Present: Allen Pope, Angelika Renner, Jennifer Provencher, Jenny Baeseman (Director), Luís Guilherme Resende de Assis, and Yulia Zaika (President)

The APECS Executive Committee 2011/2012 met for the first time in person two weeks ago in the city of Tromsø. The ExCom heads up APECS through leading action, strategy, and decision-making within APECS. Accordingly, the meeting days focused on planning for the upcoming APECS Director transition period as well as the future growth of APECS. This included many discussions about institutional knowledge transfer, hiring schedules, job descriptions, costs to be incurred, strategic plans, and many other administrative considerations. It might not all sound like an exciting job, but it was good experience for the ExCom members and hopefully will ensure smooth sailing for the rest of APECS in the coming years. And the Northern lights a few nights didn’t hurt either!

While in Tromsø, the ExCom also took the opportunity to meet with local partners and advisors including the Arctic Council Secretariat, University of Tromsø administrators, Norwegian Polar Institute, ARCTOS, IASC, the High North Academy, and the APECS Norge Board of Directors. Look out for more collaborations with these folks in the future!

Moving into 2012, the ExCom is really excited that we all got the chance to meet in person! The main takeaway from the meeting is that we want to do all we can to make sure that APECS continues to move both move forwards and innovate. APECS has earned itself a worldwide reputation as THE organization for young polar researchers, and the ExCom will make sure we do all we can to sustain APECS.

Once again the APECS Speed Dating Networking evening during the Arctic Frontiers 2012 conference was a huge success. This year the event was held at the Tromsø Gallery of Contemporary Art. The gallery provided a great venue for our early career researchers, young scientist forum and young professionals to be able to mix and mingle with our interdisciplinary group of established reserachers and policy makers. The chatting and sharing was so great that it was difficult to gather everyone's attention in order to move on to the next event.  A special thanks to the Tromsø Gallery of Contemporary Art for hosting us, to Artic Frontiers for helping to put on the event, and to all those who came out for another wonderful evening of speed networking, especially to our mamy mentors.

Updates from the II APECS-Brazil Workshop (14^th-17^th May 2012)

APECS-Brazil has existed since 2008 and has been active nationally, encouraging, promoting and supporting polar research and education within Brazil. From the success of the first workshop attended by over 140 participants, the second APECS-Brazil Workshop is underway! The three day workshop will focus on “integration of Antarctic research in South America”. 

New information about Hotel accommodation in Rio Grande, RS, Brazil are now available at the II APECS-Brazil Workshop website (http://apecs-brasil-iiworkshop.blogspot.com/). 

Mark the deadlines in your agenda! Registration with low prices is opened until 1^st March 2012. Abstract Submission will be accept until 10^th March 2012. 

After a successful Antarctica Day in Brussels on December 1^st (Antarctica Day workshop in Brussels), several people expressed their interest in the formation of a Belgian APECS committee. Words were quickly followed by action. During 2012 the little snowball that is APECS Belgium will keep on gathering speed and mass…

Our small but diverse core group met during our first monthly meeting in January - Anton, Ines, Dagmar, Pedro, Marie-Jo, Marie, Hendrik, Francesca and Tom brought together biologists, glaciologists, astronomers and even a lawyer. During this meeting, APECS Belgium set out a number of goals for the coming years.

A first requirement is the formation of an official legal structure and Hendrik, as an environmental lawyer, will arrange this. To gain some visibility, we will create a Facebook page and the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO website) will host a website for us.

In 2012, we plan several activities aimed at providing learning platforms for early career scientists in Belgium but also a framework for education and outreach. We plan to visit a social project where people are building a 1:1 replica of the historic Belgica vessel. We want to use this project as a platform to introduce a general audience to the Antarctica expeditions led by three generations (Adrien de Gerlache in the 19^th century, researchers in the 1960s and young researchers). You can visit the Dutch website here.

In September, during the equinox week, we plan a three-day conference in Ghent: starting with a day filled with workshops (presentations skills, how to deal with the media etcetera), followed by a day of presentations and concluding with a networking day with an excursion in the city centre of Ghent.

In 2013, Belgium will be the host of the Antarctic Treaty Meeting. Although this is something for politicians, some delegates plan to attend (part of) this conference and we see it as a perfect opportunity to focus on polar research and a moment to involve a broader audience. Therefore, we plan a 'science fair' with experiments for young and old and a picture exhibition.

In the meantime we will encourage our Belgian APECS member to participate in international activities.

So in a nutshell, this is what APECS Belgium is up to!

Ines Tavernier and Anton Van de Putte, the founding members

What better way to promote the research you will present at the IPY 2012 From knowledge to action conference in Montréal, Canada then by creating a so-called ‘Frostbyte’, a 30-60 second video about your talk or poster?!?

