Students onboard for the Summer School have the extraordinary opportunity to work “in the field” with scientists – for many, it’s the first time. The instructors of the Summer School (myself included) met to finalize the projects that would be offered to students. They include big projects (like hard core data with weather research and forecasting (WRF) or sea ice modeling, and “outdoor” projects, like working with scientists on watches at all hours for observations of clouds and ice, and helping to deploy instruments as allowed. And there are the science communication projects I have contributed – students will use science communication strategies to write and contribute multiple entries to this blog, and develop a concept for a hands-on activity that would help the public understand their research.
Here’s a small project for YOU, that students onboard will also be attempting in a more detailed way: Predict how low the sea ice will be this summer (in square kilometers or square miles, whichever you prefer, but the data below is square kilometers). Here’s some information for you to formulate your educated prediction. Let us know in the comments what you think!
Dear Lindsey! How dangerous is the work of scientists? May be unexpected situations?
Hi Ludus, there are lots of dangers on an expedition like this, but if you careful and prepared it’s pretty safe. For example, when you’re deploying instruments into the water, you wear hard hats, steel-toed boots, and a harness if you have to go near the edge of the ship (just in case). You also have to be careful eve inside the ship, especially on stairways and doorways, because the ship is always swaying.
How will we know if ice melts at the North Pole? How will it affect us?
Joseph, ships like this one periodically visit parts of the Arctic so we can see a bit of what is happening first-hand. Beyond that, satellite pictures can show us what’s happening with the ice all over the Arctic. If ice melts, it could have effects like further increasing temperatures and different atmospheric weather conditions, but we still need to learn more about those details.