A kick-off meeting of the IPY Core Project "Heliosphere Impact on Geospace" (IPY ID#63) was arranged in Helsinki on February 5-9 2007, with about 40 scientists from 14 different countries attending. The meeting was held at the facilities of the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The "Heliosphere Impact on Geospace" project coordinates multinational research on solar-terrestrial events which affect the composition and dynamics of the earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere in the Polar regions. This is a consortium of 29 research projects from 22 countries which expressed their interest to the IPY, and the consortium's management responsibilities are carried by two complementary programs:"...

After a short period in the harbor of Punta Arenas, the German research icebreaker Polarstern will start for its next Antarctic Expedition. More than 40 scientists, students and technicians will be working on board until the middle of April. The two days stay in Punta Arenas were used to get all preparations done for the upcoming 12 weeks on sea. Containers were put on board or taken off, provisions were topped up and the fuel tanks were filled with 2,800 tonnes of diesel at the bunker pier "Cabo Negro" — rnough to keep the "Polarstern" running for 12 weeks and more. On February 1st all scientists and technicians finally arrived in Punta Arenas, and all were on board Polarstern by the next day. Passports were checked and collected by the first mate S...

The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is hosting its kick-off meeting at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden on the 22nd to 24th of February 2007. PYRN (www.pyrn.org) is an international effort under the patronage of the International Permafrost Association (IPA) to bring young permafrost researchers together during the international polar year and beyond. The first phase of the PYRN project saw more than 300 young researchers from 31 countries join the network. It rapidly became the largest young researcher-driven network in the field of cryospheric science. PYRN offers, news, information and support to its members. It has sent 17 monthly newsletters since its start in 2005, maint...

The 8th International ACUNS Student Conference on Northern Studies, titled Melting Boundaries: Carrying Out Effective Research in the Circumpolar World will be held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 19-21, 2007. We are expecting participants from around the circumpolar world, including Canada, United States, Finland, Norway, Russia, and other countries. Additionally, an International Polar Year (IPY) themed workshop will be held on Thursday October 18, 2007 to provide an opportunity for students to interact with leading Arctic and Antarctic researchers. The intent of this conference is to showcase student rese...

The permafrost regions occupy 24% of the Northern Hemisphere's land area and all glacier-free areas of the Antarctic continent. To obtain a snapshot of ground temperatures, thawing rates, and organic carbon contents of the permafrost regions, four coordinated IPY permafrost programmes are underway, involving 50 individual projects from 28 countries and hundreds of researchers and students. Geographically, the programme includes both polar regions and covers the mountains and plateau regions of the mid- and low-latitudes. The major focus of the programme is to observe and document current changes in permafrost conditions. These measurements serve as a baseline against which to evaluate future changes and to validate current models. Existing networks include boreholes for ...

This coming northern summer 25 contemporary Canadian artists set out to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Northwest Passage by taking a voyage through the historic High Arctic waters and sharing with Inuit along their way. Art supplies were donated to schools and Inuit artists and $6,000 was raised for Inuit charities. Arctic Quest (IPY endorsed project #338) artists have had several very successful exhibitions to date. At present, you can see their exhibition at Vancouver Maritime Museum which continues until June 7, 2007, and watch for the travelling exhibition, which will begin at the Legislative Assembly in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada June 15th, traveling to The Prince of Whales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, on August 15th. From there, it wil...

There were a lot of filmmakers in and around McMurdo this season, but none were there longer than the Whiskey 218 trio. Producer and Director Anne Aghion and her crew - Sylvestre Guidi at the camera and Richard Fleming recording sound - arrived on the first flight of Winfly, August 20th and stayed for four months, until just before Christmas. Aghion says: "I wanted to be there during Winfly to get the feeling of the station waking up," and indeed they did. After two months filming in and around McMurdo, the three set up camp with four geologists for another couple of months, first in the Olympus Range and then in the Asgard Range. The focus of the film, which was made possible by a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers grant, is on...

In three weeks time, IPY will have officially started! Every few weeks, I write to my various colleagues and contacts around the world letting them know about the latest plans for IPY Education and Outreach. Lately, this has clearly been dominated by plans for the launch on March 1st, but I'm pretty excited about the following months as well. We'll soon hopefully have packs for Press, materials for teachers, navigation of IPY via geobrowsers like Google Earth and live connection to the polar regions through various IPY partners. if you would like to know more about these activities, keep a track of this website or {encode=" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " title="let me know"} if you'd like to be added to the Teachers or Journalists email lists. Thanks to all of you ...

The permafrost regions occupy 24% of the Northern Hemisphere’s land area and all glacier-free areas of the Antarctic continent. To obtain a snapshot of ground temperatures, thawing rates, and organic carbon contents of the permafrost regions, four coordinated IPY permafrost programmes are underway, involving 50 individual projects from 28 countries and hundreds of researchers and students. Geographically, the programme includes both polar regions and covers the mountains and plateau regions of the mid- and low-latitudes. The major focus of the programme is to observe and document current changes in permafrost conditions. These measurements serve as a baseline against which to evaluate future changes and to validate current models. Existing networks include boreholes for ...

If you want to get involved in International Polar Year right from the start now is your chance!! The IPY Youth Steering Committee is asking young people from around the world to write to their political leaders (and send a copy to us) about their concerns for the Polar Regions and what they personally are doing to make a difference (biking to school, recycling, starting a polar club in their school, doing a polar science project). The YSC will present these letters at the official launch of IPY in Paris on March 1st and on our website. Throughout the Polar Year we will follow up with youth to see how they are doing with their commitments. To find out more download the launch package. Text: Melian...