International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

of the Arctic, Antarctic and mountainous regions,
and drilled boreholes to establish temperature
monitoring. Results were presented at the major IPY
conferences in 2008 and 2010. PYRN also initiated the
PYRN bibliography (PYRN-Bib) that inventoried over
1000 theses and dissertations completed since the
early 1950s by permafrost scientists and engineers. A
special issue of the journal Permafrost and Periglacial
Processes was organized by PYRN and was successfully
released in December 2009 (Christiansen et al., 2007;
Lewkowicz, 2009; Bonnaventure et al., 2009). Finally,
PYRN organized a series of happenings around the
Ninth International Conference on Permafrost in 2008
in partnership with the United States Permafrost
Association; the meeting included social events,
panels and awards. PYRN was acknowledged as an
outstanding component of the IPY legacy of the IPA.
ArcticNet Student Association
Brent Else, ASA
The ArcticNet Student Association (ASA; www.
arcticnet.ulaval.ca/students/asa.php) was formed as
the student organization of the ArcticNet Network
of Centres of Excellence in Canada. One of the major
goals of the ASA was to provide training to young
Arctic researchers and to provide opportunities
for networking. During IPY, the ASA organized the
following networking and training events:
• ArcticNet Seminar Series – This annual series was
offered from January-April at the University of
Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB). The seminar featured
weekly presentations by invited Arctic scientists
from a broad range of disciplines and also provided
a forum for students to present their research
in a friendly and constructive interdisciplinary
atmosphere.
• Northern Perspectives Workshop – This workshop
was organized on 28 May 2008 at Université
Laval (Québec, QC). The workshop focused on
introducing students to how ArcticNet functions as
an international research network and also explored
Arctic research from an anthropological perspective.
• Student Day 2008 – Each year the ASA organized a
meeting of ArcticNet students and also encouraged
students from outside of the network (including
international students) to attend. The 2008 Student
Day (9 December, Québec, QC) was organized
in conjunction with the Arctic Change 2008
conference. More than 400 students, government
representatives and researchers (including 26
students from northern communities) participated
in plenary talks and breakout sessions aimed at
fostering information exchange and building
research skills.
• Inuit Culture Workshop – This workshop was held
on 22 May 2008 at Université Laval (Québec, QC)
and was attended by more than 40 students from
four universities. The focus on the workshop was
to introduce students to Inuit culture and language
and was lead by experts in this field.
• Student Day 2009 – The 2009 ASA Student
Day was held on 8 December in Victoria, BC in
conjunction with the IPY Early Career Researcher
Symposium. The day was once again well attended
by international students and featured plenary
presentations and training workshops focused on
the theme of the day “The Future of Polar Research”.
University of the Arctic IPY Higher Education
Office
Elena B. Sparrow
A very rich network for higher education and
outreach during the fourth IPY existed through
the University of the Arctic (www.uarctic.org), a
collaborative consortium of more than 90 institutions
(e.g. universities, colleges and other organizations)
committed to higher education and research in
the North, as well as 18 other projects submitted as
Expressions of Intent to the IPY Joint Committee,
which formed an IPY cluster (www.uarctic.org/
singleArticle.aspx?m=135&amid=364).
The coordination office for the UArctic IPY
education outreach efforts (www.uaf.edu) was
located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (www.
alaska.edu/ipy). At the core of the cluster were UArctic
and the International Antarctic Institute (IAI; www.
iai.utas.edu.au/). The education outreach programs,
including indigenous peoples’ knowledge and
approaches, reflected a continuum of learning as a
lifelong process that targeted different audiences:
1) primary and secondary students through teacher
professional development workshops on science
teaching and research; 2) undergraduate students
via education and research experience; 3) graduate
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