Hi, everyone. My name is Nancy Etchemendy, and I am a professional writer. Most of my work is for children and teens. On May 26, 2008, I will step out of the cozy room where I usually spin my tales, and will head south for the first of two month-long Antarctic voyages aboard the National Science Foundation's icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer. We will be researching the complex ways in which the icebergs that have recently broken off of the ice shelves are affecting the environment around them. Eventually, I will write at least one K-12 book about the project. But before, during, and immediately after the voyages, I will be posting to two blogs, intended to provide engaging, informative, interactive reading for different age groups, and classroom opportunities and science facts for teachers.

These two blogs are already underway. "Unarctica" combines science fact and adventure fiction for children ages 8-12. "Rime of the Modern Mariner" uses my credentials as a horror writer and amateur naturalist to draw in teens and adults. Both blogs include photos and allow readers to ask questions using a "comments" feature.

I will post periodic updates and reminders here at IPY, but you'll find many more posts and additional details on my personal blogs, which can be reached by surfing to Icebreaker Blogs, where you will also find many additional details.

I hope to see you at the Icebreaker Blogs, and I'll talk to you again soon!

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Thanks to Nancy Etchemendy for this post:
In the darkness of Antarctic winter, a team of scientists on a lonely icebreaker will soon explore the mysterious icebergs of the Weddell Sea, with a twist. Children are invited. Global warming in the Antarctic has recently caused ancient ice shelves to shatter into thousands of free-drifting icebergs that affect the air, the water, and possibly Earth's climate in complex, unknown ways. As the NSF-funded researchers seek answers, award-winning YA and children's writer Nancy Etchemendy will recount each day's events via daily posts to two blogs for different age groups (teens and middle-graders). Readers can ask questions and receive answers while the expedition is at sea, May 31 - June 30.