The goal is to help researchers learn about their colleagues work and to help create a legacy product for the conference that shows the research conducted during the international polar year and emphasizes the importance of scientific research and outreach.

Do you want to communicate about your research? Great! Create your own Frostbyte (see link below) and send it to by no later than the 1st of March. Ten (!) editors are now ready to help you edit it and we will upload it to YouTube so people can see your Frostbyte before, during and after the conference. Create yours today, several prizes will be awarded, for several categories including the most viewed Frostbyte… so the sooner you create yours, the more people can watch it!

Special thank you to Jenny Baeseman for developing the concept and to our editors: Erik, Vasily, Molly Jia, Maja, Will, Guiseppe, Alisa, Ananda and Luccas and to our fabulous coordinator Ines Tavernier.

Click here: How to create a Frostbyte?

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is pleased to announce the outstanding poster presentation award winners from the 2012 Arctic Frontiers Conference. Winners were evaluated from over 50 early career poster submissions based on the content of the poster, presentation and appearance, and the context and connection of the research to other fields of science and society. We would like to thank the many evaluators and Jennifer Provencher and Jenny Baeseman for coordinating these efforts. All of this year's recipients are APECS members.

This year's recipients will receive free registration to a future Arctic Frontiers conference. Awards were presented at the Science Banquet during the conference together with a humorous presentation on what the polar regions 'might' be like when these outstanding young scholars are the leaders of the Arctic research community.

Matthias Forwick - Fluid Flow Features in the Spitsbergen Fjords

Forwick M*, Baeten N J*, Vorren T*
*University of Tromsø, Department of Geology, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway,

The investigation of fluid flow from the sub-seafloor in the Norwegian sector of the Arctic has mainly focussed on studies carried out the continental shelves and slopes of the Barents Sea and Svalbard. However, swath bathymetry and high-resolution seismic data from the fjords on Svalbard reveal numerous pockmarks, indicating that fluid flow (seepage of thermogenic gas and pore water) has taken place - or probably is taking place - there, too. The largest pockmarks identified so far are up to 250 m wide and 13 m deep. Their formation started most probably shortly after the retreat of grounded ice from the fjords.

We suggest that factors controlling the distribution of pockmarks in Spitsbergen fjords include: 1) tectonic lineaments, 2) the lithological composition and lateral sub-crop of bedrock and 3) the orientation of glacial lineations.

Anna Dustira - Geochemical Variations in Permian Spiculitic Chert from Svalbard

Dustira A M*, Blomeier D**, Vihtakari M**,***,****
*Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway,
**Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
***Faculty of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
****Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway

Massive sedimentary chert deposits of the Kapp Starostin Formation (Tempelfjorden Group) are prominent features of Permian deposits in Svalbard, and are directly correlatable to corresponding deposits in the Barents Sea (Finnmark Platform and Stappen High). A better understanding of facies distribution, facies characteristics and depositional environments of Permian sediments on Svalbard is an important step towards understanding Late Paleozoic basin development across the Barents Sea. This study uses geochemical analysis of Permian chert facies from central and northeastern Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet to better understand and quantify the compositional differences between dark and light chert facies. Using the geochemical attributes of the cherts in the interpretation of depositional environments can improve our existing depositional model for the Permian. Svalbard was located near the Barents Sea (Finnmark Platform and Stappen High), East Greenland (Wandel Sea Basin), Arctic Canada (Sverdrup Basin) and Russia (Timan-Pechora Basin) off the northern margin of Pangea during the Permian, at approximately 45°N latitude in a temperate- to cool marine depositional setting. Siliceous sponge spicules from an abundant sponge fauna comprise the main chert component. Dark chert facies have been found associated more with dark shales and mudstone, whereas light cherts tend to be fossiliferous (brachiopod, bryozoan and echinoderm fossil assemblages), often have higher carbonate content, and are associated with glauconitic sandstones. Samples of dark and light chert facies within the Kapp Starostin Fm were taken from 10 localities across Svalbard, from relatively distal to proximal settings within the depositional basin. From bulk samples, 22 trace elements were measured using XRF; Leco-analysis was performed to obtain total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total sulfur (TS) values. A correspondence analysis was performed to determine the potential factors influencing trace element and carbon content of the cherts, i.e. whether facies type (dark vs. light chert) or sample locality (positioning within the depositional basin) explain the geochemical composition of the cherts. Preliminary results indicate clear geochemical differences between dark and light cherts, as well as some geochemical differences amongst localities. Dark cherts are enriched in trace elements, such as Ba, Co and Rb, and in TOC, which is an indication of mud content. Light cherts are richer in Sr, Ce and TC, which indicates the fossiliferous origin of these cherts. However, some elements are susceptible to modification during diagenesis, thus care must be taken to separate diagenetic signals from primary signals.

