Editor's Note: Today we continue our Letters from Antarctica series, where Patricia Ballou, our southernmost correspondent, shares insights into the work and thoughts of researchers, scientists and others working way, way, way down under. In this edition we're talking about changes in the educational systems of the U.S. and elsewhere as a result of the latest IPCC report -- where climate change is now finding its place in the curriculum. Below we hear from educational leaders (five, no less) in this movement -- and efforts to ensure this education is empowering, rather than disheartening. This is about the education of science, and the science of education.

International media coverage of climate change and the effects it is having on Polar Regions has been pushed to the front pages of daily news. The topic has become mainstream not only in the press but in the classroom. Louise T. Huffman is the Coordinator of Education and Public Outreach for ANDRILL and oversees the ARISE (ANDRILL Research Immersion for Science Educators) program. She sat down for an interview and candidly spoke about science education, research and how to empower future generations by becoming part of the solution. She retired as a public school teacher on June 3 and took this position on June 6, 2007. She also sits on the International Polar Year (IPY) Education Outreach Committee and chairs the Formal Education Subcommittee. Her take on climate change is from an educator’s perspective, and her concern is how to teach a sensitive and sometimes frightening topic without leaving the impression of hopelessness. She is supervising eight teachers who were chosen to take a trip on the wild side and become scientific explorers here in Antarctica. These educators come from four different countries: United States, Germany, Italy and New Zealand. Louise and her team of ARISE educators will give us some insights into how they and their countries are dealing with climate change education.

PB: Louise, seeing you are the educational lead for the ANDRILL project, could you tell us about your background?

Louise Huffman chillin' with penguins

Louise Huffman: I am an educator and I’ve taught in public schools for 34 years, everything from first to eighth grade in all subjects including, special education and gifted programs. I’ve had a wide range of teaching experiences. Although my focus has been teaching children, I am also involved in teacher training and mentoring, as well as continuing education programs through universities, museums, education foundations and local school districts.

PB: Can you give the specifics for the Antarctic program the educators are participating in?

LH: ARISE teachers come to Antarctica and are immersed in the science. They work on specific science teams and participate directly in Antarctic

Louise raising a rock core

research. Every day they are working side-by-side with scientists and accomplishing tasks and jobs prescribed by their respective disciplines. ANDRILL is a very large, international, multi-discipline science team with almost 60 scientists, students, educators and staff working together on the ice, as well as off-ice scientists working from their home institutions. The ARISE participants are an integral part of that team. Every morning there is a presentation showing the sedimentologists’ initial logging of the drill core and then a Core Tour takes place. The educators take part in the discussions and are encouraged to ask questions. During the day you can find an ARISE participant working with their assigned science teams, cutting samples, taking data, studying slides and imaging the core.

PB: What are the qualifications you must have in order to apply for a teacher’s slot?

LH: Usually six teachers are chosen from the applicant pool, but this year we also were able to bring two more teachers to be part of a seismic survey team that has been taking measurements to determine future drill sites. Initially, during the application process, educators proposed a project they wanted to complete while working with ANDRILL scientists in Antarctica. Some will complete their projects before leaving the ice but most will continue their scientific journeys back in their respective communities. You have to think of it as an on-going odyssey of learning and sharing. Most ARISE educators will produce a product that other teachers will be able to use in their classrooms. The phases are pre-ice, on-ice and after-ice experiences. The goal of ARISE is to build a polar education community and keep educators involved in polar science well beyond their experiences with ANDRILL.

PB: Could you expand on the phases of the Antarctic journey and give some examples of getting community support?

LH: Pre-ice preparations usually help build up support for an educator who has been chosen to come to Antarctica. Most will go out and do school visits within the community and explain the adventure they are about to embark upon through presentations about ANDRILL, Antarctica and the science involved. For example, I worked with the Museum of Science and Industry which sponsored a workshop for 50 teachers in the city and suburban area. The workshop allowed those 50 to go back to their schools and spread the word about ANDRILL’s work, the IPY and the global importance of polar research. Each U.S. ARISE educator was doing the same types of things before going to Antarctica, so spheres of influence were generated across the country from Delaware, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Alaska, as well as in our three partner countries: Germany, Italy and New Zealand. Science networking took place via large informal audiences and spread to small groups and then classrooms.

Postcards

On ice, ARISE educators conducted over 40 telephone conferences with classrooms and held video conferencing with museums and students. They sent virtual “Postcards from the Field,” as well as encouraged classrooms to send postcards via ‘snail mail.’ These postcards were answered and returned with an Antarctic postmark. The teachers wrote readable, entertaining, informative blogs, making ANDRILL science accessible, as well as talking about the challenges of living and working in an extreme environment.

