A Celebration of International Polar Year 2007-2008

Presentations Now Available Online A Celebration of International Polar Year 2007-2008 National Academy of Sciences and The National Science Foundation To download the presentations, and for further information, please go to: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114688 -------------------- The National Academy of Sciences together with the National Science Foundation held a celebration on 6 April 2009 to recognize the achievements of the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY). The meeting included highlights of IPY projects, including such topics as climate change, sea ice stability, Antarctic ecosystems, and people in the Arctic. Presentation videos detailing various aspects of IPY research are available at: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114688. Posted presentations include: - "Welcoming and Opening Remarks," by James White, Ralph J. Cicerone, and Arden L. Bement, Jr.; - "How the Past Informs the Future," by Richard Alley, Pennsylvania State University; - "Responses to Sea Ice in Transition," by Hajo Eicken, University of Alaska Fairbanks; - "Ice Sheet Stability and Global Sea Level," by David Holland, New York University; - "A Systems View of Climate Change in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres," by Timothy Killeen, Geosciences Directorate, National Science Foundation; - "The Arctic: IPY 1882 to IPY 2050," by Stephanie Pfirman, Barnard College; - "Antarctic Ecosystems and Climate Change," by Diana Wall, Colorado State University; and - "Audience Questions and Answers." IPY fieldwork, a two-year deployment of scientists from more than 60 nations into the polar regions, officially concluded on 1 March 2009. Science results from IPY-funded research can be expected to be published for some time to come. For more information about the IPY, please go to: http://www.ipy.org. To view the presentations and learn more about this celebration, please go to: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114688.

Witness the Arctic Online issue available

Spring 2009, Volume 13, Number 2 To view articles or to download a PDF file of this issue, please go to: http://www.arcus.org/witness_the_arctic/spring_09/index.html -------------------- Dear Subscribers to Witness the Arctic, With the current issue, ARCUS has changed the format of Witness the Arctic. To provide more frequent updates and reduce printing and mailing costs and associated environmental impacts, the newsletter will now be distributed online in three or four shorter issues per year, depending on newsworthy events. Subscribers will receive an e-mail when each issue has been released, with a link to the online content. The feature article in the current issue is by Mead Treadwell, the chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, on how the International Polar Year has heightened awareness of arctic issues beyond the research community. You may view individual articles or download a PDF file of this issue at: http://www.arcus.org/witness_the_arctic/spring_09/index.html. For further information or to subscribe, please go to: http://www.arcus.org/witness_the_arctic/index.html. For suggestions about the new format or article ideas for future issues, contact me at ARCUS (york@arcus.org). Sincerely, Alison York Witness the Arctic Editor

Polar Weeks

As the IPY research program moves toward analysis and results and as

IPY participants plan for a large international conference in Oslo in

June 2010, the IPO plans two Polar Weeks, in October 2009 and March

2010, with the theme: What Happens at the Poles Affects Us All.

These Polar Weeks have four goals:

To expand the IPY global networks of motivated and enthused educators;

To raise the visibility of polar issues and polar organizations;

To enhance the development of polar science educational materials; and

To develop long-term education and outreach partnerships for polar

science.

In October (October 5th through 9th) the IPY Polar Week will focus on

recruiting new individual and institutional partners, will stimulate

increased engagement by polar partners, and will highlight classroom

activities developed for the new IPY Polar Resource Book. In March

2010 the Polar Week will focus on local community-building activities,

will connect new and existing partners in science outreach, and will

stimulate global enthusiasm for June on-line and on-site events. Both

polar weeks will feature fresh accessible science, live web events,

fun classroom activities, virtual balloon launches and spontaneous

global inter-connections - activities that have made IPY Polar Days

effective and enjoyable.

For more information please visit the IPY website at:

http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/international_polar_days