Honorable Mention: Mikko Vihtakari - Does bivalve shell mineralogy reflect environmental conditions in the Arctic?

Vihtakari Mikko*,**,***, Ambrose William G. Jr**,****, Renaud Paul**,*****, Locke William****, Cottier Finlo******, Carroll Michael**, Berge Jørgen*,*****
* Faculty of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway,
** Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
*** Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
**** Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA
***** University Centre in Svalbard, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
****** Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Argyll, UK

Rapid environmental change and expanding commercial activities make environmental monitoring of the Arctic seas increasingly important. Satellites and oceanographic moorings have greatly expanded monitoring capabilities, but the data they collect are often spatially and temporally limited. Animals can be used as tools to complement the instrumental record. Bivalves are sessile, long-lived organisms and mineralogy of their shells offers a potential to reconstruct environmental history. Trace elements derived from seawater are incorporated into the shell matrix and standardized mineral ratios may reflect ecosystem-relevant parameters (e.g. primary production, temperature, salinity, pollution, etc.) at the time of shell deposition.

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), a method used to acquire element composition of solid samples, allows high resolution (<100um) sampling of shell material and is especially suitable for mineralogy studies of carbonates, such as bivalve shells. We present preliminary results of LA-ICP-MS analyses of two circumpolar bivalve species: the Greenland Cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) and the Hairy Cockle (Clinocardium ciliatum) after one- to two year-long exposures on oceanographic moorings in two Svalbard fjords. Our analysis covers a relatively large range in temperature, salinity, sea-ice conditions and timing of the spring bloom. Instruments on the moorings recorded water temperature, salinity and fluorescence (as a proxy for chlorophyll-a). This
allowed us to compare elemental profiles in shells with physical, chemical, and biological parameters of the water column

Barium occurred typically at near-zero levels across the year's shell accretion, but increased several hundred times over a short period once a year in all samples. The increase occurred shortly after the commencement of the annual growth (just proximal to the growth band), suggesting that it may have occurred in spring or early summer. Barium is often linked with sedimentation of phytoplankton blooms, which seems like a possible explanation for the abrupt peaks in our study. In some studies other mineral proxies (e.g. peaks in strontium, magnesium and manganese) have been associated with temperature, but typically in a complex manner with other factors such as salinity and ontogeny. By analyzing the temporal relationships of multiple geochemical proxies in concert, we hope to better understand how physical and biological processes in Arctic fjords are reflected in shells of bivalves.

filler

APECS is happy to nominate Tosca Ballerini to serve as a representative to the Southern Ocean Observing System Scientific Steering Commette (SOOS SSC). The SOOS has a circumpolar geographical domain and it spans a range of disciplines, including ocean physics, sea ice, ecology, marine biology, biogeochemistry and surface meteorology. The emphasis of the SOOS is on sustained observations, but models will make a significant contribution to the SOOS by informing the design of the observing system and guiding the interpretation and interpolation of sparse measurements. The first meeting of the SOOS SSC will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 18-19th February, prior to the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2012.

Tosca is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) in Marseille, France. Prior to moving to MIO she worked at the Center of Coastal Physical Oceanography (CCPO), in Norfolk, VA, developing food web models for the Antarctic Peninsula using data collected by the US SO GLOBEC program. Her research interests include marine food webs, their linkages with biogeochemical cycles, and the effects of climate change and fisheries on Southern Ocean and Mediterranean marine ecosystems. Tosca is also interested in Marine policy. Tosca received a PhD in Polar Biology from the University of Siena, Italy, with a thesis on the population dynamics of the Adélie penguin and participated in the XX Italian Antarctic Expedition as a biologist.  

Tosca has served on the APECS Council since 2009 and is one of the two APECS council co-chairs for 2011-2012. Tosca is excited to represent APECS in the SOOS and she looks forward to communicate the developments of the SOOS to the large (more than 3000 members) APECS community and to encourage the participation of early carrier scientists worldwide in the activities of the SOOS.

As the SOOS is an initiative with a long-term perspective, it is gratifying to see that APECS and early career researchers are being included in the planning and development process, and APECS looks forward to this attitude continuing in its formulation, development, and implementation!

The WMO Polar Observations, Research and Services (PORS) activities promote and coordinate relevant programmes that are carried out in the Antarctic and Arctic regions by nations and by groups of nations. It interfaces with all WMO programmes, including the World Weather Watch (WWW), and other related programmes throughout the world, meeting global needs and requirements for meteorological observations, research and services in the polar regions. The activities are carried out under the auspices of theExecutive Council Panel of Experts on Polar Observations, Research and Services.

