The banners up are, the invites are out, and our contractors are downstairs building the structure for Ice Station Antarctica. This week we’ve been watching the video diaries that the winterers recorded for us. They are funny and poignant. My favourite one is Vicky the doctor getting a dental checkup from an engineer, carpenter and electrician; ‘I’ve got very very clean gums now!’ I love the diaries and think they are a treasure in the heart of the exhibition – a chance for the visitors to hear about real life Down South. The rest of the exhibition is full of quotes from scientists and support staff. It is their stories which engage people with the science and life down in Antarcti...

If you wanted to find a place that is the exact opposite of Antarctica, you would be hard pressed to find a place more appropriate than New Delhi in India. It is 32 degrees at New Delhi today and raining. At South Pole it is -49 degrees Celsius and snowing. Not only is the weather different, but the color of the sky and the earth, sounds and smells, and even fashion sense represent two distinct worlds. At the 30th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in New Delhi this week, delegates have been discussing environmental and legal issues over curry and copious amounts of strong tea. The IPY has also been an important item on the agenda. Yesterday, Professor Chris Rapley made a presentation to update the Treaty parties on the progress of IPY. I also made a presentation, as the...

Dr Susan Solomon is a senior scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chemical Sciences Division. Widely recognized as one of the leaders in the field of atmospheric science, Dr Solomon is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a foreign associate of the French and European Academy of Sciences. She was awarded the United States' highest scientific honor, the National Medal of Science, in 1999 for linking synthetic chemicals to the seasonal ozone hole over Antarctica. In 2002, she was elected by governments to co-chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I. SciencePoles interviewed Dr Solo...

One of the tasks of the endorsed project "Enhancing the environmental legacy of the IPY in Antarctica" is to look at the cumulative environmental impacts of the IPY. So far, the IPY Joint Committee has endorsed 99 projects with Antarctic or bipolar focus. These projects encompass at least 350 research activities, of which 82% plan to conduct fieldwork in Antarctica. Of these activities, 105 (37%) are planning to leave behind physical infrastructure. A large amount of activity has been planned around existing centers of research (e.g., the Antarctic Peninsula, Dronning Maud Land); a number of large-scale research activities has also been planned in areas which have, so far, been seldom visited (e.g., the Gamburtsev Mountains, subglacial lakes). Many of them...

The Government of India will be hosting the 30th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) at New Delhi from 30 April to 11 May. The ATCM is the annual occasion when the signatories of the Antarctic Treaty get together to discuss about the management of Antarctica. Usual topics on the agenda include environmental protection, tourism and legal issues. This year, IPY will also be an important item on the agenda. David Carlson will be representing the International Programme Office in New Delhi and will be providing updates on the IPY. For more information, please visit the sites for the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat site and the ...

DRAFT 19th April, 2007 The Smithsonian Institution will host a polar science symposium as one of the inaugural U.S. contributions to celebrate the International Polar Year 2007-2008. "Smithsonian at the Poles: Contributions to International Polar Year Science" is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, May 3-4 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Building (Castle) in Washington, D.C. The symposium, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, will present research findings by Smithsonian scholars and their collaborators from Arctic and Antarctic research, with particular attention to changes in polar systems past, present and future, and their global impact. The symposium will ...

I wrote in my first blog how lucky I was to have a chance to work in Antarctic and that experience has changed my life in many ways and continues to. I credit this to one of my dearest mentors and a true inspiration to me, Dr. Diane McKnight. Diane has been conducting research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys for two decades and has been inspiring new scientists for even longer. Diane continues to inspire new polar scientists through her recently completed children's book describing the first encounter with a live seal in the Dry Valleys. I encourage all of you to check out the Lost Seal website and share this great adventure with the schools you visit and the children you know. “Resear...

Dr. Diane McKnight, Antarctic Scientist at the University of Colorado - Boulder, has been inspiring people to study the Antarctic region for nearly two decades. She continues to do so through her wonderful new book The Lost Seal. The Lost Seal children's story describes the first documented encounter with a live seal in the remote McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. This educational story tells of one seal's travels in the Antarctic desert and provides an engaging framework for conveying how different Antarctica and the Dry Valleys are from the environments with which children are familiar. "Research scientists camped at the desolate McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica studying the local lakes and streams are one day surprised to find a young Weddell seal in t...

One of the tasks of the endorsed project "Enhancing the environmental legacy of the IPY in Antarctica" is to look at the cumulative environmental impacts of the IPY. So far, the IPY Joint Committee has endorsed 99 projects with Antarctic or bipolar focus. These projects encompass at least 350 research activities, of which 82% plan to conduct fieldwork in Antarctica. Of these activities, 105 (37%) are planning to leave behind physical infrastructure. A large amount of activity has been planned around existing centers of research (e.g., the Antarctic Peninsula, Dronning Maud Land); a number of large-scale research activities has also been planned in areas which have, so far, been seldom visited (e.g., the Gamburtsev Mountains, subglacial lakes). Many of them...

One of the main projects to present polar science to a wide audience in The Netherlands is the development of a weblog for all IPY-NL science expeditions. A Dutch public broadcasting corporation