University of the arctic

IPY Higher Education and Outreach in the Arctic breakout session at UArctic Council Meeting

On June 4, 2008, representatives from 11 of the UArctic IPY Higher Education and Outreach (HEO) cluster projects gathered for a breakout session at the 11th annual UArctic Council meeting hosted by the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. The group included three graduate students and one secondary school teacher as well as project leads and co-leads. During the first part of the session, each person gave a presentation describing the project they were affiliated with, and answered questions. This was followed by an informal discussion time where additional project details were shared and potential future collaborations explored. Feedback from the session was very positive, and participants enjoyed the enthusiastic exchange of project information and ideas.

Participating cluster projects and their representatives were:

  • New Generation Polar Research (NGPR) Symposium (Sheldon Drobot, University of Colorado at Boulder, Co-PI)
  • Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Science and K-12 Education (Ray Barnhardt, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PI)
  • Adapting SENCER to the Arctic - Improving Polar Science Education as a Legacy (Larry Duffy, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PI)
  • The Svalbard REU [Research Experience for Undergraduates] - Holocene and Modern Climate Change in the High Arctic (Maggie Kane, Prescott Mile High Middle School, Prescott, Arizona, teacher recently participating in the project)
  • International Sea Ice Summer School 2007 (Adrienne Tivy and Vidyavathy Renganathan, University of Calgary, graduate student participants in the summer school)
  • Monitoring Seasons Through Global Learning Communities Project (“IPY GLOBE Seasons & Biomes”) (Elena Sparrow, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PI)
  • International Antarctic Institute (Sandra Zicus, International Antarctic Institute and Tasmania University, IAI Project Officer)
  • Integrated Graduate Research Training on Resilience and Adaptation of the Arctic System (Karen Hibbard-Rode, University of Alaska Fairbanks, UAF Resilience & Adaptation Program graduate student) 
  • Ice e-Mysteries: Global Student Polar e-books (Sandra Zicus, International Antarctic Institute and Tasmania University, Co-PI) 
  • International Polar Year IV: Context and Promise (Amanda Graham, Yukon College, PI)
  • Muskwa-Kechika Artist Camp Collection: Online Repository and Virtual Gallery (Sherry Coffey, Athabasca University, Co-PI)
The breakout session was chaired by Dr. Elena Sparrow, Director of the UArctic IPY HEO office hosted by theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks.  A plenary panel session immediately preceding the breakout session, “Polar Information,” was also chaired by Dr. Sparrow and covered UArctic’s role in education and outreach during IPY (Dr. Sparrow); Canadian participation in IPY (Dr. David Hik, University of Alberta); and the UArctic Atlas project (Mr. Scott Forrest of the UArctic International Secretariat).

See the IPY HEO project cluster page for more information on the cluster projects. 

(All pictures courtesy of Amanda Graham, Yukon College)

Breakout_Vidya_Adrienne

















Vidyavathy Renganathan and Adrienne Tivy share their experiences from the 2007 International Sea Ice Summer School.


Breakout_ElenaElena Sparrow, Director of the UArctic IPY HEO office, chaired the breakout session in addition to describing her own “IPY GLOBE Seasons and Biomes” cluster project.


















Breakout_Larry_Karen

















Larry Duffy and Karen Hibbard-Rode confer during the breakout session.