We are happy to announce that APECS member Tiina Kilpeläinen will represent early career researchers at the next EC-PORS meeting. She has studied the Arctic and Antarctic boundary layer based on measurements and high-resolution numerical models. She has experience from several field campaigns in the Arctic and has been involved in teaching of polar meteorology at the undergraduate level. At the moment, she is working at the Finnish Meteorological Institute and University of Helsinki as researcher focusing on the Antarctic meteorology.

Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic: The Response of Life to Change or EBA is an international, multidisciplinary programme that has been approved by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) for 2006 - 2013. Meghana Rajanahally is currently one of the co-secretaries of EBA and will be the official APECS representative at upcoming EBA meeting. "I am excited to be an APECS representative at the EBA meetings at the SCAR conference in Portland, where I will be co-convening a session as well. I am someone who likes to be involved in representing and contributing and hope to be more involved in Polar research organizations as I look for a postdoctoral fellowship soon."

Meghana originally comes from Bangalore, India and is currently a final year PhD student in marine biology at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand working in Ken Ryan’s sea ice research group, which contributes to the LGP. Her research focuses on the ecophysiology of Antarctic sea ice algae where she studies the effects of light, UV and temperature on their physiology and has been conducted in the Ross Sea region and on laboratory cultures in New Zealand and Australia. Meghana has always been interested in conservation biology and her goal is to be a researcher who can make a significant contribution in this area. She is particularly interested in studying the effect of climate change on the physiology of polar organisms.

An APECS career development workshop was held at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) for PhD students studying at BAS and the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI). The workshop programme used the traditional APECS format of talks interspersed with panel discussions and networking opportunities. For BAS students the workshop complemented other networking and team building events held on the same week, which included a science symposium and an outdoor activities day.

After a brief welcoming reception, the day started with a talk on the activities of APECS and UKPN from Allen Pope (SPRI and APECS). This gave new students an introduction to these ever-expanding networks for early career polar scientists; the growth of both organisations is testimony to the success of previous events, of which Allen gave an interesting account. For those students present who are further along in their studies, Allen's talk provided an opportunity to reflect on previous successful meetings, and reminisce over fun times. Allen encouraged the new students to get involved, and I think he can be assured of a few new recruits!

Liz Morris (SPRI), Pete Convey (BAS) and Paul Rodhouse (BAS) then took to the floor for a panel discussion on International Projects and Collaborations. A great deal of the discussion centred around how best to spend time during a PhD study to maximise opportunities of building collaborations, and go on forge a successful career in academia.

Heather Martin from BAS's media office then gave an interesting talk on communicating with the media. Heather stressed the importance of making science accessible to a broad audience, and encouraged the budding young researchers to contact the media and PR department if they wanted help promoting their science. Heather also provided an interesting account of the high-profile activities BAS are currently involved with, including collaboration with the BBC on the Frozen Planet series, and the upcoming Lake Ellsworth project. It's certainly an exciting time to be involved in polar science!

Over lunch, participants were given the opportunity to listen to a  pre-recorded APECS career development webinar 'alternative careers in polar research', the broad array of webinars now available on the APECS website was also showcased. Following lunch, Pete Convey gave a talk on writing papers and publishing academic material.

The final part of the day focussed on science policy. Julian Allwood (Cambridge University) gave a talk covering some of the challenges faced as the country tries to move towards renewable energy sources. Interesting work is being carried out at Cambridge University, and in Parliament by David Mackay, Professor Allwood's colleague who is now also a government advisor. David Cope from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) then gave an overview of the work carried out by POST, how scientists influence policy, and gave some advice to those wishing to work within this area.

Nick Owens (BAS) then rounded off the day with a few words on the importance of polar science, and told us a little of his journey from PhD student to the director of BAS. Thanks to all the speakers and participants for making the event so interesting, to APECS for all their ongoing efforts in helping young researchers to expand their skill sets, and to BAS for hosting the day.

Two APECS ExCom members (Allen Pope and myself) joined by member Kristin Timm organised in true APECS style a mentor panel at the American Geophysical Union 2011 Fall Meeting, APECS presence at the Exploration station, a session and multiple posters and talks about APECS and APECS-related projects, and various guides and a calendar for first-timers like us.

Before the conference, a group of APECS members put together a guide with tips and tricks for conferences. Intended for first-time attendees at such a big meeting as well as the seasoned conference-goer, it included advice for APECS members to make the most of the AGU Fall Meeting. To help through the maze of the many events at and around the Moscone Center, APECS also put together a calendar including outreach, networking and training events relevant for polar early career researchers. And if you were lost in the sheer number of conference participants, we had a list of APECS people who were there, a friendly crowd to get started with the socialising and networking.

At the Exploration Station on Sunday we joined forces with PolarTREC and showed off polar science to the general public, who at this event got a taster of some of the science and projects  presented at this huge meeting. Thanks go to Heidi Roop, Kristin Timm, Matthias Kunz, Aisling Dolan, and Sian Henley who gave their time and helped at the station throughout the day.

