As part of an ongoing coverage of China's IPY Polar research projects and activities, SciencePoles interviewed Professor Yang Huigen, the new Director of the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), responsible for carrying our scientific research in the Polar Regions, operating Chinese research stations and vessels, and promoting cooperation with international Polar research organisations. In this interview, Professor Yang discusses the current upgrade of China's Polar research infrastructure, including existing Chinese research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic, the Chinese ice breaker Xue Long, and the planned...

My name is Austin Todd, and I am a first-year M.S. student in physical oceanography at FSU. This is actually my fifth year at FSU, where I completed a B.S. in meteorology and mathematics, and I am currently working under Dr. Eric Chassignet in ocean modeling in the Gulf of Mexico. On this I6S cruise, I am part of the CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) operations group. We basically run most of the operations of the CTD, including preparation, deployment, monitoring, and recovery of the CTD sampling apparatus. Our group is responsible for obtaining water samples from all depths of the ocean selected for sampling...

PRESS RELEASE Alfred-Wegener-Institut for Polar- und Meeresforschung in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Institute for Polar and Marine Research Communications Dept. Postfach 12 01 61, 27515 Bremerhaven/Germany Tel. ++49 471 4831-1376, Fax ++49 471 4831-1389 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Half time in the International Polar Year 2007/08 Scientists in Germany present the most important results of polar and climate research at the 23rd International Polar Meeting in Munster from March 10 14, 2008 Press conference on March 10 at 01:00 p.m. A record minimum of Arctic sea ice, new species in the Antarctic deep sea and unexpected insights into past climate these are only some of the re...

A helicopter crash in Antarctica has claimed the lives of two people and injured three. Those of us involved in the International Polar Year express our deep sadness at the news. We hope for a speedy return to full health for those injured, and we remember with admiration and appreciation the skill and dedication of our partners. AWI press release (German) NIOZ press release (Dutch) ...

March 2, 2008 By John Mitchell, Voyage Leader Having left the inner Ross Sea, we passed through the ever-thickening ice barrier between the open water in the polynya to the south and the open ocean to the northeast. In the ice barrier, we had to push through ribbons of thick pack ice with relatively open ‘leads’ that were filled with grease ice and newly formed soft pancake ice. Although our progress was slow at times, it was only about 24 hours before we arrived at our first seamount site, dubbed South Scott Seamount. Photo: Tangaroa proceeding through close pack ice towards an open lead in the dista...

We’ve dealt with the Agulhas Current in blog posts #1, #3, and #5, but by now we’ve been out of the Agulhas for quite a while. We’ve been cruising due south along Longitude 30 East in the Southern Ocean and have been moving over and through a variety of water masses. With its powerful eastward-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current and, further south...

MEDIA ADVISORY: MARCH 12TH: IPY DAY FOCUSSING ON CHANGING EARTH download: English Espanol Spanish Francais French ??????? Russian March 3rd, 2008 On March 12th, 2008, the International Polar Year (IPY) will launch its third 'International Polar Day', focusing on our Changing Earth; with a specific focus on Earth history as discovered through paleoclimate records ...

ITASE Synthesis Workshop Castine, Maine 2-5 Sept. 2008 Purpose: To integrate and synthesize research produced by ITASE (International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition) and associated scientific activities. Goals: To take Antarctica from the most sparsely sampled continent with respect to instrumental era climate to the best sampled for the last 200-1000 years, because of the extremely critical role that Antarctic climate change plays in global climate change (oceans, atmosphere, biological systems), and for the purpose of refining predictions of future climate change.To determine where and how Antarctic physical and chemical climate has or has ...

Dear friends, The next International Polar Day, focussing on our Changing Earth, is in two weeks. We have prepared a number of webpages, resources, and links to relevant IPY science. These can all be accessed from the link on IPY.org (top right), or directly at http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/earth/ There are also three aspects of particular interest that I hope you can inform your networks about: 1. EDUCATIONAL FLYERS Flyers can be downloaded from the educators page at ...

Submitted February 27, 2008: Snailfish by P. Marriott Our survey of the inner Ross Sea shelf and slope has now been successfully completed, with a total of 29 stations and 143 separate gear deployments. At least 400 different invertebrate species have been collected and nearly 75 different fish species identified. Photo: View of Mt Herschel 45nm away. by J. Mitchell ...