The German Youth Steering Committee was founded in 2006 to approach a young public about current issues relevant to polar research. Our website lists our activities. We are looking for young polar researchers who are either currently writing their diploma thesis or their PhD thesis, and who are already engaged in a post-doc project. We would like to post your short profile on our website to visualise for teachers and students alike the diversity of polar research in Germany. The committee aims to bring together an online network of young polar researchers, teachers and high school students. It assists teachers and students with the integration of polar research into the curricula of the natural sciences, social science...

At the end of August, an unusual expedition under Russian leadership will leave for the Arctic Ocean. One of the participants is J

WP10 HERMES to the NORDIC MARGINS, POLARSTERN EXPEDITION PS ARK XXII/1a ( Coldwater coral reefs off Norway (72

How much volcanic and earthquake activity is there on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel Ridge? Scientists have little idea because they have been unable to record earthquakes in this remote region. Large earthquakes on the ridge can be detected by seismometers far away in the global seismic network, but they don’t occur frequently enough to get sufficient data. Smaller earthquakes, magnitude 2 or less, occur several times a day, but they are too small to be “heard” by distant seismic stations. While Oden is in the neighborhood, Vera Schlindwein from the Alfred-Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany is installing seismometers on ice floes to record some of those mini-earthquakes over several days. She will retrieve them before we leave the area. Even this bit of data will allow...

In order to salvage German scientific research and the specialized knowledge and experience gained from it, the German Scientific Research Aid Council was formed in 1920. The Council's task was to put public and private funds to their best possible use to this end. In 1924, Vienna-born oceanography professor Alfred Merz asserted that the ocean offered an open door of opportunity for exploration and suggested a well-planned voyage invited solutions to important problems of the deep. The president of the Council recognized an extraordinary opportunity and things rapidly moved forward. The survey vessel Meteor (with a specially trained crew) was chosen as the expedition ship, and the expanse of the South Atlantic Ocean was her target in April 1925. A strenuous arou...

A small but nevertheless very important piece of the puzzle in the study of climatic reconstruction of the early history of the earth is Sven Kretschmer's project with his working group from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven. His scientific instruments include the Schwerelot and the multicorer. During the whole of this expedition ANTXXIII/9, it is these drilling instruments that make the ocean floor core drilling project possible. The exact positioning is determined by parasounding equipment. The concentration of thorium 230 in sediment is particularly interesting to geochemists. This radioactive element is a disintegration product, and in water it is extremely insoluble, so it binds immediately to single minerals or other organic particles. In this way, thorium ...

The Frozen Five expedition team will be attempting to make a complete crossing of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard from March to mid-June 2007. Our expedition team composes 5 young geoscientists (glaciology, geology, geophysics, biology, meteorology), aged 22-29 years, all with relevant Arctic experience from studying at least one year at the University of Svalbard. The actual expedition starts on March 29 at 12:45 in Longyearbyen, the "capital" of Svalbard. The planned return date is June 14, to the same location. The route, measuring some 1,000 km, will be completed on skis using our own power. All our gear will be carried on special sledges, known as pulks. We will all pull our own sledge(s), weighing about 100 kg each. The route is divided into 5 stages, with a food...

On March the 22nd, at the University of Alaska Anchorage, there will be an IPY launch and presentation of results from IPY project "Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA)". SLiCA is an endorsed IPY project (# 386) and presenting results from SLiCA has been seen as an opportunity to focus both on the peoples of the Arctic and Northern communities and the start of the International Polar Year. This is the first release of results from SLiCA comparing living conditions among the Inuit in Northern Alaska (the Inupiat settlement region), the four Inuit Settlement regions in Canada and Greenland as well as the indigenous peoples of Chukotka, Russia. For more information, please see the related ...

Ian McEwan & John Schellnhuber - a Conversation about Climate Change Moderator: David Buckland 22 March 2007, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg During March and April, Cape Farewell - in collaboration with the British Council - travels to the vast industrial space of Kampnagel Cultural Centre in Hamburg with Cape Farewell - Art and Climate Change, the exhibition developed in collaboration with the Natural History Museum in London in 2006. Climate change is the most serious challenge facing the world in the 21 st century and the British Council's focus on the issue in Germany reflects a commitment to addressing sharedglobal challenges together with European partners. One of the highlights is a discussion between novelist Ian McEwan and Profes...

One of the best things about being a UNIS student is the opportunities one gets. Usually this involves knowing somebody who knows somebody who needs some help or a field assistant. That’s exactly how I got the chance to boat- and dog-sit on the east coast. Eric Brossier and France Pinzon du Sel, who have let their boat freeze in for the 3rd overwintering on Svalbard, went to Tromsø for a couple of weeks and needed someone to look after their beloved Vagabond, a 15.3m long boat designed for sailing in waters with ice. What luck for three Arctic-loving girls like Sanja (Finnish), Helle...