IPY-ROAM: The International Polar Year Research and education Opportunities in Antarctica for Minorities program

• Investigators: Craig E. Tweedie, Vanessa L. Lougheed, Bill Robertson, Aaron Velasco
• Funding Agency: US National Science Foundation ARE 0632360
• Project Length: September 2006 – August 2008
• SEL Participants: C. Vanessa Garcia and several of our graduate and undergraduate students.
• Web sites with more information on this project: www.ipyroam.org.

Summary:

This project is grounded on three key factors. 1) Minority groups are severely under-represented in engineering and science and most university study abroad programs – especially in the polar sciences. 2) Remote hands-on field-based instructional and research experiences provide students and teachers with proven and transformational life and educational experiences. 3) The International Polar Year (IPY) provides a unique opportunity to educate the next generation of scientist and the general public about the Polar Regions and their importance to the global system. The principal objectives of this proposal are to 1) increase public awareness and knowledge about the Polar Regions and 2) increase the number of underrepresented minorities continuing on to higher degrees or careers in science. The latter will be stimulated through a novel and life-changing opportunity for students and teachers to travel to Antarctica and acquire first hand experience in polar field-based research and system science. Proposed activities include:

• Building on an established Antarctic study abroad field course initiated by the Investigatory team that promotes inquiry and problem based learning using a systems science approach.
• Recruiting 15 undergraduate and 5 graduate students from multiple disciplines, plus 5 high school science teachers (25 participants in total) from primarily underrepresented minorities across the U.S to participate in the program for course credit.
• Web-casting of preparatory lectures plus a field trip to Washington DC, where participants will meet with a range of experts in the polar sciences and organizations affiliated with international policy and tourism in Antarctica. Participants will also explore concepts relating to the importance of advancing the representation of minorities in science and engineering.
• A capstone 3-week field trip aboard an Antarctic tourist vessel from Tierra del Fuego to the Antarctic Peninsula where participants will be mentored in the design, implementation, documentation and dissemination of hands-on field based research including data archiving. Because over 20,000 tourists now visit Antarctica annually, this experience provides a unique educational opportunity for examining the activities and impacts of a growing Antarctic user-community.
• Community outreach including live satellite feeds to public radio, a comprehensive project web site with question/answer interactivity, journals from students and teachers, and production of legacies such as curriculum products and an educational documentary of the Antarctic field experience.
• Evaluating formal and informal education activities using quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Publishing and archiving at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), course materials, field data, and evaluations related to the formal assessment of course impact.

Relevance to the IPY: There is no better time to pursue this project than during the IPY due to the unprecedented international commitment to science and education provided by the IPY and the paramount need for understanding the impact of global change in the Polar Regions. The proposed activities will celebrate the IPY and establish data and informational legacies that will improve scientific capacities and public awareness of the Polar Regions and the recruitment of minorities to polar science.

Intellectual Merit: The proposed activities will have significant intellectual merit: data gathering will include data rescue as well as generation of new data; development of K-12 curricula, an extensive web site and a film documentary; a formal evaluation of the education impact of the proposed activities will also be completed. All activities will focus on educational and professional development and will be underpinned by a systems science approach to ensure adequate linkage between physical, biological, social components of the Antarctic System and how these relate to the global system.

Broader Impacts: The most significant contribution of this project will be the advancement of underrepresented students and teachers in science and engineering. Students will be impacted from secondary to graduate level education; outreach will include live radio links, web sites with question/answer interactivity and a film documentary; data and time series observations suitable for future education programs will be generated and curricula for use in schools and universities will be generated. All data, curricula will be made publicly available where appropriate and archived at NSIDC.