Science AMA Series: We’re the Association of Polar Early Career
Scientists (APECS), here to talk about life and science in the polar
regions, Ask Us Anything!
Abstract
Hi Reddit! The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is
here to promote Polar Week! What is that? There are two International
Polar Weeks each year – one in March and one in September –
which coincide with the equinoxes, the only time when everywhere on
Earth has 12 hours of daylight. Polar Week is a series of international
events with the goal of promoting the science that takes place in polar
latitudes, and educating the public about all things polar. For the
upcoming Polar Week we are specifically highlighting #PolarPeople,
humans and their activities and impacts on the poles. Did you know that
there are people living in Antarctica year-round? Or that permafrost
thaw is causing infrastructure damage and affecting communities
worldwide? This AMA is just one of many events being held world-wide to
connect and educate the public about all things polar. See a full
calendar of events here:
http://www.apecs.is/outreach/international-polar-week/upcoming-polar-week.html
APECS is an international and interdisciplinary organization for
undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early
faculty members, educators, and others with interests in Earth’s
Polar Regions (Antarctica and the Arctic) as well as the wider
cryosphere. Our goals include creating opportunities for the
development of innovative, international, and interdisciplinary
collaborations among current early career polar researchers as well as
recruiting, retaining, and promoting the next generation of polar
enthusiasts. Learn more here: http://www.apecs.is APECS members
participating in this AMA are early-career polar scientists in a variety
of research areas with experience working in the polar regions in remote
field locations and in some native communities, studying everything from
sea-ice interactions to charismatic animals like penguins. We will
be answering questions related to our research, what it’s like to work
in the polar regions, or even how to get into polar research. Learn more
about and join APECS for free here:
http://www.apecs.is/get-involved/join-apecs.html Participants: Liz
Ceperley: PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
researching the dynamics and history of glaciers in the Arctic, such as
the Petermann Glacier in Greenland and well the paleoclimate of the last
20,000 years and has conducted fieldwork in the Arctic five times.
Linkedin Alex Thornton: Master’s student researching the ecology of
Pacific walrus and oceanography in response to environmental change.
Website Jean Holloway: PhD student at the University of Ottawa in
Canada, researching the impacts of forest fires on discontinuous
permafrost in the Canadian arctic. She has done work in the Canadian
arctic over the past 5 years, travelled to a remote fly-in site, and
seen a polar bear face-to-face. Samantha Darling: PhD student at McGill
University’s Sustainable Futures Lab, with research focusing on natural
resources, governance and capacity in Northern Canada. Website Linkedin
Aja Ellis: Postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University
working on aerosols, biomass burning, and Antarctic paleoclimate. Sara
Strey: Meteorology Teaching Fellow at Northland College in Ashland,
Wisconsin, USA. Sara’s research focuses on interactions between Arctic
climate change and midlatitudes.