 Antarctic field season. ARCUS will keep researcher applicants informed of our funding status. If funding is secured, final matches should be made in December 2009 or January 2010.  

For More Information:

A one-hour informational webinar for researchers interested in hosting a PolarTREC teacher on their polar research project will be held on 18 August 2009 at 10:00 am ADT (8:00 am HST, 11:00 am PDT, 12:00 am MDT, 1:00 pm CDT, 2:00 pm EDT). Please register for the event at: http://www.polartrec.com/join/informational-webinar/form by 17 August 2009.

Questions? Please contact info@polartrec.com or call 907-474-1600.

Comments (0) Aug 13 2009