The mentor panel, supported by the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) and hosted in the ARCUS meeting room, was once again a great opportunity to network and ask lots of questions. Panel members included Breck Bowden, Janet Warburton, Andy Thompson, John Walsh, Valentina Radic, and APECS’ first president Kriss Rokkan Iversen. The wide range of backgrounds of the panellists, from post-doc to senior research to educator and self-employed science communicator and consultant, provided a great variety of perspectives of a scientific career and its challenges and opportunities. We filmed the discussion and will post the video soon on the APECS website, so stay tuned!

Thanks go to all who helped us along the way, in particular Helen Wiggins and Hajo Eicken for the SEARCH sponsorship, the panellists for given their time and sharing their knowledge and experience, and all the APECS folks who helped prior and during the meeting.

Sometimes daunting, but mostly just great fun, organising all this and seeing it come together was a great experience, offering brilliant excuses to nag senior scientists we always wanted to talk to and lots of opportunities to meet new and old faces and make new contacts. We’ve already started talking to the AGU Cryosphere division about continuing the APECS presence at the AGU Fall Meeting. If you think you’d like to do this at the next AGU Fall Meeting (or at any other conference), just get in touch and we’ll help you get started!

In conjunction with the Discipline of the Month for January, we would like to announce the APECS Limnology Virtual Poster Session (VPS) taking place Thursday January 26, at 17 GMT. 

The online session will highlight the ecology of freshwater ecosystems and the challenges life in these waters face- From Svalbard, Greenland, and across the Canadian North- come listen, interact, and learn about Limnology!

Our presenters will be:

Trine Holm, University of Innsbruck/UNIS- “Effect of recent climate warming on a high Arctic lake, Svalbard”

Lauren Culler, Dartmouth College- “Temperature-altered predator-prey dynamics in freshwater ponds in Arctic Greenland"

Tobias Schneider, University of Quebec - "Ultraviolet radiation and zooplankton pigments: a seasonal approach"

Shannon McFadye, University of Victoria- “Mercury in selected fish species from the Husky Lakes, Northwest Territories, Canada”

Jean-Sebastian Moore, University of British Columbia- “Studying the migratory behaviour of anadromous Arctic char using genetic tools”

To join the call/ meeting room, click on the link, https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/996594400, and log in with your name and email. The program will load, and the virtual “meeting room” will open. The session is conducted through GoToMeeting. There are tutorials and information on how to join a meeting on their website, if you are new to these calls. 

Join us Jan 26, 17 GMT!

The news about our Polar Potties 2012 Calendar is spreading more and more. Another great news article was published by Casey Lessard from the Northern News Service about it. APECS Director Jenny Baeseman as well as photo contributors Torsten Sachs and Kristen Peck were interviewed and shared their experience about these special places that all of us enjoy during our fieldwork. Enjoy reading the article: Northern News Service: Twelve Cool Places to do number two

You haven't gotten your Polar Potties 2012 Calendar yet? Please go to http://apecs.is/promotional-materials/polar-potties to find out how!

APECS is happy to announce that over the coming months we will have two contractors helping us restructure and streamline our website to be more informative and helpful to both new and experience APECS members alike.

As many people reading this article will know, the APECS website is central to the international mission of the organization. We use it to collect & distribute information, collaborate, communicate, and share. What you may not know is that it has been almost entirely created and maintained by self-taught APECS members. As APECS has grown over the past 5 years. So has our website, and the time has come for a bit of evaluation, realignment, and improvement.

Brooks Patton, based in Alaska will be our web guru - helping us get the most functionality out of the APECS site and fix technical issues. Brooks has extensive experience building website and we communities using the same system that the APECS site is based on. Look forward to a new site template and more possibilities for APECS members to connect to each other through the site! Working alongside Brooks will be Carolyn Rosner. Carolyn comes to us from Nevada with experience structuring and maintaining other large Arctic-oriented websites. She will be auditing the site's organization and helping us make sure the APECS website is structured so that new members can find out what APECS has to offer and experienced APECS members can find the pages they are looking for.

Welcome, Brooks & Carolyn, and good luck! If APECS members & visitors have any thoughts or suggestions for improving apecs.is, as always feel free to contact us and let us know.

Scientists of the Arctos network take on the challenge of an Arctic winter cruise: on board the norwegian research vessel R/V Helmer Hanssen, they are heading north into the Arctic Ocean, into the darkness of the polar night!

This is probably the first winter cruise to the area north of Svalbard ever, aiming to fill a huge gap in our knowledge about the Arctic marine ecosystem since previously, fieldwork in this region was done only in seasons filled with light, i.e. spring to autumn. On the expedition are also a number of APECS members, mentors and supporters, so check out their blog:

http://blogg.uit.no/aba001/

The Svalbard Science Forum (SSF) is very happy to announce the first round of SSF workshop and support funds!  APECS is also happy to provide you with a recording from the 2011 Tromsø Research Funding Seminar to help provide you with a little more information.

