Lindsay in the Arctic

To have people read this blog is amazing. To have people be involved, inspired, and participate in this blog is AMAZING. I have received some great comments and questions already (keep them coming!), and today, one reader of this blog wrote a comment related to our expedition “mascot,” Willy the Box Turtle, that I introduced in a previous post. Written in Russian, it continues the story of Willy the Turtle and Chilly the Polar Bear (and us “silly” humans). I wanted to put this comment in a new post, because it was so creative, and made my day!

I can’t wait to be on this expedition in the Arctic, and share with all of you the real science, the real equipment, and the real operations that will help us better understand the world we all share with Chilly and Willy.

Here is the Russian version, and the English translation (translated as best I could, with lots of help from a friend, as well as Google):

Жил на свете очень важный, милый ,белый медвежонок
его звали очень просто-Чилли,маленький медведь.
жил он в Арктике далекой,белоснежной и суровой,
очень он любил купаться,кувыркаться и реветь.

На другом краю планеты, на прекрасном жарком юге
жил черепашонок Вилли- балагур и весельчак.
Он любил в песке валяться, загорать и грызть морковку
Он любил всех-всех на свете-ни за что-то -просто так.

Но еще на той планете жили сумрачные люди,
Люди взрослые,большие,но как будто дураки,
Эти люди не любили ни закаты,ни рассветы,
даже нежный шум прибоя слушать было не с руки.

Эти люди не щадили нашу милую планету,
все живое разрушали, делали наоборот.
Если Арктика растает,как спасется милый Чилли?
Если жаркий Юг замерзнет,с ним и Вилли пропадет!

Люди взрослые,большие,вы должны остановиться,
вы должны понять ,как наша восхитительна земля!
Уберите руку с кнопки, уничтожьте все программы,
Что природу разрушают,губят реки и моря!

На своем прекрасном юге будет жить веселый Вилли,
Будет грызть свою морковку и на солнце загорать!
На своей огромной льдине будет жить отважный Чилли
Будет в море он купаться и с ледышками играть.

-“Ludus”

====================

Here lived a very important, dear polar bear
His name was very simple, Chilly, a small bear.
He lived in the distant Arctic, snow-white and gray,
He is very fond of bathing, tumbling and roaring.

At the other end of the planet, in the beautiful hot south
Lived a little turtle Willy, a joker and a merry fellow.
He loved to lie in the sand, sunbathing and nibbling a carrot
He loved everyone, everyone in the world, for no reason, simply that.

But also on that planet lived gloomy people
People mature and large, but like fools,
These people do not like sunsets or sunrises,
Even to listen to the gentle sound of the surf was not pleasant.

These people did not spare our dear planet
Destroying all life, doing just the opposite.
If the Arctic melts away, how is dear Chilly to be saved?
If the hot South freezes, will he and Willy be gone!

People mature and large, you have to stop,
You need to understand how amazing is our land!
Remove your hand from the button, delete all the programs
That destroyed nature, ruining the rivers and the sea!

In the beautiful south will live hilarious Willy
He will gnaw on his carrot and tan in the sun!
On his huge ice floe will live courageous Chilly
Swimming in the sea and playing with icicles.

-“Ludus”

===================

Do a Google Image search for “mooring deployment ice.” Then do another one for “ice station buoy deployment.” I’m trying to imagine what these “operations” described in our expedition manual will be like, and I’m getting a feel for why they call any big production or mission “Operation:______.” But for our operations, you might just be standing on ice in the ocean (looking out for a polar bear).

How do you get the ship to “sit still” while you’re out doing your research?
Mooring operations are “the most dangerous at-sea operation.” A mooring is any kind of structure that helps secure a ship in one place, and it takes a core team of about 8 technicians to get it done. They will meet in advance to identify difficult or risky procedures, and will be responsible for operations whenever the ship arrives at a planned station (day or night). Apparently you can watch these operations from the ship – I can’t wait to see it!

How do you make an ice camp?
Establishing ice stations can also be dangerous. Firstly, you have to watch for “melt ponds” (open pools of water that form on sea ice in the warmer season). The Chief Scientist will use ice probes to test the ice conditions, and if it’s safe, other expedition members can venture onto the ice. But you still have to watch for polar bears. According to our manual, there is no armed guard, but there will be a watch from the ship, and the ship’s horn will blast to let us know to return to the ship if we see a furry friend approaching. (I want us all to be safe, but I not-so-secretly hope I see a polar bear!)

