IPY-Making Polar Research Interesting

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IPY- Making Polar Research Interesting March 30, 2007 Chelsey Schell

The International Polar Year deals with more than just global warming and is something Alaskans should get involved in.

Daniel Pringle is a post doc at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. He says, “Alaskans should be more interested in IPY science than other types of science because it really is a focus on Polar Regions. There is going to be a lot of attention from all around the world on Polar Regions and places like Alaska. There is going to be a lot of scientific research on questions that are relevant to Alaska. They will look questions like what changes should be expect on plants and animals and their abundance and condition. What about coastal erosion and places like Shishmaref and what can we do about it. ”

Over the next two years UAF researched hope to come down from the hill and get all ages involved in polar research.

“We hope to try and engage and inspire the next generation of polar scientists and engineers,” explains Pringle. “So we are going to have bunch of k-12 activities in the school, art competitions, wildlife training, and special presentations at science fairs, more of that kind of thing. We would also like to try to communicate the science that we are going to the broader public as well.”

They hope to do that by holding Science Cafes around town that promise to be more café than science.

“Polar science is more than just white coats and test tubes. There are people floating around on sea ice for months at a time, putting in weather station on Denali, people testing water quality out in rural communities,” says Pringle. “There are a lot of really interesting science stories that we would like to share with the community of Fairbanks.”

The next Science Café is Monday April 12th at the Alaska Coffee Roasting Company on Geist road.

It will feature Jackie Richter-Menge and Bruce Elder who will be returning from a 2-week stay in an ice camp located 150 miles north of Prudhoe Bay.