Friday the call went out for the first round of new SSF funding scheme. This supports workshops and initiation of research initiatives which comply with the goals of the SSF. The deadline is 15th of February at 1300 CET. Please see the link below for more information and to see the complete call for proposals.

Svalbard Science Forum (SSF) promotes Svalbard as a national and international research platform. Its tasks are to coordinate and facilitate research in Svalbard as well as providing information for researchers, managers and the public.

SSF aims to enhance collaboration and coordination within research in Svalbard with three funding programmes:

- Arctic Field Grants
- SSF Workshops
- SSF Support Funds

SSF supports students and researchers collecting data in Svalbard (and Jan Mayen). SSF also supports the further development and realisation of SSF prioritised areas as outlined in the SSF cooperation workshop reports and Ny-Ålesund flagship documents , and the initiation of new efforts to better coordinate research in Svalbard

Link: http://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Funding/SSF/1253971526892

--- Polar Potties calendar shows where to go when nature calls

Casey Lessard, Northern News Services, Published Tuesday, January 3, 2012

NUNAVUT
Swimsuit models and hot rods have no place near the poles, so it makes sense that a new calendar raising funds for polar scientists would feature something that gets them more excited: a decent place to answer the call of nature.

“One of the fun things that bonds polar scientists together is the outdoor toilet experience,” said Dr. Jenny Baeseman, director of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). The Tromso, Norway-based non-profit group plans to use the funds raised from the Polar Potties calendar to train young scientists how to share their findings with the general public, who – through government funding – typically pay for their research.

The calendar features 12 different toilets photographed on location in the Arctic or Antarctic. Weaned from about 55 entries, three of the 12 photos are from Nunavut.

Read the rest of this great article here: http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/jan3_12nls.html

Order your Polar Potties Calender here: http://apecs.is/promotional-materials/polar-potties

The discipline of the month for January is featuring Limnology, the study of inland fresh waters. At the time when most arctic lakes are thick with ice cover, we welcome you to discover some of the many resources we’ve put together on the Limnology pages. They are loaded with information on what APECS members are doing, who our mentors are, and how to find out more about Limnology. And the best part- it’s interactive! If you are working on anything related to fresh water sciences, we want to hear form you! Go to the webpage an tell us what your working on, share a publication, link to your research blog and much more.

Later in the month we’ll be hosting a virtual poster session, giving you the opportunity to listen and dissuss current research topics. Stay tuned for details!

In the current issue of Polar Research, APECS Research Activities Co-chair Inga May and others present the results of an initiative originating from the APECS workshop in Victoria, BC, in 2009 in which they tackling the making of science animations for effective science communication.

May et al. report how they developed the skills to produce useful animations about their research using various software packages, and discuss technical challenges the authors faced such as file format and sharing and image composition and colouring. By cooperating with teachers, they ensured that the animations were suitable for use in classrooms and addressed the needs of students. The animations were presented at the IPY Oslo Science Conference in 2010 and welcomed with enthusiasm by teachers and scientists. May et al. demonstrated how scientists can with relatively litte effort produce an interesting and effective animation showcasing their research and thus making it accessible to a wide audience. We are looking forward to hear more about further developments in this exciting science communication and outreach project!

The paper can be downloaded here: http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/15315

I. May, Carlson, D., Ardyna, M., Geoffroy, M., Heikkilä, M (2011): Making science animations: new possibilities for making science accessible to the public. Polar Research, 30, 15315, doi:10.3402/polar.v30i0.15315.

In a recent paper published in Polar Journal, a group of authors led by Rhian Salmon and including APECS director Jenny Baeseman and other APECS members and mentors report on the enormous efforts and first results of the activities during the International Polar Year 2007-2008 creating a global polar community of scientists, educators and communicators, and the general public. Below two quotes from the authors:

“The publication of a peer-reviewed article about the education, outreach and communication efforts of a science community is a first step in exploring ways that scientists can gain professional recognition for the huge amount of 'voluntary' work that they do in this area. By creating an opportunity for this work to be recognized either in a publication or at a conference, the field of public engagement itself will also become more professional, better evaluated, and of further use to the community at large. We, as scientists, need to recognize the reality of public engagement as a real component of our jobs in this decade, and to therefore give it the professional attention which we do to all other areas of our work. Two important parts of this are learning from others, and sharing our own experiences.” - Rhian Salmon

