CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS (JULY, 2007) The Canadian Aboriginal Science and Technology Society (CASTS), is preparing to hold its 8th national conference October 3 - 5, 2007. The Treaty Seven First Nations Education Association (TSFNEA), with the support of the University of Calgary, is proud to host the CASTS Conference 2007. The conference will be held at The Coast Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre in Calgary, Alberta. The CASTS Conference 2007 is the only national Aboriginal Science and Technology conference in Canada. The forums of discussion will cover the following areas: . Health . Environment . Education . Science & Technology . ...

The first 2007 issue of the journal "Polar Research" is now available Research in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is the focus of the first issue of Polar Research during International Polar Year (IPY). Biology articles demonstrate the moult migration of pink-footed geese, examine sipunculan and molluscan fauna and investigate carbon and nitrogen limitation in the respiration of soil microbes. Using photogrammetry to gauge coastal erosion is the subject of one article, while another uses direct measurements and modelling to assess snow accumulation across the Austfonna ice cap. Rounding off the issue, two essays shed light on an obscure chapter in polar exploration: Walter Wellman's failed bids to reach the North Pole by dirigible in the early years of the last centur...

2007 International Science School 4 July 2007 Taronga's penguin colony had a temporary population boost today to raise awareness of the International Science School, which began in Sydney this week. The extra members were popular television scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Antarctic researcher Dr Rhian Salmon, who were introduced to the Zoo's Little Penguin colony and talked with keepers about the impact of climate change on the penguins and other polar species, such as Leopard Seals. Dr Karl, a regular speaker at the Professor Harry Messel International Science School (ISS), is raising awareness and prompting discu...

The educational programme LATITUDE60! organized one of the biggest events of the International Polar Year in Portugal on on the 29 June 2007: the national contest “discovering the Polar Regions!” More than 600 children and nearly 50 schools were present at the Lisbon event. At present, LATITUDE60! is a leading educational program with IPY, with more than 170 schools involved, more than 300 teachers and thousands of students from all over Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira) involved. The contest had 6 categories: scientific essay, polar writer, website, audiovisual, art and “build an igloo”, and was open to children of all ages, from kindergarten to university level. More than 500 submissions were received nationally and more than 70 received aw...

The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) has recently released the latest issue of the Australian Antarctic Magazine. The theme of this issue is the International Polar Year. AAD is participating in over 40 IPY projects and this issue of the magazine features some of these projects including the first marine research voyage for the AAD-coordinated Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML). You can download the Australian Antarctic Magazine, Issue 12, 2007 as a pdf here. For further information, please see the ...

Researchers and explorers will probe the Gakkel Ridge during expedition that begins on July 1. They will be using new robotic vehicles to hunt for life and hydrothermal vents on the Arctic seafloor. Researchers will use two new autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)--Puma and Jaguar--in tandem to locate hydrothermal vent sites on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. (Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) More information can be found on the project website. ...

Professional photographers with a portfolio of images from the Arctic and Antarctic. To use any of their images, please negotiate directly with the photographer. OUR POLAR HERITAGE / Christian Morel Our Polar Heritage photographic project is proposed by the photographer Christian Morel and the Association Polar Planet. The objective is to work during the 2 years of the IPY to a very large, international, transversal and multidisciplinary set of artistic and professional photographic pictures in the Arctic and the Antarctic. Our Polar Heritage aims to reveal the high precision of the work achieved by women and men under extreme conditions, to illustrate...

The following are IPY-related projects which teachers, classrooms, or students can become actively involved in. There are also numerous resources about the polar regions that can be used for teaching polar science. Several of these are listed on the IPY Education pages. Students on Ice Since 1999, Students on Ice (SOI) has been organizing educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic for high school students between the ages of 14 to 19. In February 2009, we are launching our first U...

Contents: 1. IPO Notes 2. Current Operations 3. IPY science promotion days 4. Events, Meetings, and Conferences From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPO Notes In seeking to understand the IGY World Days for our discussion of IPY science promotion days (below), I discovered this quote from Dr. Hugh Odishaw, then Executive Director of the US National Committee for IGY: "My contention is a simple one: the IGY is the single most significant peaceful activity of mankind since the Renaissance and the Copernican Revolution." At the beginning of July, at the symposium '...

Education, Outreach, and Communication (EOC) in IPY are a continuum of activities and ideas. As with the rest of IPY 2007-8, the EOC components build on local and regional activities and needs, and utilise existing networks and technologies, to raise awareness of the polar regions. To this end, a group of educators from around the world met together to discuss strategies and activities that could build on existing structures, and help to raise awareness of the polar regions using existing resources. The suggestions of the educators were then passed on to two groups: one focussing on the needs of young researchers and early career scientists, and the other on the international media. The idea was to identify and develop activities that would serve the broadest ...