I decided to bring a new friend from Miami to join us in the Arctic! He is a box turtle, and is a Florida native. Even though he would never meet a polar bear in the wild (maybe he’ll see one on the trip!?), they are both so well-suited to their own environment that changes in climate can be catastrophic for them. For turtles, rising sea levels affect their coastal nesting habitats and increasing temperatures have an impact on the gender ratio of hatchlings. For polar bears, increasing temperatures and decreasing Arctic sea ice means they are losing their food hunting grounds. So our box turtle is joining the trip to see what we’ll learn about climate.

I recently received a poem from a reader of this blog (who prefers to remain anonymous) that I want to share with you all, while we’re on this topic. I think it sums up not only what’s happening to our friends the box turtles and polar bears, but also how we are all connected in what’s happening. In honor of this writer, I have named our mascot Willy the Box Turtle!

A polar bear from the Arctic named Chilly
A turtle from Miami named Willy
Who would ever think?
Is there really a link?
Oh Yeah! It’s mankind we’ll name Silly.

So if the ice is crucial to Chilly
And water equally so to Willy
If we all hold the key
‘Cause we’re the powers that be
Isn’t it time to stop being “Silly?”

-Anonymous

I think a lot of people (especially students) have an idea that science is a class at school, and a scientist is someone who works only in a lab all by themselves. But one of the coolest things I want to share with people about this expedition is that science isn’t just a class – it’s a process, and a way of thinking, and a team effort.

I’m looking at our Expedition Booklet which outlines all the information we need – what to bring, who’s responsible for what, research activities, safety guidelines, etc. The first thing that is obvious is that everyone onboard is on a team, and each team has a designated team leader. Here are our teams who will try to figure out scenes like the one in the picture above (I’ll describe these more as we go along):
– Hydro
– Chem
– Meteo
– Ice
– Tech
– Admin

I’m imagining what it would be like to plan a trip to another planet, and all the different science fields and skills you would need to really get a handle on what you were exploring. And then I’m looking at this list of teams for the Arctic, and it makes sense that you need the same for the Earth. You still need smart people who know how to do a lot of things – operate specialized equipment, look at observations to figure out what’s going on, and then (shocker) talk to each other about what each team has learned. Imagine that.

An amazing thing happened the other day when I went to go buy a new piece of luggage (my old luggage is on its last legs). I was standing in line at checkout, and the lady behind me asks me where I am going. I said, “of all things, I’m headed to the Arctic Ocean.” The lady and her son became all excited, and started asking 20 questions. I explained there were scientists going from all over the world, to study the ocean, the atmosphere, and climate in general, and that I was going as an educator to document the expedition and share it with the public. As I was about to leave, the lady says “the public so needs to understand more. Good luck sweetie, you all go change the world.” That just made my whole day.

Post your question or comment below, and I will reply!

 

The Museum is always looking for ways to connect people to science. I am Science Curator at the Museum, so I work on developing content for exhibitions for our upcoming Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science facility, but I am also always looking for new ways to connect our audiences with science and technology that affect the Earth and all of our lives. I am so excited to take an amazing opportunity to do just that, and represent the Museum on an expedition to one of the most remote regions of the planet – the Arctic. We are participating in this expedition to share the opportunity to learn about climate, and to get a sense of what a real scientific expedition is like. I hope our Museum audiences to follow along with the expedition via blog and other social media!

People don’t usually think of themselves as scientists, but the main thing scientists do is wonder how something works, and then look for the answer. How does the Arctic environment affect us in Miami? What is happening in the atmosphere, ocean, and climate? What does it sound like when a huge ship carves a pathway through a frozen sea? What tools do scientists use to study the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere? There are so many fascinating questions, and I’m so excited for the public to become inquisitive scientists right alongside me during this expedition. I hope to bring the science – and experience – of the Arctic a little closer to home!

Post your question or comment below, and I will reply!

This arctic expedition is just one of the many exciting things happening at the Miami Science Museum. Something in the works right now, which is a pretty big deal (to say the least) is building a whole new museum in Miami, called the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science. Check out our live construction camera and the fly-through of what it will be like!

Post your question or comment below, and I will reply!

“Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back” – Chinese Proverb

How do you put together an expedition to one of the most remote environments on Earth? The International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (IARC), which organized this expedition, focuses on understanding the Arctic region and the role it plays in the Earth’s global systems. The only way to work globally is to work with people from around the globe, across all fields of science and technology, and IARC focuses understanding global climate through international collaboration, inter-disciplinary research, and field school opportunities for graduate students and early-career scientists. IARC has proposed a long-term project, and received support from the National Science Foundation to deepen our understanding of the Arctic system, through this expedition to explore the Nansen and Amundsen Basins.

This is truly a global effort. Sixty-one people from 32 organizations and representing 11 countries throughout North America, Europe, and Asia will be participating in this expedition, including 35 scientists, 5 instructors, and 21 students.

Click on the photos to learn more.

Post your question or comment below, and I will reply!