Upon their return home, the ARISE team will take part in monthly collaborative phone calls, continue to work on their projects, conduct workshops for teachers and students and will be part of the ANDRILL symposium in the spring at the Antarctic Research Facility (AFR), Florida State University, where the core is stored.

PB: Let’s put education on a global scale. How important is Polar education to the IPY community and what is the potential impact on school children around the world?

LH: The IPY is celebrating its fourth International Polar Year event and it is the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY). It is the largest coordinated international science study ever on the planet. There are 228 endorsed projects and many of these are massive, ANDRILL being one of them. One of the prerequisites for an endorsement by the IPY is the establishment of an education outreach program for each proposal. These projects will communicate a wide range of technical information to all audiences. As for polar education on a global scale, it makes people aware of the changes happening around the world and to the ice itself. The impact of sea ice changes are especially important to those living in or near the Arctic Circle. Our northern neighbor’s lives are being drastically impacted by these changes because that is where the greatest amount of ice melt is occurring due to warmer temperatures.

PB: What has driven educators to start including climate change education in their curriculums?

LH: In the last couple of years I’ve been teaching about climate change in the classroom so from a teacher’s perspective, this year’s statements by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were their strongest yet. A panel of international scientists study the climate change evidence and early this year, their four study groups issued their findings which included the statement that warming is happening and humans have a great deal to do with it. So it is one of those things the United States had to acknowledge and this is a benchmark for U.S. education. Climate change should be taught in schools. Up until this year it has been under debate. There seemed to be no consensus and educators weren’t sure what to teach. There has been a huge shift or change taking place in U.S. education since the IPCC reported its findings. As educators we must move prudently as we present the growing scientific evidence, but at the same time be cautious not to inadvertently promote a fatalistic view.

PB: How do you counter the daunting challenge of climate education and do you find the subject conjures up fear in children?

LH: Climate change reports and stories aired on television and print can be scary. As a teacher, anytime I present something to a child that is alarming or could provoke fearful images of the future, it is important to let children take action. Empower them to make a change and create enterprising innovations in their own lives, instead of feeling the world is spinning out of control. What you don’t want is a sense of hopelessness in the message. That alone can be scary. So as a teacher you want to present evidence and that would include things that are scientifically sound and discuss them openly. We want children to be aware of the evidence scientists are looking at and how those findings are being interpreted. We want students to recognize valid sources. It is important children become scientifically literate. When they are reading and hearing stories on the news, they need to have the tools to evaluate the information. They need to ask questions and search for answers in their world.

PB: How have your experiences in Antarctica altered or redefined your role as an educator?

LH: I came to Antarctica one other time in 2002 under a different program called Teachers Experiencing the Arctic and Antarctic (TEA). People said it would change my life and I thought I really don’t want to change my life -- I’m happy with the way it is. Once I was down here, it did change the way I viewed myself. I found out I was a lot tougher than I ever thought. I found that my limits were self imposed. You can be stretched to achieve what might seem an impossible feat and never hit an absolute. I brought back a different way of teaching. I wanted children to be asking the questions, getting involved in the inquiry, and understanding the process of science in their everyday lives. This is the empowerment that will help shape the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ARISE educators take the spotlight and speak about Antarctica, the politics of science and where do we go from here.

New Zealand based educator, Robert (Bob) Williams is head of the Geography Department at Wairarapa College in the town of Masterton, NZ. Bob is the recipient of the Royal Society of New Zealand Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowship. This competitive award had 170 applicants but only 55 were chosen. He is leading the way when it comes to changing the way educators view climate change and how it should be presented in the classroom. Using science as his guide, he has forged several programs to include: “Ice Signals of Climate Change” and “Putting Geography Back on the Map.”

PB: Would you explain your pre-ice experiences leading up to your becoming an ARISE educator in Antarctica?

Robert Williams: I teach at a secondary high school, ages of 13-18 years old, with a student body of roughly 1,200. I became part of the ARISE team per recommendation. I started the process of working on a project long before my time in Antarctica. Part of my nominee packet for the Royal Society Fellowship was a proposal called “Ice Signals of Climate Change.” This proposal covers a number of climate change themes. Once I received the teacher’s sabbatical I began working alongside post graduate climate change researchers focusing on New Zealand’s temperate valley glaciers and how they respond to climate change via computer modeling. So at the beginning of 2007 I was working in the field, traversing the Southern Alps of New Zealand and collecting observational data. I also got to work with glaciologist Nancy Bertler at the New Zealand Ice Core Research Laboratory in Gracefield. Not only is she looking at ice cores from NZ but has been studying cores from Mt. Erebus, Antarctica. My brief time in the lab was spent learning how to interpret isotope cores as signals of possible climate change. The next element of my sabbatical was becoming an ARISE teacher on the ANDRILL project. From this, I have been looking at sediment cores from underneath the Ross Ice Shelf dating back 17 million years in hopes of understanding how Antarctica impacts global climate change patterns.

