Our plane glides through the Endicott Mountains of the Brooks Range as we make our final descent into Anaqtuuvak. Accessible only by plane, Anaktuvuk Pass (“the place of caribou droppings”) is located 250 miles northwest of Fairbanks and is home to the only community of inland Iñupiat, Nunamiut, people [1]. Below, icy blue glaciers feed into a winding network of streams that snake through dense, green tundra and low-lying willows that line the banks of the Anaktuvuk River. From the air, the tundra is a verdant forest, but once on the ground the trees and shrubbery are no taller than 5-6 feet. The village stands out like a colorful flower within the greenery, blooming into view as we enter the valley. In Anaktuvuk, the roots of plants and people alike extend down into permafrost, the lifeblood of the ecosystem and holder of history.
Antarctic Artists & Writers Program
The Antarctic Artists and Writers program facilitates deployments to the Antarctic for creative practitioners within the arts and humanities. Collaborations between polar researchers and artists & writers help increase the public’s understanding of and appreciation for human and scientific endeavors in Antarctica through the resulting works.
Artist Fellow Madeline Blount will join Researcher Fellow Kevin Arrigo and Educator Fellow Bhavna Rawal onboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer in the Austral Summer of 2024/26 to build a generative machine learning “speculative live cam” that interprets and visualizes the Antarctic environment in new and unexpected ways. Rooted in her experience as a technologist within social justice and community-based projects, Madeline’s practice has always involved demystifying complex subjects and expanding access to technology. Through the project, Madeline aims to develop a co-creative, participatory relationship with an audience, designing an online platform to be freely accessible to a variety of learning communities. The machine learning element may foster engagement with polar science in surprising ways, leveraging current public curiosity with AI. The online project will be modeled after free public science “live cams,” minimizing financial barriers and encouraging widespread viewing.
Participants Involved in This Project
Kevin Arrigo | Researcher Fellow
Department of Earth System Science | Stanford, California
Madeline Blount | Artist Fellow
Brooklyn, NY
From the Blog
In July 2024 I had the opportunity to visit Amy in person in Arizona. In the vlog of my trip, I share pictures of the work one of Amy’s colleagues is doing on a telescope that is going in a hot air balloon in Antarctica, we visit Kitt Peak Observatory, which is built on the tribal land of the Tohono Odham nation, and then Amy’s lab at the University of Arizona. You will also hear snippets of the songs I wrote for our Polar STEAM resource assignment.
As a high school science teacher, I’m always looking for ways to inspire my students with real-world science and deepen their understanding of our planet. The PolarSTEAM Educator Fellowship has been an extraordinary opportunity to merge my passion for polar environments with my teaching. Through this year-long virtual collaboration with T.J. Fudge, a research scientist at the University of Washington, I’ve been immersed in cutting-edge research on ice cores, allowing me to bring current polar science research to my students.
The Juneau Icefield is a group of interconnected glaciers just north of Juneau, Alaska that extends into British Columbia, Canada and covers an area the size of Rhode Island. Maybe you’ve heard of the Mendenhall Glacier? It is part of the Juneau Icefield! The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) has been collecting data on the icefield since 1948.
An Unforgettable Adventure Begins As a high school science teacher, the invitation to join Macall Hock on an expedition to study the effects of a warming Arctic ecosystem on stream carbon cycling in Utqiagvik, Alaska, felt like stepping into a thrilling adventure. The beauty of the Arctic wilderness was a sight to behold, but the
Made possible with funding by the National Science Foundation Award #2221990. The information contained here is those of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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