MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- I've made it down to Antarctica for another season of studying how penguins are coping with global climate change. In this video, I introduce the work we are doing and give a preview of what I'll be reporting on over the next few months... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- In conjunction with the surge of social science projects in this year’s IPY, SCAR hosted a novel session on “The role of Indigenous Knowledge in Modern Polar Science.” The presenters stressed giving traditional knowledge and indigenous people a voice in managing their own land, resources and fate in the future of climate change... {Read More »}

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND-- "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants" -Sir Isaac Newton. There is a long and rich history of Terra Incognita. The place names identifying scientific research bases, mountain tops, nunataks, valleys, glaciers, ice shelves... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA– All Antarctic organisms have unique adaptations that allow them to survive the extreme freezing Antarctic environment. Antarctic fish, for example, have antifreeze proteins that keep their blood from freezing... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- Polar bears have become the icon of climate change, stirring people’s emotions and bringing awareness to the issue in an unprecedented manner. And yet, both in the scientific research community and the media there is disagreement and discrepancies over what the real impacts of climate change on polar bears are... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA– Among the variety of challenges facing polar societies is the melting permafrost and its effect on people who have been surviving in the Arctic for millennia... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- “Not only has climate change begun, but we are seeing a significant impact,” said Wayne Pollard from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in his plenary talk on “The effects of climate change on polar landscapes"... {Read More »}

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- In early July, 2008 I traveled to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to join thousands of other polar scientists for the SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) Open Science Conference. I was thrilled to attend this year’s SCAR meeting to present my graduate work on Antarctic toothfish... {Read More »}

COLVILLE RIVER, ALASKA– Finally, there is time to journal, as we are still relaxing in the “Salix Lounge” (Latin genus for willow). We’ve spent 36 hours watching the river flow backward – upriver. It has granted us time to catch up on some of the scientific literature, so we’ve been discussing the changes underway in North Slope river floodplains... {Read More »}

COLVILLE RIVER, ALASKA-- Another day of fieldwork and floating later, we are camped on a big bend in the Colville, across from cliffs and peregrine falcons. Yesterday saw more science, including clear evidence of shrubs colonizing alpine tundra... {Read More »}