This week, a Nordic tissue paper company called Metsa? Tissue, launched it's campaign announcing a one million kronor donation to IPY. The majority of these funds were directed to the IPY project, KINNVIKA , but about one third was used to support the first meeting of the International Youth Steering Committee and Association of Polar Early Career Scientists. The meeting was essential for bringing together key volunteers who have been working hard over the last two years to establish an international network of polar researchers, and aspiring polar researchers, between the undergraduate and early-career stages of their careers. At the meeting, the two groups agreed to merge under the common title: APECS, Association of Polar E...

The IPY International Programme Office (IPO) has recently received some sponsorship to seed a meeting of the IPY International Youth Steering Committee (IYSC), including the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). This meeting will occur in Stockholm at the end of September. Below is background material for this meeting. Meeting Details (252 KB DOC) includes participants, overview, agenda, and logistics Planning Information and Summary (128 KB PDF) APEC...

September is a great time to study Sea Ice, in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. Below are details of three expeditions happening at the moment that welcome contact from press and educators. Antarctic Sea Ice in IPY (ASPECT) (IPY Project 141) ASPeCT has a number of associated expeditions investigating Sea Ice. These include: SIPEX: Sea Ice Physics and Eco-system eXperiment SIPEX website International SIPEX flyer (44KB PDF) ...

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (Closing date for applications (as well as for abstract submission): 17 August 2007). Utsikten Meetings, Nyn

Kiruna Geophysical Observatory was launched 50 years ago on July 2nd. Sverker Sörlin visits the history of the station and draws comparisons with this IPY. The ongoing IPY is a globalized two year event, opening simultaneously in many countries on March 1 last, with web casted ceremonies. Fifty years ago, IGY started its 18 months of activities without much fuss, with no official opening and few headlines. In retrospect, what did in fact come close to a first IGY event was the launch of the Kiruna Geophysical Observatory in northern Sweden, on 2 July. In this remote mining town, in the midst of Sami reindeer herding territory, today hosting the Sami Parliament, were among a range of high ranking guests a figure no less than Lloyd V. Berkner, one of the IGY initiators, the...

The Midnight Sun Dialogue on Climate Change International environmental ministers will meet for The Midnight Sun Dialogue on Climate Change, an informal discussion meeting, at Riksgr

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...

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 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 ...