PB: How have you used your knowledge and experiences to impact educational institutions in New Zealand?

RW: The first thing I did was produce four national curriculums for national achievement with climate change themes. The published hard copies, together with marketing schemes and resource sheets, were sent to schools in NZ. That would include 370 secondary schools. The curriculum covered global patterns of glaciations in the past and present, patterns of desert and desertification and how climate change might affect the spread of deserts in the world, threat to coral reefs around the world, and Antarctica’s role in influencing patterns of ocean circulation through sea temperature change and ocean circulations. For three months I researched information aiding the production of age-appropriate study materials for 16 to 17 year olds at the Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University. I continued my efforts by attending and presenting papers at the National Teacher's Conference in Auckland emphasizing the need for Geography to embrace the idea of climate change within its curriculum. I also started talking up my trip to Antarctica and the ANDRILL project. Educators across NZ were encouraged to follow the journey and include students in interactive discussions using ARISE educators as liaisons between pupil and scientist.

PB: How would you rate the support for climate change themes and topics in New Zealand?

RW: New Zealand has shown its support for the idea of climate change by granting me the Royal Society Fellowship. This fantastic award recognizes the importance of climate change as a serious avenue of research within science, technologies and mathematics. They backed me so that is an indication they recognize climate change.

PB: What have you gained by coming to Antarctica?

RW: First, I experienced the scientific method and technique. I got to interpret and analyze sediment cores while listening to experts. Secondly, I am less hasty in my interpretations of what I see as climate change signals. Understanding the scientific method while being mentored and taught by Antarctic scientists will allow me to bring new insights into the classroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Graziano Scotto di Clemente teaches science to pupils ranging from 11-14 years old in Treviso, Italy. The province is near the Eastern Alps and is a post glacial plane so coming to Antarctica and studying this glaciated continent was of particular interest and fit nicely with his school curriculum at scuola media Luigi Stefanini. His goal is to stimulate students to connect the past events to the future prospects, foster creative thinking by having them write science fiction stories, comic strips and drawings. The mission of his polar trip is to strengthen Italy’s commitment to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Pupils should be brought to understand the necessity of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

PB: How would you describe your country's willingness to fund Polar research? Have there been roadblocks or obstacles along the way?

Graziano Scotto di Clemente: Right now there are a lot of problems in Italy. A lot of politicians have lost their perspective of the future. They don’t value or have a real interest in culture, research and schools. Unfortunately, my traverse to Antarctica was filled with problems and funding was hard to obtain. This is not a political statement but the reality of the situation. Many younger Italians study and work in other countries if they want to be part of any scientific research projects. ANDRILL is a large International Polar Year project and has two young Italians working and living in the U.S. as part of the research team. Even though our country has signed the Kyoto Protocol it is unable to build a plan of action and the lack of financial support will make the realization of the agreement's objectives a distant dream. The main political parties are the Berlusconi and Prodi action groups and they both fall short when it comes to promoting research and development for the study of past, present and future climate patterns, much less Polar research.

PB: How are your experiences in Antarctica going to influence your classroom and what are you bringing back to encourage future generations?

GSC: This trip was an important step to building a strong connection with ESD. Joint research on a global scale is what is needed to tackle the unknowns of climate change. My students will have a better understanding of global citizenship and stewardship, needs and rights of future generations, diversity of culture, and interdependence. This last topic is very important because as a society we need to understand and come to grips with the interdependence of nations on a social, economic and environmental scale. Our actions of today do impact our neighbors tomorrow. Our two year goal is to get countries like Sweden, Luxemburg, Estonia, Poland, Turkey and Greece to work on the Comenius Project. Multi-national projects such as ANDRILL are an inspiration to what can happen when nations put aside stereotypes and work together for a better future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

American school teacher, Robin Frisch-Gleason, teaches at Bach Elementary School, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Robin was an explorer of the ice continent 22 years ago while working on her masters degree in geology in 1985 and came back as an ARISE educator and found a renewed love for penguins, snow caves and bitter cold. Her collaborative work with the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum showcased the International Polar Year (IPY), her acceptance as an ARISE educator and the ANDRILL project.

