Project » Live from the Poles / Polar Discovery
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The polar regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental changes that have significant potential impacts on global climate, ecosystems, and society. Thousands of scientists from dozens of countries focused their attention on the Arctic and Antarctic from 2007-2009 in an effort known as the International Polar Year (IPY). I was the project manager and field photographer for Live from the Poles, an education project funded by the National Science Foundation and the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The goals of our project were to help heighten public awareness during IPY by bringing cutting-edge science to diverse, worldwide audiences of students, teachers, and the public. We conveyed the research goals, methods, and findings of five major polar expeditions using the interactive, educational Polar Discovery Website. The site features video interviews with the scientists, daily photo journals, informative animations, and more. While in the field with the research teams, we also facilitated satellite phone Live Talks between scientists and museum auditoriums across the United States, where audience members asked the scientists questions in real time. During Expedition 1-North Pole Observatory Live from the Poles traveled to Northern Canada. The research team deployed buoys in the Arctic pack ice that are instrumental in tracking climate change in the Arctic Ocean. Expedition 2-Arctic Seafloor began on July 1st, 2007. We traveled to the eastern Arctic aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden to document researchers searching for life on the Gakkel Ridge, a volcanic mountain range at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Expedition 3-Penguins and Lava Flows brought the Live from the Poles media team to Antarctica's Ross Island. We visited three separate field camps, covering penguin research and a geology field camp. On Expedition 4-Greenland's Glaciers, the team joined scientists studying lakes of meltwater that form--and rapidly disappear--on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The draining lakes are causing the ice to slide more quickly to the sea, contributing to sea level rise. The fifth expedition, Bering Sea Ecosystem, took place in April-May 2009 aboard the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy. Scientists are studying the impact of retreating sea ice on this critical ecosystem. Resources
In the news: celebrating the IPY kickoffMarch 1st, 2007 marked the first day of the International Polar Year. Spanning two full years, and involving researchers from over 60 different countries, IPY is a global cooperative effort to conduct interdisciplinary science at the poles. To celebrate the IPY kickoff, I traveled to the Museum of Science, Boston, and talked about the Live from the Poles program with Leslie Gaydos from New England Cable News and Adam Weiss, the Museum of Science podcaster.
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