“Science needs public engagement, and scientists need training, partnerships and professional recognition for education, outreach and communication.  The IPY focus on communication hand-in-hand with research stimulated a burst of ideas and experience for science communication and global collaboration among researchers and educators.  This new publication "Education, outreach and communication during the International Polar Year 2007-2008: stimulating a global polar community" by Salmon et al. reports on that enormous volunteer effort and represents an important step in thanking those participants and establishing recognition for those activities.” - David Carlson

The paper can be accessed here: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2154896X.2011.626629

R. A. Salmon, Carlson, D. J., Zicus, S., Pauls, M., Baeseman, J., Sparrow, E. B., Edwards, K., Almeida, M. H., Huffman, L. T., Kolset, T., Malherbe, R. J. H., McCaffrey, M. S., Munro, N. A. L., de Pomereu, J., Provencher, J., Rahman-Sinclair, K. A., Raymond, M. (2011): Education, outreach and communication during the International Polar Year 2007-2008: stimulating a global polar community. The Polar Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 265-285.

Dear APECS Members, Mentors and Friends from all over the world!

We have had another amazing year and its all thanks to so many of you and are sending you this video message to show our appreciation. We look forward to 2012 being another wonderful year for APECS and for shaping the future of polar research. http://vimeo.com/34089452

Best wishes for a wonderful 2012!
Yulia Zaika, 2011-2012 APECS President
Jenny Baeseman, APECS Founding Director

The 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP17) with the theme “Saving Tomorrow Today” was held in Durban, South Africa from 29 November to 9 December 2011. Mariëtte Wheeler, an APECS Council member, who is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, was able to attend the second week of this conference as part of the delegation from York University (www.yorku.ca) in Canada. Here are some of my reflections on COP17.

Much can be said about what was achieved by the Parties at COP17. There are many international opinions: some claim success while others are pointing fingers. But for me and those who surrounded me at COP17, the true successes of COP17 were not achieved in the negotiation venues. For us, it was achieved at the side-events, at the booths and at the various other public events that raised the voices of the people on the ground. There were booths from various institutions and organizations working with children, women, farming communities, indigenous people etc. I was fortunate to be part of the delegation from York University that also incorporated the Nanisiniq: Arviat History Project (http://nanisiniq.tumblr.com/). The booth specifically focused on emphasizing the impacts that climate change has on the livelihood and daily lives of the Arviat people. Here in South Africa, we are experiencing some impacts, but it was interesting to see how directly people from other parts of the world (particularly also in the Arctic) are influenced. In the photograph are the two Arviat youth (Curtis Kuunuaq Konek and Jordan Konek); Ewa Modlinska from York University and Mariëtte Wheeler. Photo credit to Alta Reynolds.

As Early Career Polar Scientists, we should all be concerned about Climate Change and the impact it is having on the people of the world as well as particularly our polar ecosystems. The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and York University’s Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability  (IRIS: www.irisyorku.ca) co-hosted two virtual workshops this year in preparation for the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties in Durban, South Africa (COP 17).

The idea originated during a Skype meeting to discuss the potential side-events that were planned for COP17. The side event was the brain child of Rachel Hirsch, a FES post-doctoral fellow and IRIS executive member at York University. Her first call for abstracts for her proposed side-events at COP17 spurred so much interest, that it was decided that APECS and IRIS would co-host virtual workshops focusing on four themes: Planning for Change; Climate Politics and Justice; Mobilizing Knowledge through Digital Storytelling; and Arctic Climate and Ecology. The aim of these virtual workshops was to allow discussion on research objectives, finding and discussion points about problems yet to be addressed.

Ah, the fantastic bathroom field experience... something that bonds all of us Polar Researchers together...

Peter Sheldon from the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, Radio North found our Polar Potties Calendar quite interesting... interesting enough to do a radio interview and boardcast to help us with our fundraising effort... APECS Director Jenny Baeseman and member and polar potties photo contributor Torsten Sachs helped to share our special feelings about polar bathroom time with Peter in a recent CBC interview.  Read more here.

Don't miss out, order your calendar here!

Dear friends,

It’s almost our sixth month in the Arctic now.

We feel very lucky that we can stay in Hornsund all year and observe changing seasons, spectacular Aurora Borealis almost every day (since it’s a polar night). We had many visitors during summer but since October there’s only ten of us.

Winter up to now is rather mild, thus, we have some difficulties with water sources – lake, from which we took water all summer, is dry and frozen (until late spring) and there is not enough snow around the Station to collect and melt in our 2 m³ container. All snow is being blown away by strong winds so the only way to have water is to pick glacier ice from the shore, 600 meters from Station. Breaking big growlers into pieces and then, loading it on a tractor is a big effort for us but pays of – shower had never been so fancy – who else can shower in heated ocean-scented glacier waters? Well, it’s fun, but we’re really looking forward for snow– we’d like to try our snow scooters out and ski!

