IPY project 455, IGLO, is a network of international science centres working together to raise awareness about IPY, the polar regions, and global warming. IGLO is an educational partner of Live Earth, the organization producing concerts in nine major cities around the world on July 7, 2007 to promote awareness of, and action on, global warming. Science centers and museums are participating in this event by screening films, showing the concert via a live satellite feed, hosting activities from the IGLO toolkit, and more. Science Centres in China (Shanghai), Panama, Belgium (Mechelen), The Netherlands (The Hague), Wales (Cardiff), Canada (Toronto), Mexico (Mexico City) and across the US (San Francisco, Fort Lauder...

Arctic Connection is a culinary project to be launched at the end of May. It is a co-production between executive chef Ben Hardeman from Le Meridien Hotel "Des Indes" and artist Ap Verheggen. The International Polar Year of 2007 and 2008 will draw more attention towards the Arctic and her inhabitants. This project is an innovating collaboration between the Dutch artist Ap Verheggen and chef Ben Hardeman. It is built out of two components; the design of the tableware and the unique composition of the menu. Both are inspired by the recent Arctic situation. It has resulted in one of the leading culinary-art pr...

One of the main projects to present polar science to a wide audience in The Netherlands is the development of a weblog for all IPY-NL science expeditions. A Dutch public broadcasting corporation

Posters introducing 14 different IPY-NL research projects can be downloaded in PDF format from the IPY NL website. Posters contributions include - a general introductions to the international IPY projects: ‘Tarantella’, ‘Bird Health’, ‘Lashipa’, ‘NORCLIM’, ‘Aliens’ - Dutch contributions to IPY projects: ‘Glaciodyn’, ‘ORACLE-O3’, ‘POLAR-AOD’, ‘IPY Geotraces’ and ‘PAME’. The posters were presented in November 2006 at an IPY-NL information meeting in The Hague, The Netherlands. ...

The Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam annually organizes a final year project report contest for secondary school children to get the school youth interested in arctic ecology, specifically in global change impacts at high latitudes. The prize winners (2 in total) win a one-week trip to Lapland. They join in with excursions and ongoing climate change research in Abisko, N Sweden and adjacent Norway. They participate in an expedition team with Vrije Universiteit teachers Dr. Hans Cornelissen and Dr. Matty Berg who both conduct IPY research in the area. The days in Abisko include a brief but genuine participation in actual current research on global warming impacts on peatlands, centred on our long-te...

Today I received a picture of two arctic foxes, resting in the dim morning light on Spitsbergen. The picture awakes an emotional conflict. I like the foxes a lot but hope they will starve.... I am studying geese, but I am faced with an increasing predation pressure of foxes. Since the start of my field study in 1990, there have been several years without polar foxes in the study area. In these years all birds are doing well and increase in numbers. When polar foxes are present, there are very few young birds surviving. In the past six years with an increasing predation pressure of foxes, the goose population has become half of what it was. The arctic fox is well adapted to the harsh winter conditions. There is not much food. Rodents are lacking on Spitsberge...

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) seeks an Executive Officer to assist in the running of the SCAR Secretariat. SCAR is a body of the International Council for Science (ICSU). It facilitates and coordinates Antarctic research and identifies issues emerging from greater scientific understanding of the region that should be brought to the attention of policy makers. Its objectives and activities are described on the SCAR web site at http://www.scar.org. The primary tasks of the Executive Officer are: - to assist the Executive Director in the day-to-day operation of the Secretariat including supervising staff, coordinating programmes, analysing scientific issues concerning the A...

On March 1 2007, students at schools around the world marked the advent of International Polar year by conducting an ice experiment. They then told the IPY community and the world by pinning a virtual balloon onto a web-based map showing exactly where they were. It proved to be quite a success, with hundreds of schools contributing so far. IPY enthusiasts also joined in, turning the map into a riot of red balloons. See the whole map here. For technical reasons, browsers don't like it if you show too many balloons at one time, so only the most recent 200 balloons are shown. However, you can see all contributed posts directly by browsing the directory from ...

The International Polar Year has begun. What a week! With US and UK launches on the Monday stirring up media attention, followed by an event in Portugal on the Wednesday and over 20 more national events on the day itself, March 1st 2007, we definitely hit the news! While traveling to Paris with Nicola, to prepare for the international launch, the phone didn't stop ringing, both sides of the Channel Tunnel and even on the Paris subway system! I was contacted by journalists as diverse as New Zealand Radio, an In-flight magazine, BBC World Service, Vatican Radio, Al Jazeera English, an Italian science magazine, Chinese TV networks, and Scientific American to name a few. During the International Ceremony itself, my phone kept shaking, and afterwards, on a tour of Paris, I saw ...

Thank-you to everyone who was involved with launch events, who launched virtual balloons, who launched real balloons (see the Swedish launch web-cast!), those behind the scenes, and those on stage. IPY Celebrations around the world on March 1st, and throughout this week, have been a huge success. You can watch those you missed on the Arctic Portal, or still launch your virtual balloon now, and throughout IPY, to recognise the importance of the polar regions to the whole planet. Here is a map showing balloons that have been launched around the world (you can zoom in on where you live or zoom out to see the world map!): ...