Homero Pena (2014) and Polaris Project scientist, Heather Alexander, proudly show off his poster about arctic shrubs and their impacts on soil carbon
Before the 2015 field season creeps up too closely on me, I want to congratulate and thank all the Polaris participants who attended this year’s American Geophysical Union conference.
The 2014 AGU meeting was better than I could have been expected. Our Polaris presence just keeps getting stronger and stronger every year. All of the students did a great job presenting their work–their preparation and hard work prior to the meeting certainly paid off.
Some highlights of Polaris at AGU:
* 9 undergraduate students from the 2014 Polaris expedition presented in the Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon session, and an additional 15 students, PIs and alumni presented at AGU.
* More than 30 Polaris participants attended our annual Polaris AGU reunion and meeting
* Nigel Golden (2014) was featured in several news articles about his research including a BBC article, Arctic ground squirrels unlock permafrost carbon.
Nigel Golden (2014) holds a captive audience as he discusses the effects of arctic ground squirrels on soil carbon storage.
* Nigel Golden (2014) was among 10 early career scientists (1 of 2 undergraduates) selected for a round-table discussion with Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell
* Nigel was also selected as a mentor for the MS PHDS (Minorities Pursing Higher Degrees in Earth System Science) professional development program, which gave Nigel an opportunity to mentor new students, speak at the MS PHD lunch, and the program also provided full travel support for Nigel to attend AGU
Megan Behnke’s (2014) Lumley Scholarship announcement was posted prominently at the entrance to the AGU Poster Hall!
* Megan Behnke (2014) won the prestigious AGU David E. Lumley Young Scientist Scholarship, featured in Eos
* Seth Spawn (2013, 2014) and Moira Hough(2009) were awarded travel scholarships by the US Permafrost Association/Permafrost Young Researchers Network
* Megan Behnke, Jess Eason, and Luis Weber (2014) were awarded AGU travel scholarships
* Luis Weber received an AGU travel scholarship from the University of Puerto Rico
* John Wood (2014 teacher), Erica Ramos, Megan Behnke, and Nigel Golden gave an oral presentation about the Polaris project, introducing the new map journal developed by Greg Fiske
* Erin Seybold (2009, 2010) won an Outstanding Student Paper Award
I’m looking forward to seeing the Polaris team at future AGU meetings!
Luis Weber (2014) enthusiastically explains his research about carbon allocation in arctic shrubs.
Jess Eason (2014) presents her research on methane emissions from the tundra.