Recently we had few polar bears visits and we’re aware of them only thanks to our dogs that are loudly alarming us. One of our dog became somehow famous few weeks ago (svalbardposten.no/nyheter/en-hund-etter-villdyr), because of polar fox encounter next to the doghouse. Fox did not survive and was taken to Longyearbyen for rabies tests.

On 6h of Dcember we had visitors from Norwegian Church during the yearly Christmas visit to Polish Polar Station together with catholic Polish priest from Tromso, Longyearbyen pastor and dentist that helped two of the winterers with their teeth problems. You can see how the visit looked like at: http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/troms_og_finnmark/1.7913457. Beside presents, mail, fresh fruits and vegetables they brought us a lot of warmth!

Since it is a Christmas time, we’d like to wish you all White and Merry Christmas, lot of fun during holidays, happy New Year with millions of opportunities to visit Arctic! Stay warm!!

Happy Holidays to APECS from the Norwegian Polar Institute! APECS is very grateful for their continued support as one of our main sponsors for providing the finances needed to keep all of our activities centrally coordinated and running efficiently. We look forward to continue working with them in 2012!

APECS is fortunate to work with organizations with similar goals and objectives for supporting young researchers. We thank our partners and sponsors for working with us to support our events and activities activities and give great opportunities for young researchers to advance their careers and portfolios.

Here are some of the Season Greeting that APECS has received from our partners! Other partners have sent us "real cards": Merry Christmas and Happy 2012 from SCAR to our APECS members as well!

Happy Holidays everyone!

As you all prepare for your holiday breaks - or perhaps some of you are deep in the midst of field work... I wanted to share a bit of news with you.

After 5+ years of blood, sweet, tears and lots of wine and laughs needed to make this organization a reality - first as a hobby with some friends to a full time paid job with over 3000 of you fabulous people helping us grow, it is time for me to move on to another challenge. I have very much enjoyed creating this amazing organization, helping to develop so many new projects and resources, and getting to know so many of you. It has been a life changing experience that will always hold a special place in my heart, as will many of you.

This has been a very rewarding job - its been a lot of work to build APECS to what it is today, and there have been so many wonderful people who have given so much - like many of you!  I think its healthy for the organization to grow beyond the founding members and APECS is strong and ready for a bit of a change - with some new ideas and renewed energy it can only get better!

The APECS Executive Committee is in the process of finalizing the job description for the new Director and working with the University of Tromsø and the Norwegian Polar Institute to continue the Directorate office here in fabulous Tromsø, Norway. I encourage any of you who are finishing your graduate work and thinking that some type of administration job might be more to your liking than active research to keep your eyes out for the job posting. APECS is a GREAT JOB!

I will be helping with the transition for APECS until March 30. After that I will be taking on the Director position for the World Climate Research Programme's Climate and the Cryosphere Project, hosted by the Norwegian Polar Institute (so I'm staying in Tromsø!) .. so be on the look out for lots of opportunities for young researchers in that project soon :)   http://www.climate-cryosphere.org/en/.

Happy Holidays and looking forward to an exciting 2012!
Jenny Baeseman, APECS Founding Director

Inspired by the messages send out by APECS, a small group of APECS decided to organise a meeting in Brussels to celebrate Antarctica Day on December 1^st. Our primary goal was to get to know the young polar community in Belgium. Who out there is devoting part of his life to Antarctic research? We started contacting labs and collecting email addresses and I was a bit shocked to find out that physicists working on Antarctica have their office about 200 metres from mine, in the nearby building and I did not even know that. What a shame that we did not know each other. It was about time to change this!

We decided to organise an informal poster session in the morning to give people a chance to present their research. This was preceded by an introduction of the Antarctic Treaty, the legal background by a lawyer specialised in environmental law. After posters, we had lunch so that people could talk to each other and get to know each other. The community was really diverse, both in research topics as in age. There were biologists, physicists, glaciologists, a lawyer and so on. And not only 'young' researchers were present, we were also joined by three 'old' Antarctica expedition members who really wanted to express their enthusiasm that the youth is concerned about this remote place on Earth and is performing all these different types of research. It was fascinating to compare Antarctic expeditions in the twenty-first century to expeditions in the 1960s.

After lunch, we've started brainstorming about ways to promote the Antarctic Treaty Meeting that will be held in Brussels in 2013. Is there a better time to promote Antarctic research? We will not only create a message for the politicians and lawyers participating in this meeting, but also for the greater public. In this respect, it was decided to launch a national node: APECS-Belgium. Several people expressed their enthusiasm to participate in side-events to this meeting and would like to be involved in scientific and outreach activities in Belgium. Slowly but surely, the APECS division in Belgium will organise events and spread polar-related news in Belgium. Our first monthly meeting will be held in January 2012 where we will discuss meetings and workshops that we will organise the next year.