APECS - PEI Workshop Organizers

University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Sira Engelbertz is representing APECS on the Local Organising Committee for the 2014 SCAR OSC and meetings. She is also acting Executive Committee member of APECS Oceania – APECS’s joint Australian and New Zealand national committee. Sira has been involved in various APECS Oceania events in the past including panel discussions, networking and social events. She hold a Master degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Leipzig (Germany) and is currently studying towards her PhD in Antarctic Studies at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand).

Montana State University, United States

I study microbial ecology, limnology and biogeochemistry in icy, cold environments. I have spent three field seasons in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica sampling permanently ice-covered lakes, and will soon visit the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to study subglacial Lake Whillans, which lies 800 meters beneath the ice. I am fascinated with microbial processes and the ecology of terrestrial aquatic and marine systems. I am constantly looking for new ways to form collaborations and to improve networking opportunities for graduate students and other aspiring scientists. I am currently co-chair of the graduate student group, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at my home institution of Montana State University, and am working on an array of projects that aim to sustain a supportive community for female graduate students. In my spare time, I love to take in the beauty of Montana by hiking and learning to cross-country ski, read, and work on fixing up my tiny house.

Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Belgium

Anton Van de Putte is a Marine Biologist with a strong interest in the role of fish in the Southern Ocean Ecosystem. He received his PhD in 2008 for his research on the ecology and evolution of Southern Ocean fish, whit special focus on the mesopelagic lantern fish Electrona antarctica. He has experience in Science Education and Outreach. Currently, he is a science officer for the Belgian SCAR-Marbin and AntaBIF projects that aim to provide free and open access to Antarctic biodiversity data.

Dr Jenny Rock (Dept Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand) lectures in Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Communication with research interests in the aesthetics of science, visual/sensory cognition, and reciprocal interaction between science and society (philosophy and sociology of science). Her biological research expertise is in polar/thermal biology (from environmental & evolutionary physiology to molecular ecology & functional genomics). See some of her prev work for IPY at http://www.ipy.org/index.php?ipy/detail/polar_oceans_and_art/

Polar Educators International (PEI) / Arctic Research Consortium of the United States

Sarah Crowley currently works as an education project manager for the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States in Fairbanks, AK. She manages PolarTREC, a teacher-researcher experience program via a grant from the National Science Foundation. With partners such as UA-Fairbanks, Alaska Geographic and the National Park Service, Sarah develops and implements teacher trainings on climate change and polar science for online platforms and in-­field experiences. Most recently she has worked tirelessly with partners such as APECS to build Polar Educators International; a professional network for those who educate in, for, and about the polar regions.

Through her years teaching environmental education, Sarah developed a passion for polar science and facilitating meaningful nature/science education experiences for her students and other teachers. Her undergraduate work earned her a BA in Geography in 2004, with a minor in Global Studies. In 2010 she received her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction for Science Education and a Graduate Certificate in Education, Environment, and Community from the University of Washington-Seattle.