Presentations

Early Career Researchers (ECRs) comprise a significant portion of the workforce in the Arctic and Antarctic communities, yet remain an underutilized resource in many large polar research projects. A key goal of the Association for Early Career Polar Scientists (APECS) is to develop opportunities for ECRs, and part of that is achieved by integrating ECRs into polar research and coordination activities from the outset. Benefits to projects who welcome ECRs include gaining unique perspectives from passionate, skilled minds as well as having an active role in training future leaders of these groups. APECS also serves as an institutional partner to support early career involvement to reduce a project's organizational risk of working with ECRs given, for example, inherent and relatively unpredictable career transitions. This poster will describe opportunities available to ECRs through APECS' engagement in large consortia like the EU Horizon 2020 funded projects APPLICATE, INTERACT, ARICE, and NUNATARYUK. APECS is uniquely qualified to plan digital and in-person training experiences, as evidenced through our long-term webinar series and the Polar Prediction School 2018 as part of APPLICATE. Successful collaborations have depended on early engagement with APECS as a partner in order to integrate education, outreach, and training activities within these projects. APECS looks forward to working with other polar research groups to include ECRs through every phase of development.