Everyone was starting to get familiar with life on board; a few have already been on the ship for several weeks. There were also returning scientists and newbies like myself. The day went by quickly with people getting ready for experiments, clearing out laboratory areas and sorting through equipment. I am planning to take daily air samples for the analysis of organic pollutants as part of the IPY INCATPA program while taking similar air samples to test for perfluorinated compounds (Scotch-guard-related chemicals) for my colleague Mahiba Shoeib (Environment Canada). I will also be checking the mercury vapour analyzer which measures gaseous elemental mercury in air and equipment for the IPY OAS...

July 17 3:30 am (Central time) Winnipeg: Under starry sky, four very sleepy scientists were waiting for the arrival of the charter flight carrying about 60 Coastguard crew and scientists from Quebec. Amundsen Chief Scientist for leg 10a, Gary Stern; graduate students, Lauren Candlish and Amanda Chaulk; and I (Research Scientist of Environment Canada, Hayley Hung) were half-asleep when we boarded the plane at around 5:30. We were making our way to Yellowknife where we would split into 2 Convair flights to Kugluktuk. It was a very long journey even if the charter planes did not stall twice and delay for 5 hours in total. At Kugluktuk, we were transported to the ship on a helicopter. To move 60+ people onto and off the ship in a helicopter was a very slow process. We finally all made it...

A 150-meter ice core pulled from the McCall Glacier in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this summer may offer researchers their first quantitative look at up to two centuries of climate change in the region. The core, which is longer than 1 1/2 football fields, is the longest extracted from an arctic glacier in the United States, according to Matt Nolan, an associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering who has led research at McCall Glacier for the past six years. The sample spans the entire depth of the glacier and may cover 200 years of history, he said. “What we hope is that the climate record will extend back into the Little Ice Age,” said Nolan. “Up until the late 1800s these glaciers were actually gr...

Karen Harper, Adjunct Professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Studies at Canada's Dalhousie University, writes: As leader of a national IPY project on treeline, I thought it was essential to travel to the Arctic at least once during International Polar Year, but it was not easy. Last year, my daughter was born on February 14, 2007. (I had hoped for an IPY baby born at the start of IPY on March 1st since she was due March 5, but she decided to come early on Valentine’s Day.) Because she is breastfed and does not take bottles at night, I could not travel without her last year. In fact, she still nurses at night and I cannot travel without her this year either. Travel and field work in the North is difficult for everyone, and it is even more diff...

Students on Ice is currently accepting applications for the 2008 International Polar Year Arctic Youth Expedition, taking place August 2nd-17th, 2008. The ship-based program joins students aged 14 to 19 from around the world with a team of 30 world-renowned scientists, environmentalists and polar educators. The experience serves as a powerful platform to create change, inspire, educate, give cause for hope, and raise awareness about the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues facing the Arctic region. Applications are being accepted until all spots are filled. ...

The Arctic Institute of North America has released an updated version a classic monograph that describes the expeditions of the First International Polar Year (IPY) of 1882-1883. The book by Institute research associate Bill Barr, The Expeditions of the First International Polar Year 1882-83, was first published in 1985 and focuses on the 14 expeditions that made up the first IPY. The book is available from the Arctic Institute for Cd$28.95 plus shipping and handling. To order a copy, fill out and mail or fax the order form to the Arctic Institute of North America. Order form link: http://www.arctic.ucalgary.ca...

Please find enclosed a poster (PDF) announcing the IAMAS/IAPSO/IACS 2009 Joint Assembly to be held in Montreal, Québec, Canada in July 2009. We would like to invite the international atmospheric, oceanographic and cryospheric research community to this 2009 Joint Assembly, to be held in July 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Should you have any questions regarding this request or the Assembly itself, please do not hesitate to contact Christine Saintonge directly at the numbers indicated below. 613-993-9495 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it fax: 613-993-7250 Assistant to the Conference Manager / Conference Services Office / Administrative Services and ...

The Arctic Social Indicators (ASI) project is an IPY project and is following up on the activities of the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR), and is initiated by the Stefansson Arctic Institute, Akureyri, Iceland, which also hosts the secretariat. ASI has been endorsed by the Arctic Council.

In April of 2008 a team of scientists and Canadian Rangers will traverse the northern coast of Ellesmere Island to study the state of the ice shelves and associated ecosystems in this remote region. The Canadian high Arctic is undergoing substantial climate-related changes; ice shelves along Ellesmere's northern coast that have been attached to the shore for thousands of years, some over 30 meters thick, and thousands of square kilometers of land-fast sea-ice have been breaking-up. The loss of these dominant features has dramatically changed the coastal landscape, leading to the drainage of massive volumes of freshwater from fiords previously dammed by the ice shelves and the creation of vast ice islands. These physical changes are altering the habitat of aquatic microbial communities ex...