Live From The Poles website

Project Goals
The polar regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental changes that have significant potential impacts on global climate, ecosystems, and society. Thousands of scientists from dozens of countries will focus their attention on the Arctic and Antarctic for two years beginning in March 2007 in an effort known as the International Polar Year (IPY). Live from the Poles will help heighten public awareness during IPY by bringing cutting-edge science to diverse, worldwide audiences of students, teachers, and the public. Our program is designed to share the excitement of polar exploration, communicate the importance of the Poles to the public, and invigorate the next generation of ocean scientists and engineers.

Methods
A communications team – a science writer and a photographer, supported by Web and graphics professionals at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – will convey the research goals, methods, and findings of four major polar expeditions. Using the interactive, educational Polar Discovery Website, they will provide daily highlights of the research as it progresses. The communications team will also facilitate satellite phone calls from the polar field sites to museum auditoriums across the United States, where audience members can converse with polar scientists in real time. Each presentation will feature a knowledgeable moderator – often a scientist – who will present a short summary about the research before the live question-and-answer sessions with scientists on the ice. In summary, Live from the Poles connects working scientists with an enormous public audience through a diverse group of outreach venues. The core components include:

• Polar Discovery Website will tell the story of science on ice using photo essays, daily dispatches, video clips, animations, and responses to e-mails from the public
• Satellite phone question-and-answer sessions at 8 natural history and science museums across the United States and broadcast partners NPR and CBS
• Photography and video archive on the WHOI online ImageSource database
• Teacher workshops for middle school science teachers
• Exploring the Arctic Seafloor traveling exhibition
• Polar research exhibit at the WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center

Expeditions
The five expeditions are expected to take place at the North Pole (April 18-28, 2007), the eastern Arctic Ocean (July 1-August 10, 2007), Antarctica (November 26-December 25, 2007), the glaciers of western Greenland (July 7-23, 2008), and a fifth location TBD (Spring 2009). The science projects focus on a range of topics from climate change and glaciers to Earth’s geology, underwater biology, and ocean chemistry, circulation, and technology at the Poles. Engineers are also developing new tools for polar exploration, including autonomous and remotely operated vehicles. These expeditions—some operating from icebreaking research vessels, others based at polar ice camps, and another on a glacier—exemplify innovative science at work.

Contact: Chris Linder, {encode=" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " title=" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "}, +1 508-289-2802
Online: Polar Discovery http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu

Live From The Poles on IPY.org