PB: I read your journal entry about the research trip you took to Granite Harbor, Antarctica and it seems you had the field experience of a lifetime. Here is an excerpt:

Robin Frisch-Gleason: “…squished in the seat of the helicopter…we landed in Granite Harbor. This is Antarctica! Just sheer granite cliffs coming down to meet a vast frozen sea. I had to pinch myself every now and then to remind myself that I was living on 2 meter thick sea ice, with a huge cold ocean just beneath. When we weren’t working we had time for exploration. Weddell Seals, mostly mothers with newborn pups, were all over the sea ice…we also had the thrill of seeing both Emperor and Adelie penguins meandering innocently across the ice surface. Fieldwork completed….we began the long traverse back to McMurdo. The traverse was one of those profound events in life that are difficult at the time, but you wouldn’t miss for anything. I rode on the back of a snowmobile for 13 hours. The ride was cold and windy but a great adventure. Finally we reached McMurdo.”

PB: During your field camp experience at Granite Harbor what information were you researching?

RFG: The rocks below the ice and water in Granite Harbor are mostly very young sediments, 7,000 years old or less, that were deposited in a depression carved out by the Mackay Glacier. They are important because the rocks themselves contain a great deal of information about how the climate and ocean circulation has been changing in the past 7,000 years. The sediments are largely the remains of marine algae, called diatoms that form the basis of the food web in the highly productive Southern Ocean. Diatoms are dependent on sunlight and a good supply of nutrients. In the rock record, different types of diatoms represent periods of ice cover versus ice-free times. Sediments that show few to no diatoms suggest periods of times when the ice was too thick so that not enough sunlight could reach the upper water layers where the diatoms live, or that the ocean circulation was not bringing the nutrient-rich deep waters up to the surface to feed the diatoms.

PB: How has this experience and the many other Antarctic activities rejuvenated the energy you bring to the classroom?

RFG: Personally, I have gained a renewed love for the continent and a strengthened commitment to protect and preserve it. It is a place that is life changing. Professionally, I have equipped myself with the tools I need to talk to the public about ANDRILL and Antarctic paleoclimate studies. I have been inspired to write a children’s book about different paleo-environments, put together a museum and photography exhibit, and will be building traveling educational kits to be presented in libraries throughout southeast Michigan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Lehmann Ready for the cold!

The final educational contributor is Dr. Rainer Lehmann, a German biologist and geographer. He teaches students between the ages of 15-19 years old at the Waldorf-School Hannover Bothfeld, Germany. He has worked for the last year and a half on the Coole Klassen project. The project is part of Germany’s inclusion in the International Polar Year (IPY) activities.

PB: Explain the Coole Klassen project and the combined efforts of German educators to work together to make Polar educational topics more accessible to children.

Dr. Rainer Lehmann: The Coole Klassen project has attracted approximately 130 teachers from all regions of Germany who teach varying grade levels and are natural science instructors. We have sent some on expeditions to work with scientists in the Arctic and Antarctica. Being an ARISE educator is a very important component to improve the Coole-Klassen project. The general aim is to bring my Antarctic experiences and adventures back to my students and colleagues in Germany and achieve a broad effect in our development and understanding of Polar education.

PB: How did the German educational system handle your exploits to the bottom of the world and was it a positive or negative experience?

RL: It was not a problem getting participants for pre-ice outreach activities because everyone saw big opportunities coming out of involvement. Eventually all of the knowledge learned will aid in the development of learning CDs and DVDs, as well as text books highlighting first hand research from educators who have not only read about the polar regions, but who have experienced it. Germany funded the trip through the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the German Research Foundation. I’d have to say my overall experience has been positive and our programs cover a wide range of polar exploration, research and science.

PB: Can you explain programs that aid Germans in day-to-day activities and lifestyles that promote green living?

RL: The Kyoto Protocol and Agenda 21 have been adopted by Germany and show a commitment to the global community when it comes to the reduction of CO2 emissions and indicate a willingness to be part of a project that extends well beyond nationalistic borders. The German Climate Protection Programme and Renewable Energy Program are examples of regional and local implementation of energy saving ingenuity. Germany has repeatedly shown a very advanced approach to conservation and finding better ways to take care of our planet. The U.S., as shown by McMurdo Station, is far away from European and especially German environmental standards when it comes to energy use and I find this sad. The average water use is 300 liters per day per inhabitant and this is enormous compared to Germany’s 125 liters per day per inhabitant, including industrial processes. I see no reason to run so many huge machines 24 hours a day and I suspect they use large quantities of fuel. We should be leery of possibly harming this wonderful continent and adopt better conservation programs. You have to understand that in Germany sorting your trash for recycling is normal and not a chore. Being environmentally accountable is an achievable goal and we should all strive to reach it.